him advocating for governments to "herd workers into cooperatives" or WSDEs (Worker Self Directed Enterprises)?
The way I read this article, (along with his other work), is that he (Wolff) advocates organic growth of Coops and WSDEs via the workers who want them, rather than any major government intervention to bring them forth. Indeed, that is the entire point.
Iow, unwanted and unsought government involvement in the establishment, and day to day operations of Coops and WSDEs is the very antithesis of what Wolff is advocating, in the same way a small group of capitalist decision makers would be. ...This is not to say that local, state, and even federal government policies could not assist in establishing an environment in which these worker owned entities thrive; but here again, it would be up to the workers to seek, and agree upon such assistance.
Here is a portion of the article that (I believe) illustrates this:
Confrontation - putting WSDEs forward as a systemic alternative to capitalism - could take may forms. For example, labor unions could add the establishment of worker coops to their strategies vis-à-vis capital. When employers demand concessions by threatening to close enterprises, move them abroad, etc., unions could refuse and proceed instead to establish workers coops if and when the employers actually abandon enterprises. To take another example, localities could campaign for use of eminent domain to address both unemployment and poverty by organizing and supporting worker coops. The successful Mondragon Cooperative Corporation was born in a poor and unemployment-ravaged part of 1950s Spain. High school, college and university curricula could include both abstract discussions on how the US might do better than capitalism and practical courses for establishing worker coops.
Most important would be if progressive political forces saw gains from allying with, helping to build, and undertaking mass political and ideological support for worker coops. The latter could then provide a crucial communication bridge between the left and the daily struggles of workers in their enterprises, both those still capitalist and those that are WSDEs or becoming so. Workers already in WSDEs and those working for transition to WSDEs could also provide economic and political supports to left political initiatives and campaigns. In return, the left could mobilize for legal and other changes to provide worker coops with the needed legislative framework, capital and markets. Mass political campaigns eventually secured the Small Business Administration for small businesses and various levels of political supports for minority and women-owned businesses. WSDEs could benefit from parallel administrations assisting them.
Here is one of Wolff's websites that explains the concept in greater detail:
http://www.democracyatwork.info/
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