Monday, February 23, 2009
During the course we had the opportunity to discuss about labor force, exploitation, and Marx’s descriptions of capitalism. Curiously, during the class we missed to talk about the “Martyrs of Chicago” and its impact in the international community.
International Workers' Day and its marxism and historical contexts:
International Workers' Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations and street marches by millions of working people and their labour unions throughout most of the countries of the world — though, as noted below, rarely in the United States and Canada.
International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour day, killing a dozen demonstrators. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." As the most effective way of demonstrating was by striking, the congress made it "mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."
Through all this turmoil in the northern hemisphere, the Stonemasons Society in the then colony of Victoria, now the State of Victoria in Australia led the battle for the 8 Hour Day, the most dramatic achievement of the early trade Union Movement. By 1856 Australian workers were benefiting from the results of a decision by the Collingwood Branch of the Stonemasons Society of Victoria. The same year it was recognized in New South Wales, followed by Queensland in 1858 and South Australia in 1873. A memorial statue with the numerals 888, representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation, and 8 hours of rest, sits on the corner of Lygon Street and Victoria Parade in Melbourne, Australia to this day.
May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, usually right as the first day of May begins[1]. It has also seen right-wing massacres of participants as in the Taksim Square massacre of 1977 in Turkey.
Due to its status as a celebration of the efforts of workers and the socialist movement, May Day is an important official holiday in Communist countries such as the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.
In countries other than the United States and Canada, resident working classes sought to make May Day an official holiday and their efforts largely succeeded. For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various communist and socialist parties.
In the United States, however, the official Federal holiday for the "working man" is Labor Day in September. This day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor organized the first parade in New York City. The first Labor Day celebration was held on September 5, 1882, and was organized by the Knights of Labor. The Knights began holding it every year and called for it to be a national holiday, but this was opposed by other labor unions who wanted it held on May Day (as it is everywhere else in the world). After the Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886, President Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus he moved in 1887 to support the Labor Day that the Knights supported.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day
International Workers' Day and its marxism and historical contexts:
International Workers' Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations and street marches by millions of working people and their labour unions throughout most of the countries of the world — though, as noted below, rarely in the United States and Canada.
International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour day, killing a dozen demonstrators. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." As the most effective way of demonstrating was by striking, the congress made it "mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."
Through all this turmoil in the northern hemisphere, the Stonemasons Society in the then colony of Victoria, now the State of Victoria in Australia led the battle for the 8 Hour Day, the most dramatic achievement of the early trade Union Movement. By 1856 Australian workers were benefiting from the results of a decision by the Collingwood Branch of the Stonemasons Society of Victoria. The same year it was recognized in New South Wales, followed by Queensland in 1858 and South Australia in 1873. A memorial statue with the numerals 888, representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation, and 8 hours of rest, sits on the corner of Lygon Street and Victoria Parade in Melbourne, Australia to this day.
May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, usually right as the first day of May begins[1]. It has also seen right-wing massacres of participants as in the Taksim Square massacre of 1977 in Turkey.
Due to its status as a celebration of the efforts of workers and the socialist movement, May Day is an important official holiday in Communist countries such as the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.
In countries other than the United States and Canada, resident working classes sought to make May Day an official holiday and their efforts largely succeeded. For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various communist and socialist parties.
In the United States, however, the official Federal holiday for the "working man" is Labor Day in September. This day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor organized the first parade in New York City. The first Labor Day celebration was held on September 5, 1882, and was organized by the Knights of Labor. The Knights began holding it every year and called for it to be a national holiday, but this was opposed by other labor unions who wanted it held on May Day (as it is everywhere else in the world). After the Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886, President Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus he moved in 1887 to support the Labor Day that the Knights supported.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Social Power
Social Power
“The ability or right to control people or events…”[1]
When we talk about power, we should point out the level of the society that we are analyzing or studying. Social power is under the political structure of each society, drawing all the interactions not only in the individual levels but also in the groups’ ones. That means that we may refer to “nature of power” in different levels of the society.
