Back on the way to empowerment: The example of Ordway Tead and industrial democracy

This article presents a historical perspective on empowerment through an exposition of the writings of Ordway Tead (1891-1961) and early-20th-century debates as to the relationship between capitalism and democracy and specifically the balance of power among workers, managers, and owners. The article connects the empowerment literature to these debates toward an empowerment discourse that is historically grounded and politically oriented. This move also affords a broad time perspective from which to understand the development of empowerment as a concept in management thought.