The Blue Books as Ethnography The figure of the factory inspector is set out by Marx, primarily in “The Working Day” chapter of Capital, volume one, not as an uncritically approved person of unassailable credentials, but as an advocate of investigation that does a service for the working class “that should never be forgotten”. The Factory Inspector in the Blue Books, the parliamentary annual reports, most often named as Leonard Horner, was read by Marx as raw material for his examination of conditions in the industrial factories of 19th Century capitalism. These were the source texts for Marx’s commentary on the struggles over wages, hours, child labour and education and the introduction of the Factory Acts, which ensured a modicum of education …show more content…
He carried on a life-long contest [Kampf, ‘struggle’], not only with the embittered manufacturers, but also with the Cabinet, to whom the number of votes given by the masters in the lower house, was a matter of far greater importance that the number of hours worked by the ‘hands’ in the mills (Marx1976b, 334, LW225) […] the ruthless factory inspector Leonard Horner was again on the spot (ibid. 397, LW285). We might attend to the Blue Books so as to work out the importance of Horner’s reports for the class struggle, if nothing else, offered as a tribute to his memory. But it is also worth looking at Marx’s invocation of Horner, because by showing the “performance” of doing research, and by showing how research might be done, referring to the inspection of factories and the like, Marx's demonstrative and illustrative effort will become clear. It is, as Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak points out, as if Marx wants to conjure a worker-reader that will take on the task of making both analysis and description of themselves, in the midst of their struggle, and to ensure there is a structural and institutionally supported habit of research-factory inspections as a routine that would then support organised worker use of this research (Spivak 1999, 2012). To make use of the reports, though, Marx needs …show more content…
The tracts of looming smoke and gloomy chimney’s witness to Gradgrind informing his daughter she is to be married to the industrialist Josiah Bounderby, well enough show Dickens’ style and effect. But also here the appearance of the Blue Books in a windowless Observatory; -of course there are windows, Louisa looks out of them to see the factories-nevertheless, the comment on the “research” of the philanthropist is well taken: locked in his room; examining facts. See Gradgrind when he talks to Cissy -Girl number 18, at the school, memorably portrayed by Emma Lewis in the Peter Barnes 1994 BBC
During the labor movement of the 1870’s, Gompers set some time aside to find tune his ideologies on organized labor. He sought an approach to organizing workers through utilizing influences from several different angles. The major influences that provided a large impact on Gompers were that of British trade union principles and certain aspects of the Marxist perspective. Gompers never claimed to be a true Marxist, but he agreed with their emphasis on establishing strong centralized trade unions that can promote growth and structure. He also believed this was the only way to enforce any legislative gains. With this particular revelation in mind, Gompers started from the “ground up” by restructuring the International Cigar Maker’s Union.
Delivered at his October 1886 trial, August Spies, ‘The Address of August Spies” is a primary source document. Spies recites the testimony in response to the accusations put forth against him as result of the Haymarket Affair. It is because Spies was both an active participant and observer in the labor struggle of the era that he is able to capture the tension of the period. In addition, because this account is given from the subjugated person himself, one may presume that it is an effective representation of the time. Nevertheless, these factors do not indicate that his speech is free of all bias. In fact, Spies’ defense is contingent upon highlighting the collective perspective of the laborers and does not address the views of capital. Thus, by presenting just one half of the convictions of the labor struggle, Sp...
During the 19th century, the proletariat was at the mercy of the bourgeoisie for survival. The bourgeoisie imposed conditions that required the proletariat to work under harsh, unsafe, and unhealthy industries. Cities were overcrowded, unsafe, and hazardous due to the many factors including the smoke from the factories that clouded the skies. Earlier, Friederich Engels had described the conditions of the proletariat in the town of Manchester. He saw, “everything which here [aroused] horror and indignation [as] of recent origin which [belonged] to the Industrial Epoch”.1 Not only did the proletariat have to work in unsafe factories but also was doomed to life long misery.
