caffentzis - from capitalist crises to proletarian slavery - an introduction to class struggle in...

7/27/2019 Caffentzis - From Capitalist Crises to Proletarian Slavery - An Introduction to Class Struggle in the US, 1973-1998

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chapter two

From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

An Introduction to Class Struggle in the US, 197!199"

Slavery is not one type o# domination and e$ploitation among others, not

merely an aspect o# one %ygone phase o# history& Slavery is the primary and

primordial relation o# e$ploitation, that #orm out o# which ser#dom and wage

la%or arise, and that #orm toward which the master always strives' only #orce

can compel the master to #orgo the use o# slaves& (hence the many )ends )

o# slavery, and its many re%irths&

*Pierre +oces, Medieval Slavery and Liberation -19"./

Among 0e$ican activists the e$istence o# class struggle in the US is at %est an

hypothesis deduci%le #rom 0ar$ist a$ioms, %ut it one o#ten resisted %y empirical

reality& (here are the anti!capitalist parties and the revolutionary worers and

peasants armies that #ill the history %oos in the Americas, urope and Asia2 3hey

certainly are not to %e #ound in recent US history& 4evertheless, class struggle in the

US is a daily e$perience&1 In this essay, I present a schematic history o# this struggle

during the 197!199" period, stressing those elements that are most important #or the

creation o# cross!%order networs o# struggle, and the #orging o# a common history

uniting the US and 0e$ican proletariat&

3he Fal l

3he winter o# 199" is a time o# capitalist triumphalism in the US& 3he stoc maret

is %ooming, it is the seventh year o# capitalist e$pansion, corporate pro#its are

reaching new highs, while interest rates and unemployment are reaching lows not

touched since the early 1975s& 3he situation is so unusual that a new species o#

economist is appearing on the #inancial pages %usiness 6ournals claiming to have

discovered a miracle& 3hese )4ew conomy economists hypothesi8e that advanced

www.radicalpolYtics.org 28


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George Caffentzis From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

capitalist economies lie the US can continue to grow without igniting in#lation

%ecause o# the )hidden productivity gains provided %y the computeri8ation o# all

areas o# production and circulation& 3he old contradiction %etween growth and

in#lation is now history, it seems, and the new technology is %eing hailed as the

systems healer&.

:owever, a glance at the condition o# the waged woring class -woring with or

without the computer/, over the last ;uarter century, ;uicly reveals the material %asis

#or capitals triumphs& In 197!7< the US woring class reached its historic pea o#

power measured statistically& Since then, the real wage, hours o# wor, security o#

employment, share o# the total social product, capacity to strie, average level o#

employment have constantly and, at times, dramatically deteriorated& In 197< the

num%er o# stries reached a new historic high, a#ter many years when stries were

common in most large industries& =y the 19"5s, however, stries in these industries

had nearly disappeared and 199> had the lowest level o# strie activity since the early

19.5s& Again, in Fe%ruary 199", unemployment reached a )historical low, ?, a#ter

seven years o# capitalist e$pansion@ %ut it is #orgotten that such a level o#

unemployment would have %een considered a sign o# recession in the 195s and

would have called #or e$traordinary macro!economic measures to counter its

conse;uences& Consider also the issue o# )wage dispersion, i&e&, the di##erence

%etween the wages o# the highest and lowest paid worers, which is a rough, o%6ective

measure o# woring class solidarity& In the early 1975s )wage dispersion was at one

o# its lowest levels in US history, %ut the 1995s have witnessed the highest levels o#

wage dispersion ever in post!((II US class history& 3he wage gap %etween the %est

paid male worers and the least paid male worers rose #rom more than B to more

than times& 3he most important change, however, can %een seen in the pro#it ratio&

3he 1975s saw a ma6or, across the %oard decline in pro#its& =etween 195s and early 1975s, the shortening o# wor hours, the pro#its

crisis, and wage dispersion had continued, capitalism in the US would have collapsed&

3his threat o# collapse was not con#ined to the US& Similar trends were developing in

urope, the ma6or alternative site o# US capitals investment and pro#it& ngland and

Italy in 197!197


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A loo at the condition o# unwaged worers in the US shows a parallel story o#

triumph and decline& 3he struggle o# women against unpaid la%or in the home in a

capitalist economy has #orced %oth the government and the 0ar$ists to con#ront the

value!productivity o# the largely womens la%or involved into the reproduction o# la%or

power on a daily and generational %asis& 3his wor had historically %een unpaid in the

US, where there were not even the small )#amily allowances that were e$perimented

with %y some uropean governments a#ter ((II& =ut in the 19>5s, the wel#are

movement largely lead %y %lac women %rought together the demands o# the )=lac

Power movement and the #eminist demands #or the recognition o# womens wor& =y

the late 19>5s the rights o# poor, unsupported women to some #orm o# payment #or

their wor o# raising children was %eing recogni8ed as a )wel#are entitlement %y the

national government&

In response to the struggles o# women these payments grew throughout the 19>5s

and %y the early 1975s the 4i$on Administration was discussing a plan #or a

)guaranteed national wage that would regulari8e a nationally agreed upon %ottom to

all citi8ens income&3hese discussions signaled an immense crisis #or capital, %ecause

one o# greatest sources o# pro#it arises #rom its a%ility to mae the woring class %ear

the cost #or its own reproduction on a daily and a generational %asis& 3he guaranteed

income and the other aspects o# the Dwel#are state, -e&g&, the creation o# a

nationali8ed medical care system #or the elderly, 0edicare, in 19>/ threatened this

immense source o# pro#it and e$ploitation& 3his development ended a%ruptly in the

mid!1975s& =y the summer o# 199> the national government had moved so #ar #rom

the )guaranteed income #or all as to e$plicitly legislate that it was no longer

guaranteeing anypayment to women -poor or not/ #or the wor they do in reproducing

the la%or power o# the #uture&

3he class struggle in the 19>5s and early 1975s which led to the historic threat to

capitalist accumulation did not tae place under the direction o# a mass, ideologically

identi#ied anti!capitalist party& =ut it did see an immense production o# theoretical and

agitational literature concerning the nature o# capital -the 4ew Ee#t/, #eminism, racism

in all its #orms and targets -against %lacs, indigenous peoples, :ispanics, Asians/,

homopho%ia, se$uality, and the environment& 0ore crucially, it was a%le to e$press its

power in the great ur%an insurrections lead %y %lacs #rom the (atts re%ellion in 19>", ma6or

stries in all the core industriali8ed regions as well as new areas lie agriculture -the

United Farm (orers o# America stries and grape %oycott/ and government -the

national Postal worers strie/, a revolt in the army in Gietnam, stries in the



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university system including a nation!wide shut down a#ter the invasion o# Cam%odia in

