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  Review Notes on   WO  1:  The Evolution of Work 
External
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  -  Syllabus
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  -  Resources
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Outline on WO 1:  The Evolution of Work
  
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 Historical Overview  
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    Marxist Historical Analysis  
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    Weber's Historical Analysis  
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 Hunter Gatherer Societies  
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    Gender in Hunter Gatherer Societies  
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       Marx & Engels on Tribal Society  
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 The Pre Empire Era  
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    Marx & Engels on the Asiatic Mode of Production  
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    Weber on the Asiatic Era  
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 The Early-Empire Era  
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 The Roman Empire  
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    Marx & Engels on Ancient Society  
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    Weber on Ancient Slave Society  
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 The Middle Ages:  Feudal Society  
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    Marx & Engels on Feudal Society  
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    Weber on Feudal Society  
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 The Early Industrial Age  
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    Marx & Engels on Early Capitalism  
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    The Putting Out System  
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    Weber on Early Capitalism  
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 The Industrial Age  
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 The Age of Global Capitalism  
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 Post Industrial Society  
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    Socialist Society  
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    Communist Society  

 
 
 
External
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Chart on a  Socio Historic Analysis
External
Links
  1.  Geologic Era 5 bb BP -
5 mm BP		   Earth forms 
Early primates evolve		  
  2.  Pre Human
     Evolutionary Era		 5 mm BP -
1.5 mm BP		 Old Stone Age
Early primates		  Pre Human Ancestors  
  3.  Hunter Gather Era 1.5 mm BP -
10 K BC		 Middle Stone Age
Early humans		 Equality:  99 % of human existence has occurred in H-G society
Sexism & Racism has existed for less than 1 % of human existence		  
  4.  Pre Empire Era 10K BC - 
3 K BC		 New Stone Age
Civilization dawns
First Ag & villages		 Patriarchy & Sexism began
Agriculture begins, allowing the production of surplus		  
  5.  Early Empires Era 3 K BC - 
200 BC		 Bronze Age, Mesopotamia,
Egypt, Greece, 
China, etc.		  The first empires form
Ag transforms from Pastorialism & Horticulture to herd mgt. & agriculture		  
  6.  Roman Era 200 BC - 
500 AD		 Rome rules the West;
China, India rule the East		 Limited forms of democracy occur
The practice of colonization develops		  
  7.  Middle Ages 500 AD - 
1300 		 Fall of Rome;
Rise of Persia & Ottoman Empire
Crusades
Ends w/ the Enclosure		 Modern form of Racism began
Wallerstein & WST holds that globalization begins w/ the Age of Exploration
Proto factories & the div of lab dev		  
  8.  Early Industrial Age 1300 - 
1700		 Renaissance
Reformation
Enlightenment
Industrial Revolution		 Early water power; steam power; railroads
The development of ag has biggest transformation since Early Empire Era		  
  9.  Industrial Age 1700 -
present		 American & French Revolutions Rise & fall of smokestack industries; deindustrialization; globalization begins  
  10.  Era of
       Global Capitalism		 1910 - 
present		 WW1
WW2		 True global corporations emerge  
  11.  Post Industrial Age 1970 - 
present		 Service, Info, High Tech economies  Deindustrialization has a major impact on the developed econs  
  12.  The Future   What's next? Biotech Age?  Democratic Age?  Robot Age?   

 
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External
Links
Summary of an Socio Historical Overview
Approximate Time Period
  
1.  Geologic Era   5 bb  BP -  5  mm BP  
2.  Pre Human Evolution   5 mm BP - 1.5 mm BP  
3.  Hunter Gatherer Society   1.5 mm BP - 10 K BC  
4.  Pre Empire Civilization   10 K BC - 3 K BC  
5.  Early Empires Era   3 K BC - 200 BC  
6.  Roman Era   200 BC - 500 AD  
7.  Middle Ages   500 - 1300  
8.  Early Industrial Age  1300 - 1700  
9.  Industrial Age 1700 - present  
10. Global Capitalism 1910 - present  
11. Post-Industrial Society 1970 - present  

 
Internal
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 Outline on  Marxist Socio Historic Analysis
External
Links
 
