tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post7216973607042259201..comments2024-01-24T05:45:35.322-05:00Comments on imagining history: dreaming, againDaniel MacDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07546752099879983120noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post-65692427383296684102009-10-06T22:15:26.503-04:002009-10-06T22:15:26.503-04:00EDIT
So, I went too far in saying proletarianizat...EDIT<br /><br />So, I went too far in saying proletarianization is rooted in individualism. But I do definitely THINK that the legal understanding of the proletarian, in terms of the perceptions of the dominant class, is one of individualistic relationships between worker and boss.Daniel MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546752099879983120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post-17947340101603199202009-10-06T22:14:05.627-04:002009-10-06T22:14:05.627-04:00Harry,
Thanks for your comment. Proletarianizatio...Harry,<br /><br />Thanks for your comment. Proletarianization has many dimensions, one of which is the creation of a "free" labor force. I mean "free" in the sense that you have short contracts that allows capital to hire and fire without any legal constraints. It also means, in a sense, giving workers the option of exit to look for a better job somewhere else. It's the opposite of a feudal organization of work, where the tenants are bound to the land, or slavery, where the people are bound to their owner. I guess this is what I meant when I wrote that there are strains of individualism in proletarianization. But really, that is a capitalist/neoclassical way of speaking about the work relationship instead of trying to understand the workers in the larger economic system. <br /><br />So, I went too far in saying proletarianization is rooted in individualism. But I do definitely like that the legal understanding of the proletarian, in terms of the perceptions of the dominant class, is one of individualistic relationships between worker and boss. <br /><br />So certainly I agree with your point that the creation of the proletariat is part of a larger process in the economy whereby a class is created for capital accumulation through power struggles among those who own the means of production and those who must work for their subsistence. Thanks for the clarification!Daniel MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546752099879983120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post-56949928961100550502009-10-06T21:32:53.974-04:002009-10-06T21:32:53.974-04:00Dan,
Just a clarification: what makes you argue th...Dan,<br />Just a clarification: what makes you argue that the rise of proletarianization is rooted in individualism? It seems to me that on the contrary proletarianization is precisely the demonstration of the opposite phenomenon: namely, that the quick development of industrial capitalism rejects prior individual differences and, by placing rapid masses of individuals in the factory, accelerates the processes of social division of labor.Harryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12436979881539304555noreply@blogger.com