Industrial Revolution Transformations and Marxist Theory

AIT: International Workers Association

As for the Socialists and Anarchists, the Liberals represented the interests of the bourgeoisie and encouraged the problems of the workers. The universalization of industrialization and capitalism throughout the nineteenth century led to the extension of social problems in all countries. The proletariat revolution must be international. British, French, German, and Italian unions formed the International Workers Association in 1864 to promote its creation.

Societal and Economic Shifts

Village Growth

• Rapid growth initially, followed by slow growth afterward.
• Settlement: Shift from rural population dominance to city population dominance, accompanied by transoceanic migration.

Agriculture

• Before: Primarily a means of livelihood.
• After: Became a mirror of production, incorporating technical improvements and fertilizer, increasing production output.

Industry

• Before: Work was done entirely by hand; artisans handled all parts of the process.
• After: Factories and machines appeared; each worker specialized in one task, leading to the division of labor.

Society

Society transformed from a largely illiterate structure to one defined by economic classes and significant economic inequalities based on money.

Industrial Revolutions

First Revolution (c. 1760)

• Sectors: Textile and steel.
• Energy Sources: Coal and steam.
• Transport & Communications: Railways.

Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1870)

• Leading Sectors: Chemical, electrical, and metallurgy.
• Energy Sources: Petroleum and electricity.
• Transport & Communications: Underground tram, telephone, and telegraph; radio emerged later.

Marxism: Core Concepts

Origins and Influences

In the mid-nineteenth century, Marx and Engels sought to advance beyond earlier socialists, whom they defined as "utopian." They started from the idea that the only way for workers to reject their situation was through overthrowing the capitalist system.

Key Influences on Marx's Thought

1. Philosophy: Hegel's dialectic design of history.
2. Economics: British economists and their knowledge of the functioning of the capitalist system.
3. Labor Movements: Contact with workers' struggles and the experiences of previous socialist movements.

Analysis of Historical Materialism

Marx's historical materialism provided a framework for understanding history:

1. The relationships between men that give meaning to history.
2. History is a dialectical process in continuous transformation and development.
3. The engine driving historical change is the struggle of classes—the conflict between oppressed and oppressor classes.
4. The history of mankind is fundamentally the history of the relations of production (the mode of production).

Analysis of Capitalist Economics

Marx argued that industrial society is based on the exploitation of workers by capitalists. Capitalists derive a higher and disproportionate benefit from the labor situation compared to the workers.