 Marx & Engels embrace the Enlightenment principle of social evolution
 
 
 See Also:  The Enlightenment  
 
 Marx & Engels were influenced by the social evolutionists
 
  For Marx, change in the form of social evolution is natural, directional, immanent, continuous, &  derived from uniform causes  
  Marx recognized many external factor such as climate, geography, physical conditions, etc. as important is the development of society forms  
 
 Marx & Engels examine the stages of ownership through tribal, ancient, feudal, & capitalist societal development
 
 
 But an analysis Marx & Engels' view of the development of the four modes of production demonstrates that they are not strict social evolutionists
 
  Marx & Engels viewed social evolution as occurring through societies of the Tribal, Asiatic, Ancient, Feudal, Capitalist, Socialist, & Communist stages  
  For Marx & Engels, the Tribal Society was characterized by primitive communalism & social equality  
  For Marx & Engels, the Asiatic System is a socio political economic system characterized by an agricultural system enhanced by a centralized irrigation system controlled by the elite, & held in common by the people, who may have privately owned plots of land or communal land  
  Marx & Engels saw two major lines of social development, one in the East & one in the West  
  For Marx & Engels, Ancient Society was characterized by a break down which resulted from internal contradictions & the specific retinue lifestyle of Europeans  
  For Marx & Engels, Feudal Society was characterized by the birth of a limited market economy, technology & the effects of warfare, which eventually resulted into its transformation into capitalism  
  For Marx & Engels, Capitalist Society was characterized by wage labor & a market which would inevitably concentrate wealth into the hands of a few, the bourgeoisie, enmiserating the workers, the proletariat  
  For Marx & Engels, Socialist Society as characterized by the development of a classless social system, which can only occur after the proletarian revolution, with worker control of the economy, but yet has the continued existence of  many remnants of the old systems  
  For Marx & Engels, Communist Society as characterized by the development of a classless social system, which can only occur after the proletarian revolution, with worker control of the economy, but now has the no remnants of the old systems "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs."  
  For Marx, change in the form of social evolution is derived from uniform causes related to the development of modes of production  
  For Marx, history is written by the victors  
  For Marx, the popular view is that history is written by intellectuals, who are those who are “outside of history" because they are objective, neutral etc.   
  However, for Marx, history is a socio-political ideology that can never totally reflect "the truth"  

 
Internal
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 Weber on  Historical Development
External
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  Weber discusses 4 major stages of history, in some depth, including the:
a.  early "Asiatic" era
b.  ancient slave era
c.  middle ages
d.  early Western capitalist era
For Weber, the development of histl stages is based on economic, cultural, & other factors		  
  To understand history, Weber adds the analysis of cultural effects to the analysis of economic effects
 
  The Hunter Gatherer & Pre Empire Stages 
 
  Weber says very little about the H-G & Pre Emp eras except that they are characterized by primitive communalism
 
  The Asiatic Era, a.k.a. the Early Empire Era                          3000 BC  -    200 BC
 
  Weber sees two major lines of development; one in the East & one in the West
 
  The Asiatic system was stable until invaded by the West
 
  The Ancient Slave Society, a.k.a. the Roman Era                   200 BC   -    500 AD  
  The ancient slave system broke down as a result of end of slave/conquest economy & in response to the retinue lifestyle of Europe
 
  Feudal Society, a.k.a. the Middle Ages                                   500   -  1300  
  In feudal society, the retinue system transformed the latifundia into manors, slaves to serfs, & there was the development of a self sufficient barter economy
 
  Capitalism, a.k.a. the Early Industrial Era                               1300  -   1700  
  The birth of a limited market economy, technology & the effects of warfare transformed feudalism into capitalism
 
  Capitalism developed out of the feudalistic breakdown & the development of the Protestant ideology  
  The Industrial Age & beyond                                                 1700 -
 
  Like Marx, Weber says little about the future
 
  Weber does not predict socialism, instead he sees the continuing oppressive rationalization of the economy
 
  Thus, Weber has rather accurately predicted the situation as it exists today
 

 
External
Links

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Outline on  Hunter Gatherer Societies
circa 1.5 mm BP - 10 K BC
External
Links
 
