This book, which is written from the perspectives of an adult education practitioner engaged in helping create empowering work systems in manufacturing, service organizations, city governments, and educational systems, explains how the principles of emancipatory education and the concept of praxis may be used to reshape organizations into environments more conducive to productive work. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's 11 chapters: practical advice about empowerment and democracy (democratic workplaces and the rationale for empowerment); changing the system (systems thinking, change strategies, stages of change, application of systems theory in workplaces, and identification of empowerment champions); creating an empowerment planning team and team leaders); education for an empowered workplace (vocational, business, and continuing education and development of process, interpersonal, and political skills); changing the support systems (facilitating action research; developing compensation, recognition, appraisal, and complaint review systems; developing an employment/promotion process and performance indicators); consensus decision making; empowerment and planning (strategic/tactical planning); perspectives on democracy in the workplace; adult education and workplace democracy; unions, adult education, and industrial democracy; and creating opportunities through success and avoiding burnout. Each chapter ends with an appendix examining opportunities for praxis. The book contains 214 references and 26 figures/tables. (MN)