1975, the great prison revolts lie Attica in 1971, and the revival o# the #eminist

movement& ven capitalist apologists were %eginning to despair in the early 1975s

and were writing %oos a%out worers with titles lie )(here :ave All the Ho%ots

one2

:ow did the US woring class %oth waged and unwaged, which in the 19>5s and

early 1975s appeared to %e shaing the con#idence o# the most power#ul capitalist

class on the planet, #ind itsel#, a ;uarter century later, more divided, with lower wages,

woring longer hours, and #eeling more powerless and insecure2 :ow was capital a%le

to regain its e;uili%rium and then tae the initiative2 A thorough answer to these

;uestions would re;uire a %oo, %ut in the #ollowing pages I will give a setch o# an

answer&

Hecession

3he #irst response to a period o# growing woring class power was instinctual to

capital' depression, crisis and a re#usal o# investment& 3his did not re;uire much

planning& Any success#ul attac on pro#it will lead to disinvestment, according to the

logic o# the system, and the period %etween 197 and 19" included #ive )recessions,

two o# which were more severe than any since the reat +epression o# the 195s& 3his

rapid!#ire series o# recessions changed what )high and )low unemployment rates

meant& A#ter 19", even though there were two periods o# )e$pansion -19"

and 1991!present/ the lowest the unemployment rate reached was ?*what would

have %een considered a )recession rate o# unemployment in the 195s&

Capitals Counter!Strie' )Hust =elt, )Sca%s, and

)Union!=usting

In previous periods o# unemployment a#ter ((II there was never a large!scale

disruption o# the location o# the #actories and the general geographical distri%ution o#

the %ranches o# industry& Steel was connected with Pitts%urgh, autos with +etroit,

ru%%er with Aron, coal with (est Girginia in the minds o# the worers and capitalists&

ven i# steel, auto, ru%%er worers, and coal miners were laid o## during a )down turn,

they remained in place #or the most part, e$pecting to %e reemployed in the ne$t )up

turn& =ut the crisis o# 197!19" was di##erent& Capital physically dismantled itsel#

and moved to the southern US -or even to industriali8ed 3hird (orld countries lie

0e$ico or South A#rica/, leaving %ehind a )rust %elt stretching #rom Chicago to =oston



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o# a%andoned #actories, steel mills, and woring class neigh%orhoods& 3his planned

)deindustriali8ation o# the traditional manu#acturing areas o# the country had a

pro#ound e##ect on the sel#!con#idence o# the most well paid, and historically most

com%ative strata o# the proletariat& :ow can you strie outside a rusty unused #actory

whose replacement is %eing %uilt a thousand miles away2 ven i# northern worers,

especially %lacs, #ollowed their plants south, how could they reconstruct ties o#

proletarian trust and cooperation with worers they met in the new plant who might

have ties with the or other racist groups2

Capitals campaign to terrori8e the waged woring class into giving up the strie

)weapon had many more dimensions %eside corporations pro#essed and

demonstrated willingness to respond to stries %y simply moving a plant thousands o#

miles away& Earge corporations also %roe one o# the %asic rules o# )la%or relations

wored out in the 195s' the prohi%ition o# using )sca%s, or strie %reaers, or, in the

euphemistic term o# the 19"5s, )replacement worers& 3he hiring o# )sca%s to %rea

stries had %een a standard tactic o# capitalists, %oth large and small, throughout the

late 19th and early .5th century& 3his practice had %een re6ected %y the larger

capitalists as %eing too dangerous in the era o# mass #actories, which re;uired

thousands o# worers and were located in the midst o# woring class neigh%orhoods&

=ut, %eginning with the nation!wide strie o# air tra##ic controllers in 19"1, there was a

revival o# the )sca%, so that today almost every category o# worers stries including

those o# meat pacers, paper worers, coal miners, #arm machinery assem%ly worers,

air tra##ic controllers, pilots, and school teachers have #aced and were de#eated %y a

campaign o# sca%%ing& All throughout the 19"5s there were years!long sieges o#

#actories, mines, and mills that were operating at ma$imum capacity %y striing

worers who impotently demonstrated on the outside& 3hese de#eated stries taught

worers a %itter lesson, and have de#initely reduced their capacity to re6ect the

reduction o# wages and the increase in wor!time demanded %y their %osses& For

e$ample, in 197< there were 5s the large

corporations had wored out an accommodation with the unions in their %ranches o#

industry, %ut %eginning with the crisis o# the mid!1975s this accommodation went into

crisis& For e$ample, when a steel mill or a coal mine was moved to a new location, the

corporation would o#ten not recogni8e the older union as the %argaining agent #or the



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worers in the new location& 0oreover, since companies o#ten moved their new plants

to states in the South or Southwest which had laws that hindered unioni8ation, it was

relatively easy #or managers specially trained in )union %usting tactics -taught at a

very high price %y a new %reed o# )aggressive management e$perts/ to su%vert their

new worers attempts to unioni8e and create the solidarity re;uired to organi8e a

strie& 3he result was a dramatic decline in union mem%ership, e&g&, in 197< a%out

.? o# the employees in the private sector were union mem%ers, in 199< only a%out

1.? were in unions&

Along with these planned attacs on the waged woring class most power#ul

weapon on the #actory level, there was also an attac %y the state& In the 195s and

19>5s, unemployment %ene#its, )#ood stamps and other #orms o# income availa%le to

worers that were laid o## were made availa%le to waged worers who were on strie

#or a long time& In the 19"5s and 1995s these %ene#its were systematically attaced&

ither they were #ormally denied to striers or they were severely cut& Conse;uently, i#

worers went on strie in the post!197 period they increasingly #aced immediate

poverty leavened %y small payments #rom strie #unds and solidarity #unds&

3he +ecompos ition o# (or

3he attac on the waged woring class in the large #actories, mills and mines did

not end with eliminating its capacity to #ormally stop wor and strie& (orers can

re#use wor -in order to demand higher wages, less wor!time, and a reduction in the

intensity o# wor/ within the #actory, on the )shop #loor, o#ten more e##ectively than %y

#ormally striing& =y the 19>5s, #or e$ample, assem%ly line worers had developed

very sophisticated techni;ues o# slowing down the line to protest management

practices and to tae control o# their woring conditions& 3his ;uiet insurrection within

the plant -called )counter!planning #rom the shop #loor/ was more terri#ying to the

capitalist than the picet lines outside it& For stries are open declarations o# war

operating %y #i$ed rules, %ut this organi8ed insu%ordination within the plant was more

open!ended in its threat to the sovereignty o# capital& (hat could %e done a%out it2