 -  Project:  What knowledge is needed to develop from a H-G society to an Ag society?
Link
  -  Video:  The Rise of Man & Hunting       6:29
Link
  -  Project:  Video:  The Rise of Man & Hunting
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  Review: A socio historical overview demonstrates that humanity has experienced distinct stages & milestones in its development  
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 The Chart on the Characteristics of the Hunter Gatherer Stratification System shows that compared to other systems, the hunter gatherer (H-G) society has the highest level of equality  
Link
 The Table Summarizing a Socio Historical Overview shows that H-G society began 1.5 mya & ended 10 K BC  
 
 Early humans evolved into our modern form and Neanderthal & other human lines died out  
 
 The Hunter - Gatherer era is made up of the Old Stone Age & the Middle Stone Age  
 
 Old Stone Age                   c. 2 - 4 mya - 50 K BC  
 
 Middle Stone Age              c. 30 K - 10 K BC  
 
 New or Early Stone Age    c. 9 K   -  7 K BC   aka Proto Neolithic  ( is in the pre Empire Era )  
  Modern humans developed from a variety of human lines:  
  - 1.5 mm BP  H Erectus emerges from Africa  
  - Around 500,000 yrs. ago Homo Erectus evolves into Java man & Peking man, then Neanderthals & Cromagnons   
  Homo Erectus, Java man, Peking man, Neanderthals, Cromagnons, et al all lived in what we would recognize as H-G society  
  - Around 200,000 yrs. ago Homo Sapiens evolved  
  The early non modern human lines cook, wear clothes, use tools, live in huts, make fire & have the earliest tribal society   
  There were many types of hunter gatherer societies, & this analysis is done in broad generalities  
  For most of the H-G era, humans existed in thousands of thousands of mostly isolated tribes w/ a tremendous, astounding variety  
  At end of H-G period, circa 10K BC, there were less than 100 mm people on Earth  
  As the name implies, people in H-G Society lived by hunting, done mostly by males, & gathering, done mostly by females  
       See Also:  Gender in the H-G Era  
  During the H-G Era, people lived on what they could obtain directly from the environment w/ hand made tools such as spears, scrapers, etc.  
  Early in the H-G Era, people lived in isolated tribal societies of about 50 or fewer people, and toward the end of the era, up to 300 people of networked tribes  
  Toward the end of the H-G era, tribes might be made of several hundred people  
  Tribes were small because w/ the early tool technology, a given area could only support a small tribe  
  Because a given area would only support a tribe for a short period of time, hunter gatherers are often nomadic  
  In the H-G era, people lived at or near the subsistence level w/ no surplus created for hard times  
  Thus, every person carried their own weight & the weak had to be let go  
  During the H-G era, life was hard, as Hobbes said, life was 'nasty, brutish, & short' & yet people did not spend all their time working  
  During the H-G era, it is estimated that people, in general, worked less than 30 hrs. a week, & spent the remainder of the time doing housework, in leisure, in ritual celebrations, socializing, etc.   
  During the H-G era, it is estimated that people, in general, spent 21 hrs. a week doing housework while in industrial society, people spend 60 hrs. a week doing housework  
  During the H-G era, because there was no surplus, there was no patriarchy & no racism  
  It is important to note that 99 % of human existence has been in H-G society, thus in many respects it is all form of modern human existence that is "abnormal"
 
  Thus, recognizable, modern humans lived in H-G society for approximately 1.5 mm yrs  
  By 13,000 yrs ago (11,000 BC), the earliest villages developed  
  City states follow about 7,000 yrs after the development of the earliest villages (3,000 BC)  
  Humans have lived in ancient society (city & nation states) for approximately 5,000 yrs    (only .5% of HG society)  
  Humans have lived in modern industrial society for approximately 700 yrs    (only .07% of HG society)  
  Thus sociologists see ancient & modern societies as big experiments which have not yet proven their resilience  
  Agriculture has its roots in H-G society, but it was only toward the end that limited agricultural practices were discovered & utilized
 
  Early in the H-G Era, Homo Erectus lived only by hunting & gathering  
  Later in the H-G Era, Homo Sapiens, who emerged approximately 1/2 mm yrs ago, began to understand basic concepts such as:
- the Male role in procreation
- seasonal cycles
- fertility cycles in humans & animals
- the role of seeds
- the methods for domestication of animals		  
  And toward the end of the H-G era, the understanding of procreation, the seasons & so on, allowed for the limited sewing of crops & the domestication of animals  
  It was toward the end of the H-G era, that limited agricultural techniques were perfected & put into practice  
  The first domesticated plant was wheat, & the first domesticated animal was either the dog or the goat  
 
 Agricultural practices did not become widespread until the next era: the pre empire era 10 K BC to 3 K BC   
 
 Many analysts believe it is agriculture itself that allowed for the development of civilization
      See    The FOUR Ag revolutions 
      See    The 1st ag revolution:  The Beginnings & Spread of Agriculture 		  
 
 A classic debate btwn Hobbes & Rousseau concerns whether in H-G society life is 'nasty, brutish, & short' or 'the idealic village'
 
  See Also:  Hobbes  
  See Also:  Rousseau  
 
 The Hobbes - Rousseau debate is essentially about 'What was the nature of prehistoric woman & man?' 'What was the nature of prehistoric society?'
 
  Observers continue to ask today, "Who is more accurate in depicting the H-G Era, Hobbes or Rousseau?" because the H-G life has many noble & wonderful qualities that keep people in touch w/ the Earth & other people, but it is a difficult life  
 
 There was a high level of cooperation w/in tribes 
 
  "Work" in H-G society was hunting & gathering & you shared all your production  
  There were no markets & there was minimal trading among tribes  
  In viewing H-G society as more cooperative, Rousseau was more accurate than Hobbes
 
  Hunting & gathering had to be cooperative in order to function
 
  Because of limited specialization & isolation from other societies, H-G societies had high levels of consensus  
  Ownership was communal because subsistence level production meant that everything had to be shared  
  In H-G society, people have more free time than do modern, industrial people  
  People spend their free time relaxing, & partying in communal festival & rituals  
  Conflict btwn tribes was limited due to isolation & due to the fact that there was little to gain because all production was at the subsistence level, yielding no surplus to be gained through conquest
 
  Conflict was limited to struggles over turf & women
 
  Primitive weapons disallowed dominance by one or a few
 
  All types of relationships, economic, familial, etc. were essentially egalitarian in the H-G Era
 
  Egalitarian relationships were upset / abandoned w/ the development of agriculture, causing for the first time, class conflict
 
  Gender differentiation existed in H-G society, but there was total equality  
  In H-G society, racial differentiation was recognized only in the context of tribal ("nationalistic") differentiation & therefore was not a basis for inequality/discrimination  
  The transition from H-G to Pre Empire Era (aka "civilization") occurred in different "hearth areas" at different times
 
 
 During the Proto Neolithic or Early Stone Age:, circa 9000 to 7000 BC, the transition to an agricultural econ begins in the mid east & other hearth areas
 
  Hearth areas are settings where new practices developed, & then spread to other areas
 
  ( Hearth areas may be thought of as "proto cores" visa vie World Systems Theory )
 
  There are SIX major hearth areas which were found in Africa, the mid east, the Indian subcontinent, south Asia, China, & the America
 
  1. Africa:  In Africa, hearth areas of civilization developed along the Nile River & south, & along Mediterranean on the African north coast
 
  2. Middle East:  In the mid east, in what is now called the Fertile Crescent:  hearth areas of civilization developed in Iran & Iraq, Jordan & Israel, Turkey
 
  3. Indian Subcontinent:  In the Indian subcontinent, a hearth areas of civilization developed along the Indus & Ganges Rivers
 
  4. South Asia:  In So Asia, hearth areas of civilization developed in Assam, Bangladesh, Burma, & India
 
  5. China:  In China, hearth areas of civilization developed along the coast & major rivers, esp the Huang & Yangtze Rivers River
 
  6. Americas:  In the Americas, hearth areas of civilization developed in Central Am & in So America in the Andes Mtns
 
  From a historical perspective, the hearth areas developed relatively simultaneously
 