Each theorist refers to the term of “power” in a particular manner. Thus, there is a diverse spectrum of the concepts among the different theories such as: functionalism, theory of conflict, structuralism, materialism, etc. However, as is pointed out by Woodman, W.:
“…power is one with which we all deal daily and which goes as far as it does to shape the nature of human life” [2]
Social power crosses all the societal structures, establishing different relations among the members of societies. The political relationships among individual, groups, communities, and societies, are based on the levels of powers which determine the individual levels of participation, decisions, freedom, among other elements. From my perspective, some of the most important elements are: ideology, consciousness, and knowledge. From Marx’s view, those aspects (ideology, consciousness, and knowledge) are annulled by the economic system. The capitalism and the political powers which support that economic system tend to delete labor awareness and knowledge. That process of “discouraging of power” is facilitated by the role not only by the capital or private interests, but also by the public institutions which reinforce the ideological consensus of the highest levels of power (Douglas, M, 1986)[3] (That concept is also described by Luckás, G (1968) in “History and Class Consciousness”). The Marxism concept of power is based on the premise that individuals become “empty boxes” of thought as a consequence of the “alienation”. That concept can be still observed in our surroundings not only in the industrial facilities but also in other kinds of jobs. The alienation of workers is created by the economic system which tends to shadow the “nature of power”. That mechanism is also reinforced by the structures of social organizations endowing individuals with perceptions that reinforce those economic and social structures in competition against alternative ones. That reinforcement is carried out using some cultural aspects such as the language (Bourdieu, P, 1977)[4]. The inequality of power conditions is reflected in different aspects of our lives and as Marx pointed out:
“The surplus labour of the class has ceased to be the condition for the development of general wealth, just as the non- labour of the few, for the development of the general power of human head.” (Marx, K, 1833)
The nature of social power is taken by those who are occupying higher political and economic spheres/levels. According to Marx, K. the means of labour becomes fixed capital, and controls the worker physically as capital. That control of human power is reinforced by materialism structures in the societal level. The importance of the exchange or the “fetishism of commodities” distract the human consciousness and allow the continuation of the economic system. However, like Scott, J. (1985) has described, the “everyday resistance of subalterns”[5] shows that they have not consented to dominance, against the “hegemony” (Gramsci, A, 1921) of both economic and political power.
[1] LONGMAN, Dictionary of contemporary English, New Edition, 2003, London.
[2] In “The Theoretical Yardstick”, Bibliography of the course.
[3] Douglas, M. 1986. How the institutions Think, Syracuse, NY: U. Press.
[4] Bourdieu, P. 1977, Reproduction in education, Society and Culture, Sage Publications, London.
[5] Scott, J. 1985, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, London Press.
“The ability or right to control people or events…”[1]
When we talk about power, we should point out the level of the society that we are analyzing or studying. Social power is under the political structure of each society, drawing all the interactions not only in the individual levels but also in the groups’ ones. That means that we may refer to “nature of power” in different levels of the society.
Each theorist refers to the term of “power” in a particular manner. Thus, there is a diverse spectrum of the concepts among the different theories such as: functionalism, theory of conflict, structuralism, materialism, etc. However, as is pointed out by Woodman, W.:
“…power is one with which we all deal daily and which goes as far as it does to shape the nature of human life” [2]
Social power crosses all the societal structures, establishing different relations among the members of societies. The political relationships among individual, groups, communities, and societies, are based on the levels of powers which determine the individual levels of participation, decisions, freedom, among other elements. From my perspective, some of the most important elements are: ideology, consciousness, and knowledge. From Marx’s view, those aspects (ideology, consciousness, and knowledge) are annulled by the economic system. The capitalism and the political powers which support that economic system tend to delete labor awareness and knowledge. That process of “discouraging of power” is facilitated by the role not only by the capital or private interests, but also by the public institutions which reinforce the ideological consensus of the highest levels of power (Douglas, M, 1986)[3] (That concept is also described by Luckás, G (1968) in “History and Class Consciousness”). The Marxism concept of power is based on the premise that individuals become “empty boxes” of thought as a consequence of the “alienation”. That concept can be still observed in our surroundings not only in the industrial facilities but also in other kinds of jobs. The alienation of workers is created by the economic system which tends to shadow the “nature of power”. That mechanism is also reinforced by the structures of social organizations endowing individuals with perceptions that reinforce those economic and social structures in competition against alternative ones. That reinforcement is carried out using some cultural aspects such as the language (Bourdieu, P, 1977)[4]. The inequality of power conditions is reflected in different aspects of our lives and as Marx pointed out:
“The surplus labour of the class has ceased to be the condition for the development of general wealth, just as the non- labour of the few, for the development of the general power of human head.” (Marx, K, 1833)
The nature of social power is taken by those who are occupying higher political and economic spheres/levels. According to Marx, K. the means of labour becomes fixed capital, and controls the worker physically as capital. That control of human power is reinforced by materialism structures in the societal level. The importance of the exchange or the “fetishism of commodities” distract the human consciousness and allow the continuation of the economic system. However, like Scott, J. (1985) has described, the “everyday resistance of subalterns”[5] shows that they have not consented to dominance, against the “hegemony” (Gramsci, A, 1921) of both economic and political power.
[1] LONGMAN, Dictionary of contemporary English, New Edition, 2003, London.
[2] In “The Theoretical Yardstick”, Bibliography of the course.
[3] Douglas, M. 1986. How the institutions Think, Syracuse, NY: U. Press.
[4] Bourdieu, P. 1977, Reproduction in education, Society and Culture, Sage Publications, London.
[5] Scott, J. 1985, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, London Press.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Alienation Today
Despite Marx wrote his manuscripts more than one hundred years ago, we may find that most of his theory is still “useful” for those Scientifics who advocate their lives trying to understand the human and social beings.
The term of alienation arose in a particular historical context. The Industrial Revolution changed most of the daily and social routines, increasing the time and the mechanization of work. The new models of labor implemented by industries were accompanied by the phenomenon of the urbanization. Those aspects of the social organization changed the treadmill of production creating new social orders not only in the social sphere but also in the familiar or domestic ones. Industrialization and mechanization of labor changed the composition of families and incorporated women in the labor force. That particular aspect would change the family model existed until the beginning of the nineteenth century. The labor time created a great temporal dependency between people and their jobs and daily routines. Those changes were described by Marx who stated an anthropological model of social nature which implied that human being was divided and alienated of its natural state as a consequence of political and economic development.
Marx’s concept of alienation has to be contextualized in his description of social organization and his definition about class or political organization, identifying two main spheres, those who are the owners of the production means (bourgeoisie) and those who are workers (proletarians) or labor force. The conception of social organization is described with certain lack of history about those concepts, but in certain manner illustrates the modern political and economic order characterized by the capitalism. Those who have capital are part of the spheres of power and owners of the means of production. According to Marx and in contrary of other economic theories such as David Ricardo, the economic value earned by the bourgeoisie is taken from the plus-value of the labor force. That means that the capitalist will try to increase the time of work in order to get more money or capital. Consequently, the labor force spends much more time in the production. From Marx’s point of view, that time means more capital for the owners of the means of production, and that creates that workers lose their lives, spending a lot of time in their jobs. That point is not the only aspect of alienation. The line production described by Marx in The Capital chapter and showed at class by the Chaplin’s movie, implies that workers only know an specific part of the line of production, ignoring the whole process of the final product of value. That is a great difference if we compare with the production before the Industrial Revolution and those economic theories which assigned economic value to the whole cycle of production mainly for those productions which implied only one or two people.
Today, we may find many examples of alienation and those aspects described above.