Again the #irst step was instinctual to capital' increase mechani8ation and surveillance&

As 0ar$ wrote in Capital, machines are weapons o# war against the power o#worers, and the immediate response to any increase o# worers power is to introduce

machines to replace worers, to reduce the sill necessary to do the wor, or to

su%vert worers capacity to re#use wor on the 6o%&>3he machines and techni;ues

have varied with the period, #rom the Arwrights )mule and the steam engine o# the



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19th century, to electri#ication and the internal com%ustion engine o# the early .5th

century, to the introduction o# Computeri8ation and Ho%otics in the late .5th century&

3he latter innovations have led to a new source o# an$iety #or the worer,)downsi8ing&7In the past, one #eared %eing laid o## #rom a 6o% %ecause o# a down!turn

in the %usiness cycle and a reduction in the demand #or the commodity one helped

produce& 4ormally, i# )%usiness was good, there would %e no reason to %e concerned

a%out ones 6o% and one could use the moment to demand higher wages and %etter

woring conditions& =ut this )grace period #or internal %argaining and struggle with

the %oss is increasingly under attac, %ecause even during a %oom time the worer

can %e threatened with the introduction o# a computeri8ed simulation o# much o#

hisJher wor or even a complete ro%otici8ed replacement& Since the computer is a

universal machine that can simulate any pattern!producing activity, almost any worer

can %e threatened with )downsi8ing, i&e&, a dramatic change in or even elimination o#

their assigned wor without a reduction in the demand #or their product, conse;uently

worers power to use )good times to mae new demands and to organi8e greater

control o# their wor!li#e is threatened& =ut i# )%ad times are not propitious moments,

and i# )good times are increasingly not propitious either, then what times are %est #or

putting #orth woring class demands2

Another classical method #or su%verting internal worer insu%ordination is

increased surveillance& Again this is nothing new& From the #ormation o# the #actory on

the model o# the prison in the late 1"th century, to 3aylorism in the late 19th century,

to Fordism in the early .5th century, the techni;ues #or monitoring wor, controlling itsmotion, detecting deviations #rom the norm and crushing insu%ordination has %een at

the core o# the capitalist science o# production& Since the mid!1975s a whole set o#

)new practices have %een introduced in all the ma6or industrial %ranches o#ten

associated with apanese management& From );uality circles, to )6ust!in!time

production, to )total ;uality control, these so!called Post!Fordist techni;ues are no

more than new ways #or the capitalists to create #orms o# surveillance and spying in

the process o# production and to introduce a continual complicity %etween elements o#

the woring class and management& As with some o# the previous advances in

)management science they have proved initially success#ul, %ut then in time the

con#lictual class relation returns to the #ore %ecause the proletariat learns to create a

counter!surveillance and su%vert complicity in its rans& =ut as this has %een the initial

period o# their introduction, many o# these techni;ues have proven e##ective&"



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Changes in the Composition o# the (aged (oring

Class' Immigration and ender

3hese changes in the location and #orm o# wor have %een crucial in thwarting themilitancy o# waged worers& =ut there were other, e;ually important, %ut more

am%iguous #actors that will help e$plain the collapse o# many past, %ut pro%lematic

%astions o# woring class strength in the US&

3o understand these #actors one must re#lect on three decisive moments in the

#ormation o# the US proletariat& 3he #irst two are the genocide o# the indigenous people

and the massive enslavement o# A#ricans in the US territory and the third is the wave

o# immigration #rom urope and Asia in the late 19th and early .5th centuries& 3he

a%ility o# US capital to move large ;uantities o# la%or power is rooted in the success o#

the genocidal elimination o# the indigenous people and their a%ility to divide uropean

and Asian immigrants against each other, %ut more crucially against the historically

most com%ative element o# the woring class, the descendants o# the A#rican slaves&

3hese moments de#ined the woring class composition through ((II, %ut in the 195s

and early 19>5s one o# the most important revolutions in US woring class history

occurred' the %lac woring class success#ully challenged and destroyed the legal

apartheid they #aced& 3his revolution opened the door #or the increasing

homogeni8ation o# the woring class in terms o# wages, %ecause the %lacs, who were

traditionally on the %ottom o# the wage ladder, were a%le to increase their wages&

Hacism*the comple$ o# techni;ues used to divide the woring class according to

physiognomic #actors*#inally %egan to %e con#ronted& 3he years %etween 19> and197 were )the second Heconstruction -the #irst Heconstruction %eing the short

period a#ter the Civil (ar when the US government intervened to e$tend the voting

and civil rights o# the li%erated slaves/&

A second revolution also too place at the same time' the remaining indigenous

peoples %egan to create uni#ied organi8ation and to challenge their legal status as

)wards o# the state& 3hey %egan to demand the strict implementation o# treaties

concluded in the 19th century and to re#use their dependency on the state& 3his new

presence o# the indigenous peoples on the historical stage put on the proletariat o#

uropean origin on trial #or their previous complicity in the genocide&

It was at this revolutionary moment in the mid!19>5s that US capital reversed its

very restrictive immigration policy& In the thirty years since then, almost .5 million

new immigrants legally arrived #rom 0e$ico, Central America, the Cari%%ean, Gietnam,

Cam%odia, South orea, China, India, and A#rica& +riven to the US %y wars -#rom



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Gietnam and Cam%odia, to l Salvador, uatemala, and 4icaragua/, and structural

ad6ustment policies -0e$ico, the Cari%%ean, A#rica/, these new immigrants were

politically sophisticated, %ut also desperately needed waged employment, and almost

any wage would do& Since most o# these immigrants were also %etween 1" and >

years o# age, they entered directly into the US wage la%or #orce o# a little more than

155 million& ven though most o# these immigrants too low!waged 6o%s they

inevita%ly added to the wage pressure on the non!immigrant low!waged worers

especially& 3his new immigrant wave not only created new racial divisions that capital

could play with, it also %egan to di##use the A#ricanJuropean, slave!

descendedJimmigrant!descended, %lacJwhite, divisions that had %een the %asic racial

#ulcrum in the division o# the US woring class #rom its origin&

Kn the other side, the new immigrants came #rom environments that had already

con#ronted the most modern #orms o# capitalist e$ploitation, conse;uently their arrival

added a new militancy and sophistication in the US proletariat that will have an

enormous impact in the #uture& =ut most immediately they created the %asis o# the

revival o# low waged )sweat shop industry in the US, especially in te$tiles, sporting

goods assem%ly, and agricultural processing industries&

3he second great change in the composition o# the waged woring class was the

increasing presence o# women& From the 19th century te$tile mills to the airplane

assem%ly lines o# ((II, women were a crucial part o# the waged woring class& =ut

6ust as with the %lacs, they were treated as the ultimate reserve army o# industry %y

capital and as second!class citi8ens %y unions& )East hired, #irst #ired, applied to %oth&=ut %eginning in the late 19>5s the rate o# #emale la%or maret participation increased

consistently and, over the last ;uarter century, has trans#ormed all layers o#

employment& For e$ample, the percentage o# women in the total waged wor #orce in

199 was ? while in 19>5 it was ?@ similarly the la%or participation rate o#

women in 19>5 was 7? while in 199 it was "&9?& 3his too had an am%ivalent

impact on the wage la%or maret& Kn the one side, since women enter into the #actory

or the o##ice in the #ace o# gender discrimination, they o##er an even greater

opportunity #or e$ploitation than men& 0oreover, since women were still largely doing

the housewor they had traditionally done even though they had %ecome waged

worers, capital was a%le to continue accumulating the unwaged part o# their woring

day -housewor/, while adding to it the surplus value o# women in the waged part o#

their woring day&9=ut on the other side, the introduction o# a second wage in many

US woring class households has made it possi%le to survive the #all o# real wages

without entering into poverty& 0ore importantly, the womens waged wor has at least



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made it possi%le #or many women to escape ;uasi!slavery in violent marriages they

were o#ten doomed to %e#ore&

3he Internationa li8ation o# Capital'

3he $port o# Commodities and the $port o# Capital

(e have %een e$amining the most immediate determinates o# the attac on wages

and the length o# the wor day in the production cycle' the organi8ation o# wor, the

capacity to strie and the composition o# the woring class& Another, less immediate,

%ut e;ually e##ective cause is in the circulation sphere' the e$port o# commodities and

capital& It has %een given a new prominence in the 1995s as #oreign direct investment

throughout the world has risen #rom L.55 %illion in 1995 to L1 %illion in 199 while

the growth o# international trade has consistently out paced world economic growth

since the 19>5s -e&g&, the +Ps o# )high income economies grew %y .&9? per year

%etween 19"5!199 while their imports and e$ports increased %y &? per year/& It

has a new name as well, )glo%ali8ation, which has %ecome the )%u88 word o# the

decade& =ut the e$port o# commodities and capital has %een an age!old )escape

mechanism #rom the class struggle, #or it allows capitalists to escape worers %oth

physically and politically& (hen e$port o# commodities %ecomes a central o%6ective o#

capitalists, they %ecome less concerned with the capacity o# their worers to consume

their products& (hen the e$port o# capital %ecomes an easy option and the

e$ploitation o# worers outside o# the national economy is a common mode o#

capitalist %ehavior, then the ;uality o# reproduction o# the national woring class is

even less o# a concern&

3he period %etween 197 and 199" has %een one where there was a #undamental

shi#t in US capitals #ocus #rom a domestic!national to an e$port!glo%al economy& A

reader in 0e$ico or other parts o# :ispanic America might %e surprised %y this claim,

given the enormous impact the US has had on their economic li#e& =ut the continental

si8e and, a#ter the mid!19th century, demographic growth o# the US has allowed US

capital to have its core circulatory interest in the national territorial limits up until

recently& A relatively small amount o# the 4P was accounted #or %y e$port industries

up until the 19"5s and 1995s, and even today only a%out 1.? o# US production is

e$ported -compared with only a%out ? o# +P in 19>5/& =ut the percentage o# US

corporate pro#its created in #oreign #acilities has grown dramatically #rom a%out ? in

195 to .5? in 1995& 3his shi#t has already had enormous conse;uences on the class

struggle in the US&



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3he most o%vious impact o# the new e$port regime on the class struggle has %een

in the e$port o# capital& For increasingly when worers made demands, capitalists

respond %y threatening to e$port their plants and o##ices outside o# the US& In the past

these threats might have %een taen lightly, %ut no more& 3here are a num%er o#

reasons #or the new#ound seriousness o# these threats& First, there are now many more

places where capital can sa#ely %e e$ported to -in the #orm o# #oreign direct

investment/& 3he worldwide impact o# structural ad6ustment programs imposed %y the

I0F and the (orld =an has now changed the legal structure o# most o# the nations o#

Asia, the Americas and A#rica in such a way that the rights o# #oreign capital are now

supreme& Second, a new continental terrain -#rom =erlin to =ei6ing/ and %illions o#

worers has %ecome open to direct e$ploitation %y US capital since the collapse o# the

socialist regimes in astern urope and the #ormer Soviet Union, and the cautious

)opening to #oreign capital o# the nations in Asia still ruled %y e$isting communist!

parties -China and Gietnam/& Kne can say that since the early 19"5s the num%er o#

potential worers directly e$ploita%le %y US capital has increased %y appro$imately

three %illion& 3hird, an industrial proletariat has now taen shape in the ma6ority o#

regions throughout the planet, conse;uently all the costs o# producing such a

proletariat do not need to %e %orne %y the investing #oreign company& Capitalists are

not a%ove pointing out to US worers maing L1 an hour in a manu#acturing plants

that, with a little inconvenience, this plant could %e e$ported to a country where

worers, almost e;ually prepared, are willing to wor #or less than a L1 an hour& 3he

reality o# this threat is not lost on worers and their organi8ations&

3here are certainly #ew US laws that hinder the movement o# US capital %eyond the

national %orders -e$cept #or the various sanctions imposed on Cu%a, Ira;, Ei%ya, and

Iran/ and that put an e$port ta$ on the outward #low o# capital& Kn the contrary, the

o%sessive drive o# the most power#ul elements o# US capital on the governmental level

has %een to reduce any resistance to outward capital #lows and any restrictions to the

penetration o# #oreign %arriers& 3he eneral Agreement on 3ari##s and 3rade -A33/, its

progeny the (orld 3rade Krgani8ation -(3K/ and most importantly, the 4orth

American Free 3rade Agreement -4AF3A/, and the pro6ected 0ultilateral Agreement on

Investment -0AI/ are all concrete products o# this drive that has given to US capital a

legal mandate to threaten any insu%ordination o# US worers not only with a capital!strie -a halting o# production/, or a campaign o# strie!%reaing -continuing

production with sca%s/, %ut with the continuation o# production in a sa#e #oreign

environment where wages are a #raction o# the present US wage&15



12/24


3his power to spatially move %eyond the reach o# woring class threats is

intensi#ied %y the increase o# the e$port #ocus o# the capital that remains in the

territorial US& Knce e$port!oriented industry is widespread, a num%er o# #actors

a##ecting the %alance o# class #orces come to the #ore& First, the old Fordist ma$im ! the

worers in an auto plant should %e a%le to %uy an auto ! is made null and void& For i#

the maret #or a capitalists commodity is the woring class or the capitalist class o# a

#oreign country, then the purchasing power o# hisJher own worers is not the

capitalists concern& Conse;uently, the worers cannot use the old eynesian threat

that i# their collective wage demands are re6ected, the collective capitalists will not %e

a%le to sell their commodities and %oth will lose& Second, e$port!industrial production

also de!locali8es the worers themselves, #or they recogni8e that the purchasers o# the

products they produce have no connection to them %eyond the use value and the price

o# those commodities& 3heir relation to each other is as a%stract as the mathematical

space that separates them& Conse;uently, the locale o# production is not crucial to its

purchase, it could have %een produced in place M, N, or O as well& 3his #urther

intensi#ies the message o# the capitalist in the arena o# wage negotiation' I do not

needyouin particular, there#ore your particular demands are not %inding on me& 3he

capitalist can move to place M, N, or O, there#ore, threatening hisJher worers without

threatening the maret #or the produced commodity&

$port!oriented production has another side, import!oriented consumption, which

has %een crucial #or decreasing wages and increasing pro#its as well& US worers real

wages were reduced in the 19"5s and 1995s without widespread stries and uprisings

%ecause o# the importation o# clothing, shoes, electronics and agricultural products

made cheap %y the systematic repression o# worers organi8ations in Asia, the

Americas and A#rica& 3orture cham%ers #or union militants and concentration camps #or

protesting students have %ecome the )comparative advantage o# many 3hird (orld

governments looing to attract #oreign direct investment #rom the US and to %ecome

)e$port!oriented& Free enterprise 8ones #rom :aiti to Indonesia now house US #irms

that produce goods #or the US woring class maret without concern #or la%or or

environmental standards& 3he reduction o# the cost o# clothes and #ood has made it

possi%le #or capital not only to reduce wages %ut to also increase the interest charges

#or credit cards and mortgages and rents #or US worers& 3his not only increases theshare o# surplus appropriated %y capital through pro#it, rent and interest, it also

creates a woring class complicity with the e$ploitation o# worers a%road that has

only recently %egun to %e attaced in anti!sweatshop campaigns&



13/24


3he changing composition o# the waged woring class, the de!locali8ation o#

production, the )glo%ali8ation o# production and consumption have not only a##ected

the speci#ic %alance o# #orces %etween woring class and capital& 3hey are proceeding

at such a pace that the very meaning o# the terms )US woring class and )US capital

are %ecoming pro%lematic& For e$ample, i# )US capital means )capital owned %y a US

citi8en and )US woring class means )someone %eing e$ploited %y US capital, then

much o# the capital in the US national territory is not US capital and an enormous part

o# the US woring class are citi8ens o# other countries& 3here were de#initional

pro%lems o# this sort %e#ore, o# course, %ecause the locali8ation o# capital and

e$ploitation is intrinsically di##icult& :owever, these pro%lems are now %ecoming critical

and demanding a new strategy to deal with the actual class composition o# the

woring class and the concrete threats o# contemporary capital& 4ot surprisingly,

however, at this very moment a new )nationalist ideology -#ull o# race hatred,

capitalist toadying, and anti!immigrant/ is %ecoming the rallying cry o# much o# a

proletariat that cannot #ind a way to e##ectively counter the tremendous #orces arrayed

against it without tearing itsel# apart&

3he State and the (oring Class'

3he nd o# eynesianism

In such an environment o# class tension, one might e$pect the state to mediate

more #orce#ully& :owever, there has %een a pro#ound change in the relation o# woring

class, capital, and the state since the early 1975s& 3he state has traditionally %een

concerned with the reproduction o# capital and, as its necessary condition, the

reproduction o# the woring class& 3his concern with the woring class, %eyond merely

repressing its desires, %ecame especially important with the rise o# eynesianism in

the US& )eynesianism is a #orm o# political economy named a#ter the #amous .5th

century nglish economist ohn 0aynard eynes& :is thining in#luenced the US

governments economic policy o# the 195s& It re6ected the view

that capitalism, le#t to itsel#, will lead to a low unemployment, high growth economy&

3hese o%6ectives re;uired that the state try to plan the ma6or varia%les o# a capitalist

economy, #rom the money supply and the wage rate, to the 4P and the pro#it rate&

eynesianism, com%ined with the commitment o# US capital to the development o# a

national maret, created a set o# mediating mechanisms %etween capital and the

woring class, #rom the #ormali8ation o# national wage negotiations and unioni8ation,

to wel#are policies #or poor women and their children, to education policies to train

#uture worers and the management o# US apartheid -called )racial segregation&/ Kne



14/24


o# the most important #unctions o# the eynesian state was the management o# a

parallel growth o# wages and productivity, via its control o# the money supply and the

interest rate& I# wage increases out!ran productivity increases, then an increase in the

money supply with its in#lationary impact #ollowed %y an interest rate increase and its

recessionary conse;uences, would reduce the value o# the wages in line with

productivity& =ut in the late 19>5s and early 1975s this cy%ernetic strategy %egan to

#ail& A sure sign o# this #ailure was the lac o# correlation %etween in#lation and

unemployment -the #irst went up the latter was down, and vis versa/ called )the

Phillips curve in economics& 3he 1975s was a period o# high unemployment and high

in#lation -sometimes called )stag#lation/ whose most important impact was the

dramatic decline o# real wages in the US a#ter 197& 3he commitment to eeping

wages growing in line with productivity growth, a central ma$im o# eynesianism in

practice, was re6ected in the crisis&

3he new political economy hostile to wage increases was euphemistically du%%ed

)in#lation #ighting, since it would not have %een politic to have called it what it really

was' )wage hating and )pro#it loving& 3he theorists o# this policy, however, could

a##ord to %e more open, %ecause they were more a%stract& 3hey de#ined an accepta%le

level o# employment to %e that level which does not increase in#lation& In other words,

accepta%le unemployment rates had nothing to do with worers needs, or even the

national interest& In practice, any increase in wage demands #rom any part o# the

proletariat was immediately used as a prete$t to impose higher interest rates that

would #urther weaen the %argaining power o# worers even in a %oom& Since the real

interest rates would reduce the pace o# %usiness e$pansion and the demand #or la%or

power& Heal interest rates -i&e&, nominal interest rates minus the in#lation rate/

remained at historic highs throughout the 19"5s and 1995s& 3he result' in#lation was

reduced #rom 1.? per annum in the late 1975s to less than ? in the mid!1995s,

while the hourly manu#acturing real wage was reduced %y almost .5? in the same

period& 3his decline in wages and increase in hours too place in two ma6or %usiness

e$pansions -roughly 19"

3he end o# eynesianism could not only %e seen in the in#lation!#ighting )macro!

economic policy outlined a%ove& It also involved a success#ul ta$ revolt %y capital and

capitalists& Corporations %egan a campaign in the 1975s to reduce direct ta$es on their

pro#its, and eventually it lead to a dramatic reduction o# corporate )income ta$& For

e$ample, in 197, US corporations paid


15/24


corporations share o# all ta$es -state, local and #ederal/& In the 195s #or every one

dollar paid %y #amilies and individuals, corporations paid a%out si$ty!#ive cents, while

%y the 19"5s corporations were paying twenty cents&

Individual capitalists also %egan a campaign to lower their own income ta$ rates in

the 1975s& 3hey succeeded as decisively as corporations& As o# the mid!1995s,

individuals whose income is L.5,555 and higher pay a%out 5? o# their income in

ta$es whereas in the mid!1975s they were paying almost 5?& 3his ta$ revolt o# the

rich has not only meant a redistri%ution o# income to the already wealthy& 3his

upwards redistri%ution was paid #or %y de#icit #inancing and it signaled the end o# the

willingness o# the capitalist class to invest in the reproduction o# the US woring class

via the national state apparatus& 3hese %udget de#icits #rom the 19"5s on were partly

#inanced %y government borrowing from-not ta$ing/ the wealthy o# the US and the

planet who %ought US 3reasury %onds at very pro#ita%le interest rates& overnment

interest payments now #orm the third largest e$pense o# the national %udget, a#ter

de#ense spending and social security -national old!age pensions/, they grew #rom "&9?

o# the national %udget in 19"5 to 1&.? in 199& Interest payments are, in e##ect, a

direct reduction o# US woring class income in #avor o# the capitalist class o# the

planet& =esides shi#ting the )ta$ %urden to reduce wages, capitals ta$ revolt also

re6ected another eynesian a$iom*investment in the reproduction o# the woring

class is essential to capitalism in an )advanced stage&

Capitals success#ul ta$ revolt put an enormous stress on the national %udget, since

it meant that the private and corporate owners o# the social surplus would not %eta$ed& 3his loss could only partially %e compensated %y new ta$es -which were, in

e##ect, generali8ed wage reductions/ on the proletariat& As a result, )austerity %udgets

have %ecome commonplaces in the midst o# two economic %ooms o# the 19"5s and

1995s& )Austerity, o# course, when applied to money was the digni#ied Protestant

name #or )poverty in the 19th century, %ut in the late .5th century it is a cant phrase

hiding a grim reality' US capitalism admits that can not solve the %asic human pro%lem

o# poverty even in its own territory& 3he set o# anti!poverty programs struggled #or in

the 19>5s and early 1975s occasioned %y the end o# racial apartheid and the revolt o#

women to end poverty -which had at its center single women with children and the

descendants o# the slaves/ was met with one )austerity %udget a#ter another, at all

levels o# government in the 19"5s and 1995s& In the midst o# stoc maret %ooms,

)healthy pro#it reports, and the usual signals o# capitalist vitality, the evident growth

o# poverty, the segregation o# social li#e, and the conse;uent despair accumulated #or

all to see on the streets o# the metropolises& In the #ace o# this evidence, politicians



16/24


said time and again, )3here is no money, as they spent millions seducing any

wandering capitalist with a #ew dollars to invest&

3he result o# the #all o# real wages, the trans#ormation o# the ta$ %urden, theincrease o# corporate pro#its and stoc prices, the )austerity %udgets which ended the

redistri%utive e##orts o# government, and the rise o# interest payments on the national

de%t has created an increasing income disparity within US society& 3he gap %etween

high and low!income #amilies has widened every year since 19"5 so that, according to

#ormer US Secretary o# Ea%or Ho%ert Heich, )3he US hasQ the most une;ual

distri%ution o# income o# any industriali8ed country in the world& 11

3he Heturn o# Slavery in the US

3his is not a pretty picture& And it is rather one sided, #or this essay has largelydealt with actions and plans o# capital in its struggle to escape the euthanasia which

threatened it in the early 1975s& 3he woring class has not %een purely passive in this

period o# retreat, recomposition, and re#lection& =ut the heroism, ingenuity, and

toughness demonstrated %y woring class struggles %etween 197 and 199" -which

re;uire a chronicle o# their own/ have not %een enough to turn the tide& 3he great

stries o# the 19"5s -e&g&, the 1>!month long strie o# paper worers in ay, 0aine/ and

the Eos Angeles )no peace without 6ustice insurrection in 199. were two important

moments in a long series o# episodes o# resistance, %ut un#ortunately in the last two

years there has %een a series o# legislative changes that lays the %asis #or the return o#

slavery in the US on a mass %asis&1.In e##ect, the US Congress has recently rede#ined

what it means to %e a human %eing& I hope I do not to sound too sensationalistic, %ut it

is possi%le that at the dawn o# the ne$t millennium there will %e " to 15 million adults

*would constitute a%out 7? o# the )economically active population o# the US* in a

slave!lie status&

I do not mean %y )slave!lie status a complete return to the human )chattel o#

the pre!Civil (ar period where the slave was the property o# private individuals and

could %e sold at will& =ut there are many #orms o# )un#ree la%or close to )slave

la%or*e&g&, de%t %ondage, ser#dom, prison la%or, and corvRe& 3hese near!slave #orms

o# la%or were used, e&g&, in the US South #or almost a century a#ter slavery wasa%olished and the First Heconstruction was scuttled&1 3he ending o# the Second

Heconstruction, practically in the late 1975s and #ormally in 199 with the Supreme

Court decision to systematically void A##irmative Action legislation, has paved the way

#or a second round o# near!slavery regimes in the US which prey on the traditional



17/24


source o# slaves' the poor woman, the prisoner, and the stranger& For i# slavery is, as

Krlando Patterson suggests in his %roader de#inition, )the permanent, violent

domination o# natally alienated and generally dishonoured persons, then these

people #it the description o# the dominated per#ectly& 3he e$istence o# an )in#ormation!

driven, )cy%er!spaced capitalism will not save us #rom a revival o# slavery& For as

+oces has put it in the opening epigraph, the development o# capitalism will never

automatically lead to the end o# slavery& Kn the contrary, as long as capitalism

continues to e$ist there will %e an inevita%le tendency to reintroduce slave!lie #orms

o# la%or& I# waged and unwaged worers do not have the #orce to resist this tendency,

then many o# our num%er will %e doomed to slave status at whatever the level o#

productive #orces the capitalist command&1 three separate laws, directed at single mothers, prisoners and strangers,

were passed in the US Congress& 3hey #ormali8ed the collapse o# proletarian resistance

to this tendency to slavery inherent in the system and #acilitated a new era o#

enslavement and low wages in the US& Eet me tae each o# these legislative changes

in turn&

3he #irst is the )Anti!3errorism and 0ore ##ective +eath Penalty Act& Kn the

sur#ace, this law is directed against two di##erent groups o# people -which, however,

the state wants the pu%lic to identi#y/' -a/ the US supporters o# revolutionary groups

around the world -#rom the Oapatistas, to the Palestinians, to the IHA/ and -%/ the

people convicted o# capital crimes on death row& 3his law has very severe provisions

#or %oth, %ut included in this law is a #undamental denial o# one o# the most %asic civilrights, habeas corpus, that is, the right to petition a higher court to show 6ust cause

why sJhe is %eing ept prisoner& 3his has %een used %y thousands o# prisoners, who

have reason to %elieve that they were %eing held on #alse charges and %eing treated in

a discriminatory way& It is the ultimate right o# a prisoner to protest hisJher

imprisonment&

(hy is this so important and what does it have to do with the return o# slavery in

the US2 First, %ecause there are a%out one and one!hal# million adults in prison in the

US in the mid!1995s and this num%er is growing& 3he prison population has increased

in line with the #all o# wages& Prisons have %ecome the )growth industry in the 1995s

and the portion o# some states %udgets is larger than what is spent on higher

education, e&g&, Cali#ornia& 3his growth has come #rom the criminali8ation o# the

cocaine, heroin, and mari6uana industry and the )mandatory sentencing laws that

simply assign people convicted o# particular crimes to long sentences with no



18/24


possi%ility o# parole& As a result, i# one is poor, young, male and %lac, #or e$ample, he

would have a one out o# three chance o# %eing in prison sometime in his .5s& iven

the )austerity %udgets that have continued into the %oom years o# 1995s -and the

still virulent racism and classism o# the US/, there is a capitalist demand #or using

these prisoners pro#ita%ly so that they would literally )pay #or their crimes& :ence,

prison industries are %eing instituted throughout the US even #aster than the prisons

are %eing %uilt, and increasingly prisons are %eing %uilt as part o# an industrial

comple$&1

0oreover, slavery cannot %e a reintroduced, especially pro#it!maing slavery in the

prisons, without a death penalty that would )e##ectively threaten the physical

elimination o# any re%ellious worers&

Prisoners had always wored in prisons, o# course, %ut this wor was either directed

at the prisons housewor -e&g&, the laundry or %uilding maintenance/ or #or the states

need -e&g&, the #amous auto license plates or highway signs/& In prison industries, the

prisoners wor #or private pro#it!maing companies who pay them a non!negotiated

wage rate #rom which is deducted their living e$penses in the prison and a payment

into a )victim #und& 3hey are slaves, not %ecause they are #orced to wor %y their

circumstances -#or that is every proletarians #ate/, %ut %ecause they have no right to

organi8e and negotiate their wages&

3he second pro!slavery law o# 199> was the )wel#are law, the )Personal

Hesponsi%ility and (or Kpportunity Act, which in e##ect eliminated the US

governments guarantee to provide minimal %ene#its to every indigent person in the

US& 3his law puts a limit o# #ive years on the #ederally #unded wel#are support they

receive and, in order to get it, they must 6oin a )wor#are program& )(or#are

re;uires that people receiving %ene#its report #or wor or training at assigned places

-usually in government agencies/ or they will %e cut o##& In e##ect, the wel#are %ene#it is

trans#ormed into a wage& =ut again, this is a non!negotia%le wage& Conse;uently,

these women, who are not a small percentage o# the adult #emale wor #orce, are

trans#ormed into a ;uasi!slave condition, a #orm o# de%t %ondage&1>

Finally, we come to the immigration law o# 199>, the )Illegal Immigration He#orm

and Immigrant Hesponsi%ility Act& 3his law has many draconian penalties #ordocumented and undocumented immigrants even though the US is a society that is

largely peopled %y immigrants& =ut most crucial #or our theme are the provisions that

mae a transition #rom an )undocumented status to a )documented status ne$t to

impossi%le& 3his creates a permanent sector o# worers in the US who have no rights



19/24


nor even a possi%ility to petition #or them& 3his stratum is immediately trans#ormed

into a slave!lie status %ecause people in this situation have great di##iculty in

negotiating a wage& For an employer o# an undocumented worer #aces a small #ine i#

sJhe is discovered, while an undocumented worer #aces #inancial catastrophe or even

death&

Prisoners, single mothers, undocumented immigrant worers are all entering into a

new legal status' waged worers who cannot legally negotiate their wages& In other

words, millions o# adults in the territorial US are #inding themselves in situations

reminiscent o# the 19th century, with its plantation slavery in the South, coolie worers

in the (est, and indentured servants in the ast o# the US& 3his revival o# slavery

constitutes a ma6or de#eat o# the US proletariat@ #or how can one launch a ma6or wage

struggle nowing that there are millions o# people in slave!lie situations undercutting

wages2 Slaves, not computers, are the som%er %asis o# US capitals )%right prospects

in the winter o# 199"&

Conclusion' )3he Force to Compel the 0asters

Surely any story that ends with the revival o# slavery is a story o# woring class

de#eat& It is important #or 0e$ican comrades to now the grim #acts, %ut we cannot end

here& specially not in an article meant to %egin a discussion a%out )the #orce to

compel the masters to #orgo the use o# slaves in the common history and #uture o#

the US and 0e$ican proletariats&

A good place to %egin this discussion is with 4AF3A itsel#, the o##icial document %y

which the masters o# 0e$ico and the US have agreed to structure relations %etween

themselves and )their proletariats in the coming decades& 3he 4AF3A principle is'

free the flow of capital and commodities across the borders and highly restrict the

passage of labor power,allowing capital to easily escape wage struggles while maing

it di##icult #or worers to escape wage de#eats& 4AF3A has de#initely %een success#ul #or

US capital& Since 199< real wages %oth in 0e$ico and the US have #allen while trade,

capital #low, and pro#its have increased dramatically in the US&

=ut 4AF3A is not yet a per#ect capitalist tool& A ma6or de%ate among capitalists in

the US since 4AF3A %ecame operational in 199< has %een over how restricted should

the passage o# la%or %etween 0e$ico and the US %e2 3he #ar right has %een

demanding )an immigration moratorium while the center o# the political spectrum is

satis#ied with creating a class o# immigrants in a ;uasi!slave status who would neither

%e a%le to access government services nor negotiate their wages& 3he )Illegal



20/24


Immigration He#orm and Immigrant Hesponsi%ility Act o# 199> was a tentative

compromise %etween these two groups, %ut the sparring %etween openly racist hard!