The Industrial Era enabled wealth, prosperity, and advancement in American society. But behind the wealth of a few, the new skyscrapers lining big cities, and the influx of new people, the Industrial Era possessed many dark underbellies, such as labor. Factory owners and industry giants treated their employees poorly, and subjected them to long hours, crowded workspace, and dangerous conditions. This is best exemplified in the New York City’s Triangle factory fire. Often times the middle class reformers, the Progressives, are remembered for their work to ameliorate the working class. These supporters worked hard to cause change, but often the efforts of the factory workers themselves are forgotten. Political and economic change occurred because the poor gave the wealthy and educated people a cause and purpose to fight for. Without the original efforts of the rebellious
“I regard my workpeople just as I regard my machinery...When my machines get old and useless, I reject them and get new, and these people are part of my machinery” (Sands 12). A foreman at a textile mill in Fall River, Massachusetts spoke these words in possibly the worst time during American labor history, the Industrial Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution, large numbers of people in the United States flocked to work in factories where they faced long hours, unsanitary and unsafe conditions and poor wages. Labor unions, or groups of organized workers, formed in the United States to ensure workers the right to a safe workplace and a fair wage in the face of capitalistic factory owners seeking wealth. In exchange, union members owe the responsibility to work diligently and to the best of their abilities or face the failure of their company and the loss of their jobs.
Marx, Karl. Reflections of a Young Man on the Choice of a Profession . : , 1835.
Factory workers were being mistreated while factory owners were careless and lived stress free. Majority of the consumers would work so many hours a day and get paid very little for the week, there was also rough working conditions for adults and as well for young children to work it. During the Industrial Revolution there were some positive and negative effects that affected consumers economically and with their health as well.
Marx expressed many views about the over empowerment of the bourgeoisies in The Communists Manifesto. Marx believed that the working class was not getting paid what they deserved for the quality of work that they were producing. Marx thought that the all workers should be paid the same rather than by social position. For instance, Marx thought that a mineworker should be paid as much as a doctor. Marx states, ?The average price of w...
Marx states that the bourgeoisie not only took advantage of the proletariat through a horrible ratio of wages to labor, but also through other atrocities; he claims that it was common pract...
Whilst in comparison the middle class, who were the indirect architects of the problem, continue to widen the gap between the two classes, a theme which is encapsulated by Marx as he writes ‘[the proletariat] are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overlooker, and, above all, by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself.’
Karl Marx’s article titled Estranged Labor as found in his 1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts pays significant attention to the political economic system, which is commonly referred to capitalism. He further delves into nature of the political economy with a keen focus on how it has negatively impacted the worker or laborer. Therefore, the laborer forms the subject of his critical and detailed analysis as tries demonstrates the ill nature of the political economy. To start with Karl Marx portrays how the political economy as presented by its proponents has led to emergence of two distinct classes in society; the class of property owners and on the other hand, the class of property less workers. According to Karl Marx (2004), proponents of the political economy have introduced concepts such as private property and competition indicating without providing any form of analytical explanation but rather just expecting the society to embrace and apply such concepts. In particular, political economists have failed to provide a comprehensive explanation for division that has been established between capital and labor. Estranged Labor clearly depicts Marx’s dissatisfaction as well as disapproval towards the political economy indicating that proponents of such a system want the masses to blindly follow it without any form of intellectual or practical explanation. One area that Karl Marx demonstrates his distaste and disappointment in the article is worker or the laborer and how the worker sinks to not just a commodity but rather a wretched commodity (Marx, 2004). This is critical analysis of Karl Marx concept or phenomenon on the alienation of the worker as predicted in Estranged Labor in several aspects and how these concepts are ...
The idea of the class struggle is central to both Marx and Darwin's theories. For Marx, it is nothing more than the offspring of capitalist exploitation. This struggle existed long before Marx came into existence. In this struggle, the workers, being exploited, would think about and demand another system where exploitation would be nonexistent. However, since they were at the '...
To be, the names Charles Dickens picks for each character always either has a word within the characters name that describes the character or rather gives a feel of the name. Thomas Gradgrind is the main character in this story. Gradgrind teaches and educates children in this novel all based around the cold hard facts and nothing else. Anything else said does not have any meaning to him the only ...
Charles Dickens is one of the most famous writers of the Victorian Age. This period is known for industrialization which brought about many problems. Workers were trying to fight for the rights which were taken from them. Dickens depicts this struggle in many of his works. In Hard Times he focuses on the new way of thinking, a result of the development of technology. The reader is introduced to the new philosophy applied to the upbringing of Victorian children, represented by Thomas Gradgrind and his off spring. This type of education had many negative effects on these young minds. One of them is dehumanization which is noticeable in the acts of Louisa and Tom Gradgrind. This research paper is going to focus on Dickens’ portrait of the Gradgrinds’ education and its
Weng, Frank, ‘On Freedom and Progress: Comparing Marx and Mill’, Student Pulse, 11 (2013), nr.5.