global problems and the culture of capitalism ir 204
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CHAPTER 2 THE LABORER IN THE CULTURE
OF CAPITALISM
Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism
CHAPTER 2 THE LABORER IN THE CULTURE
OF CAPITALISM
Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism
Three main categories of people in
the culture of Capitalism
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
• Person or business entity that desires to make a profit
• Invests money • Provides the money to
get the production of goods
Capitalist
• Performs the work/labor needed to produce the goods
• Sole means of support comes from the sale of their labor
Laborer
• Purchase goods and services
Consumer
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Elements of Capitalism Baptism of Money
The Construction, Anatomy and Characteristics of the working class
Elements of Capitalism
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
5 Elements of Capitalism 1. Commodities (C) – something of use, advantage
or value 2 types:
Capital Goods (C)
Consumer Goods (C’)
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
5 Elements of Capitalism…cont
2. Money (M) – standard means of exchange Money Invested (M’)
3. Labor Power (lp) - work that is needed to transform one type of commodity into another 4. Means of Production (mp) – raw materials and means of labor 5. Production (p) - combination of lp and mp to produce commodities
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Types of Values in Commodities:
• Usefulness of an object
• Commodities for people to use
Use Value
• Goods that are obtained not for use but for exchange or for money/profit (m’)
Exchange Value
C → C’
M→ C’
M→C →M’
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Lp and Mp as contributor to fully developed capitalism :
MO
NE
Y
M C
API
TA L
GO
OD
S
C PR
OD
UC
TIO
N
Por MP/LP
CO
NSU
ME
R
GO
OD
S
C’
MO
NE
Y IN
VE
STE
D
(PR
OFI
T)
M’
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
CYCLE OF CAPITALIST PRODUCTION
C(mp/lp) (Production)
C’ (Product)
M’ (Sale)
M (Money/Investment)
C = Commodities (Capital goods)
C’ = Commodities (Consumer goods)
Mp = Means of production (textiles, factories, machines)
Lp = people who design, assemble the product
M = Money invested
M’= Money invested plus money earned(profit)
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
THE BLACK BOX
Money (M) Investments (Input) Profits (Output)
More Money (M’)
The Black Box
The Black Box can be anything from a bank account, insurance policy, to a stock portfolio or shares from corporations
The Baptism of Money
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
The Baptism of Money
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Karl Marx refers to commodity fetishism as the sense of excessive reverence for commodities or money. He also referred commodities as fetishes because they conceal and mask the exploitation of labor, land and people.
The Construction and Anatomy of the Working Class
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
“ The consumer may drive the culture of capitalism,
but WITHOUT the laborer, there would be no
commodities to consume”
Characteristics of the Working Class
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Labor Mobility
Disciplined and
Controlled
Segmented
Militant
Characteristics of the Working Class
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Labor Mobility
• Members of this class were by necessity mobile, free to move to wherever workers are needed, unhampered by property or family connections.
• Laborers were mobile because they had been forced off their land or the products they produced were no longer in demand.
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
Emigrated Permanently Agricultural laborers Others
Characteristics of the Working Class
Italian migrants from 1860 – 1901
Characteristics of the Working Class
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Segmentation
• Members of this class were divided, or segmented by race, religion, ethnicity, age and gender.
Two categories: 1. Labor Aristocracy – workers who
often benefit from the profits of the capitalists; benefits through political influence and union organization
2. Workers/day laborers - accept lower wages and less secure jobs
Characteristics of the Working Class
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Discipline and Control
• Members of this class were being disciplined to a new concept of time
• Time was a necessity that should
not be wasted
• In the middle of the 19th century supervision of labor, fines, bells and clocks, money incentives, preaching and schooling , a new TIME discipline was imposed on society and on the laborer
Characteristics of the Working Class
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Militant and Resistant
• Members of this class were characterized by a new militancy and was close to being seen as WORLD REVOLUTION
• Revolutions were an expression of
developing patterns of conflict between the rich and the poor
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Characteristics of the Working Class
Jean –Baptise Say(France), David Ricardo &Thomas Malthus (England)
• Argued that the poor had only themselves to blame for their condition
Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Robert Owen, Henri Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier
• Blamed the exploitation of labor for poverty
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
According to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , SOCIETY WAS DIVIDED INTO 2 CLASSES:
BOURGEOISIE
• Middle Class or the ruling class • Consists of capitalists ,
manufacturers, bankers and other employees
• Owns the means of production
PROLETARIAT • Class of wage earners or
industrial workers • Does not possess any property;
must sell labor to survive
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
The Growth of Overseas Assembly Plants
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
The Growth of Overseas Assembly Plants
Maximize profits
> Maximize surplus value of labor
>Pay workers as little as possible
> Get laborer to produce more in the same period of time
Keep labor costs down
> Import Labor from peripheral areas >Hired inmates as laborers >Slave labor
>Free trade zones
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
The Growth of Overseas Assembly Plants
* *Poor working conditions * Low pay of laborers *Discouraged formation on unions * Loose environmental regulations(degradation) *Abandoned old site plants(Unemployment) * Immorality *poor Family values
Companies compete w/ other manufacturers *Helped 3rd world countries (employment) *Consumers pay less for goods *Investors get higher return *Women were employed
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism
Conclusion
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism