Ferreras' interests lies in the field of tension between the state, businesses, and workers' in a globalised world and especially governance of firms and
workplace democracy. She has developed what she has labeled a "critical political sociology of work" and her work centers around what she calls the "capitalism/democracy contradiction". In 2016, Ferreras and
Hélène Landemore published a paper where they argue that businesses can be seen as analogous to states. They claim that firms should be governed democratically due to the organisational similarities. Ferreras and Landemore advocate for the need of further development of a
political theory of the firm. Furthermore, Ferreras has conducted several empirical case studies of workers in collaboration with different academic colleagues. Together with
Jean De Munck she has examined the voice of workers in restructuring processes in a
Volkswagen plant in
Brussels. In another qualitative case study Ferras has examined a
Freelancers'
cooperative called
SMart-Belgium as a case of "democratic institutional experimentation for better work" along with Julien Charles and
Auriane Lamine.
Firms as political entities In her book
Firms as Political Entities: Saving Democracy through Economic Bicameralism (2017), Ferreras proposes to
democratise firms to make them fit the context of democratic societies by implementing economic bicameralism in companies. The book consists of three main parts:
Part 1 – Critical history of power in the firm: The slow transition of work from the private to the public sphere In this part, Ferreras explains how there has been as historical transformation of work in our culture from being private to public. Work is no longer in the private sphere and affected by feudal and household norms and later the factories. Thus, originally, work was built around the relationship between the worker and physical objects and the machines to produce objects. Today, work is a part of the public, democratic sphere and is especially characterized by
service work. Since this form of work is about the relationship between workers and customers work becomes inherently political. Also, industrial firms have introduced a democratic structure of bargaining and decision making between employees and workers.
Part 2 – What is a firm? Ferreras argues that firms are more than legal constructs. She claims that firms should also be seen as political entities since they involves work and work relations between the employees which extend beyond being just legal relations. However, firms are still considered private which enables systems of hierarchy and domination to exist in the public. Ferreras argues that the private rule of the capital investors is illegitimate. Ferreras argues that two types of rationalities exist in a firm. The term "instrumental rationality" labels the set of norms of firms' activities that produce external good such as financial returns for capital investors. Another example of instrumental rationality is when the worker sees her activities as means to getting her pay check. The other form of rationality that characterize a set of norms in a firm is "expressive rationality" in the sense that the worker expresses her essential self. Both bodies have
veto power which means that they have to build compromises and the rule of firms can become legitimate. == Academic inspirations and approach ==