cops lie Pat =uchanan, the Hepu%lican presidential candidate, and neo!social

democrat so#t!cops lie Ho%ert Heich, Clintons #ormer Secretary o# Ea%or, will continue

#ar into the #uture& For this politics is used to manipulate the ;uantity o# la%or power

moving across the %orders and to divide 0e$ican and US worers #rom each other in

accordance with the needs o# capital& 0oreover, this vicious de%ate allows the 0e$ican

government to appear as a concerned protector o# immigrant 0e$ican worers -and

their remittances/ in the US&

=ut this 4AF3A de%ate is an e$ercise in #utility #or the 4orth American woring

class, #orever driven %etween the rhetoric o# racist e$clusion, e##icient slavery, and

0achiavellian paternalism& NAFTA must be turned upside down and rewritten in the

interest of the North American proletariatAt the very least, this revision would re;uire

putting new restrictions on the movement o# capital and a li%eration o# the movement

o# worers& 3his strategy %egan to %e discussed in the struggle against 4AF3A in 199

%y di##erent cross!%order alliances o# la%or unions and was #orce#ully put on the

woring class agenda %y the OE4 in the Hevolutionary Eaw they proclaimed on

anuary 1, 199


21/24


vicinity& 3hough not anti!capitalist in itsel#, this autonomy would have revolutionary

conse;uences in the contemporary era o# totalitarian neo!li%eralism& Conse;uently, an

important condition #or the common #uture proletarian #uture in 4orth America is the

survival and success o# the struggle #or indigenous autonomy in Chiapas&

Can the search to #ind )the #orce to compel the masters to #orgo the use o# slaves

end in the e!idoso# Chiapas, the poorest -andrichest/ region in all o# 4orth America2

3his would %e surprising only to those ignorant o# 0ar$& For in the decade a#ter the

de#eat o# the 1"71 Paris Commune, 0ar$ turned his attention to the revolutionary

possi%ilities in the communal land and peoples o# the world& :e #ound them in the

Hussian obshchina, )a #orm, al%eit heavily eroded, o# the primitive communal

ownership o# land and similar to the e!ido& In one o# his last pu%lished writings, the

"reface to the Second #ussian $dition of the Manifesto of the Communist "arty-1""./,

he laid his considera%le prestige on the concluding sentence' )I# the Hussian revolution

%ecome the signal #or proletarian revolution in the (est, so that the two complement

each other, then Hussias peasant communal land!ownership may serve as the point o#

departure #or a communist development&1"3hese were prescient words, %ut they were

certainly )o## color #or those committed to the vanguard role o# the industrial

proletariat in 1"".& Eet us learn #rom history, especially our history to ;uestion our

assumptions and dismissals&

0e$ico City!Parma!4ewport!=roolyn

uly 1997!0arch 199"

4otes

1& 3here were periods when there was much political cooperation and

communication %etween 0e$ican and US proletarian organi8ations& 3he

involvement o# the Industrial (orers o# the (orld -I((/ in 195> strie o#

0e$ican miners in Cananea and with the 0agon %rothers )desert revolution in

=a6a Cali#ornia was well nown& +uring the 0e$ican Hevolution, the American

Federation o# Ea%or -AFE/ organi8ed contacts with Ea Casa del K%rero 0undial

and many other newly #ormed 0e$ican unions& 3he Congress o# Industrial

Krgani8ation -CIK/ supported the Cardenas governments e$propriation o# the oil

companies and colla%orated with the Con#ederacion de 3ra%a6adores de 0e$ico

-C30/ in the 195s& 3hese organi8ational ties %egan to #ade in the 19


22/24


the relation o# US and 0e$ican woring!class organi8ations #rom 195> to the

195,

ohn H& Cran#ords )conomy (ill =ene#it #rom +eregulation' uestion Is, :ow

0uch2 Special Heport, The 0nformation Arena, Congressional .uarterly,

supplement to no& 19, 0ay 1& arl 0ar$, )0achinery and Earge!Scale Industry, Capital) A Criti7ue of "olitical

$conomy,Gol&1, Chapter 1& -:armondsworth' Penguin, 197>/&

7& For a thorough 6ournalistic account o# )downsi8ing and worers reaction to it

see 3he 4ew Nor 3imes Special Heport, The -ownsi&ing of America-4ew Nor'

3imes =oos, 199>/&



23/24


"& For a positive discussion o# )Post!Fordism see A& Eipiet8, Mirages and Miracles)

The Crisis of 1lobal Fordism -Eondon' Gerso, 19"7/ and #or a criti;ue o# the

thematics o# )Post!Fordism see Ferrucio am%ino, )A Criti;ue o# the Fordism o#

the Hegulation School, Common Sense) /ournal of the $dinburgh Conference of

Socialist $conomists 4o& 19, 199>&

9& For statistics on the increase o# the total wor day o# US women since the early

19>5s see uliet =& Schor, The %verwored American) The 'ne(pected -ecline of

Leisure -4ew Nor' =asic =oos/& Schor shows that there has %een an

e$traordinary constancy o# the US housewi#es woring hours throughout the

twentieth century& For e$ample, even though the average US home has much

more capital e;uipment and )la%or!saving appliances in 1995 compared to

19. there has %een virtually no decrease in the housewi#es woring hours' in

19. she wored 1 hours per wee while in 1995 she wored /@ Hoger =ur%ach,

Krlando 4une8 and =oris agarlitsy, 1lobali&ation and its -iscontents-Eondon'

Pluto Press, 1997/@ evin +anaher -ed&/, Corporations Are 1oing to 1et 8our

Mama) 1lobali&ation and the -ownsi&ing of the American -ream-0onroe, 0aine'

Common Courage Press, 199>/& For a more sceptical treatment o# these

descriptions see Paul :irst and rahame 3hompson, 1lobali&ation in .uestion)

The 0nternational $conomy and the "ossibilities of 1overnance -Cam%ridge, U'

Polity Press, 199>/&

11& uoted in evin +anaher, Corporations Are 1onna 1et 8our Mama, p& .9&

1.& 3he story o# the epic strie in ay, 0aine was told %y +avid Hier in 0idnight

4otes -ed&/ The New $nclosures-4ew Nor' Autonomedia, 1995/&



24/24


1& An important set o# articles on slavery and its horrendous cousins was edited %y

Eeonie & Archer, Slavery and %ther Forms of 'nfree Labour-Eondon' Houtledge,

19""/, see especially &&0& de Ste& Croi$s )Slavery and Kther Forms o# Un#ree

Ea%our and Ho%in =lac%urns )Slavery*its Special Features and Social role&

1

caffentzis - from capitalist crises to proletarian slavery - an introduction to class struggle in...

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