During the last months the Meatpacking Plants in Iowa were named and showed by the news as a consequence of the Immigration raids of illegal people who were working there. The issue is that during the 90s the meatpacking plants started to employ immigrants because of the hard conditions of labor that characterized that production. The job in those plants implies between eight and twelve ours of work in bad and unhealthy conditions. Incredibly, that phenomenon is not new and we may find that in 1906 Upton Sinclair published the famous novel “The Jungle” which described the same conditions of labor that we may find today. The workers have to stay in both sides of the production line cutting pieces of meat with an amazing speed of the line. There no exists communication among during the labor time and they have to ask if they have any primary needs and they are exposed to 40 degrees F. I have hade the opportunity to interview some of the workers and I have found that many of them have health problems as a consequence of those jobs. That mean of production not only create alienation between humans and nature, but also create alienation between humans and society, being part of the unknown voices of our society. That aspect is worse if we consider that most of those workers have not legal documents. That means that the alienation exists not only in their jobs, but also in other social spheres, being ignored by the whole community.
The term of alienation arose in a particular historical context. The Industrial Revolution changed most of the daily and social routines, increasing the time and the mechanization of work. The new models of labor implemented by industries were accompanied by the phenomenon of the urbanization. Those aspects of the social organization changed the treadmill of production creating new social orders not only in the social sphere but also in the familiar or domestic ones. Industrialization and mechanization of labor changed the composition of families and incorporated women in the labor force. That particular aspect would change the family model existed until the beginning of the nineteenth century. The labor time created a great temporal dependency between people and their jobs and daily routines. Those changes were described by Marx who stated an anthropological model of social nature which implied that human being was divided and alienated of its natural state as a consequence of political and economic development.
Marx’s concept of alienation has to be contextualized in his description of social organization and his definition about class or political organization, identifying two main spheres, those who are the owners of the production means (bourgeoisie) and those who are workers (proletarians) or labor force. The conception of social organization is described with certain lack of history about those concepts, but in certain manner illustrates the modern political and economic order characterized by the capitalism. Those who have capital are part of the spheres of power and owners of the means of production. According to Marx and in contrary of other economic theories such as David Ricardo, the economic value earned by the bourgeoisie is taken from the plus-value of the labor force. That means that the capitalist will try to increase the time of work in order to get more money or capital. Consequently, the labor force spends much more time in the production. From Marx’s point of view, that time means more capital for the owners of the means of production, and that creates that workers lose their lives, spending a lot of time in their jobs. That point is not the only aspect of alienation. The line production described by Marx in The Capital chapter and showed at class by the Chaplin’s movie, implies that workers only know an specific part of the line of production, ignoring the whole process of the final product of value. That is a great difference if we compare with the production before the Industrial Revolution and those economic theories which assigned economic value to the whole cycle of production mainly for those productions which implied only one or two people.
Today, we may find many examples of alienation and those aspects described above.
During the last months the Meatpacking Plants in Iowa were named and showed by the news as a consequence of the Immigration raids of illegal people who were working there. The issue is that during the 90s the meatpacking plants started to employ immigrants because of the hard conditions of labor that characterized that production. The job in those plants implies between eight and twelve ours of work in bad and unhealthy conditions. Incredibly, that phenomenon is not new and we may find that in 1906 Upton Sinclair published the famous novel “The Jungle” which described the same conditions of labor that we may find today. The workers have to stay in both sides of the production line cutting pieces of meat with an amazing speed of the line. There no exists communication among during the labor time and they have to ask if they have any primary needs and they are exposed to 40 degrees F. I have hade the opportunity to interview some of the workers and I have found that many of them have health problems as a consequence of those jobs. That mean of production not only create alienation between humans and nature, but also create alienation between humans and society, being part of the unknown voices of our society. That aspect is worse if we consider that most of those workers have not legal documents. That means that the alienation exists not only in their jobs, but also in other social spheres, being ignored by the whole community.
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