  Agricultural practices were first developed in the major hearth areas
 
  Hunter gatherer, nomadic societies still exist on every continent today, but the numbers of such societies are dwindling rapidly
 
  Modern H-G societies exist today  in thinly populated, remote tropical areas, some arctic regions, some desert areas, & some plains areas
 
  The next historic stage is Pre Empire Era    10 K BC  to 3 K BC
- New Stone Age continues
- "Civilization" & history begin
- 1st widespread ag develops
- 1st permanent villages develop		  

 
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Chart on the Characteristics of the Types of the Stratification Systems
PW
Type of 
System		 Ranks
(Mobility)		 Method of 
Placement		 Legitimization
(ideology)		 Basis of 
Ranking		 Level of
Equality
Primitive 
( Hunter Gatherer)		 open achievement tradition status highest equality
Slavery generally closed ascription legal/racism economic (class) hi inequality
Caste closed ascription religion status hi inequality
Feudal generally closed generally ascription legal/religious economic highest inequality
Class open mostly achievement legal economic/
bureaucratic (power)		 low to medium
Post-industrial open mostly achievement legal economic/
bureaucratic (power)		 low to high

 
Internal
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  Outline on    Gender in Hunter Gatherer Society   circa 1.5 mm BP - 10 K BC
External
Links
  -  Project:  Patriarchy, Matriarchy, & Equality in H-G Society & Today 
Link
  THERE WAS A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF GENDER DIFFERENTIATION, BUT LITTLE GENDER DISCRIMINATION / PATRIARCHY   
  During the Hunter Gatherer Era, humanity lived in 100's of thousands of mostly isolated tribes   
  Hunter Gatherer Societies, aka primitive communalism, have the major feature of   
  Living by hunting & gathering 
Only minimal agriculture, which developed at the end of this era 
Semi nomadism 
No accumulation of wealth 
Status achievement in "traditional" roles 		  
  Most roles in Hunter Gatherer Society are ascribed, though increased status often served as a reward for achievement   
  There was gender based division of labor in Hunter Gatherer Society   
  In H-G society women & men had different, but essentially equal roles   
  The major female roles in H-G Society include gatherer, herder, mother, sometimes leader  (matrilineal), homemaker,  medicine woman / religious leader (shaman, etc.),  home defense   
  WOMEN RAISED BABIES TO GIRLS & BOYS, & GIRLS TO WOMEN, BUT MEN RAISED BOYS TO MEN   
  Many tribes used a matrilineal methods of tracing descent   
  The major male roles in H-G society include hunter, sometimes leader, explorer, warrior, medicine man / religious leader (shaman, etc.), home defense   
  Men raised boys to men   
  Women brought in 70 % of the food, but the 30 % that men brought in by hunting was critical   
  Men & women had equal status, power & privileges in Hunter Gatherer Society & because 99 % of human existence has occurred in Hunter Gatherer Society, therefore patriarchy, sexism, men controlling women IS NOT "natural"   
  The roles of leader, doctor, shaman, defender are all male roles today, but they were definitely filled by both genders in Hunter Gatherer Society   

 
Internal
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  Outline of Marxist History:  Tribal Society
a.k.a. the Hunter Gatherer Era      1.5 mm BP - 10K BC
External
Links
  For Marx, the tribal period is known as primitive communalism  
  The tribal period is the only period characterized by equality, according to Marx  
  Marx, following Morgan, realized that hunter gatherer society was egalitarian because they had no surplus, but did have "status wealth"  
  - Modern Anthropologists believe that hunter gatherer society was relatively egalitarian  
  - Because there was no surplus, there was no inequality except based on status which was related to achievement in recognized roles  
  - In general, "status wealth" could not be accumulated beyond 1 lifetime  
  The first form of ownership was tribal ownership  
  - Marx believed that in tribal society, men owned the family as he would own a slave  
  - Marx believed that in tribal society, most things, social & physical, were owned in common  
  - Marx believed that in tribal society, there was little surplus  
  In Tribal Society, there was a high level of social cooperation among producers  
  Forces of production were cooperatively oriented & not competitively oriented as they are today  
  The cooperation of the producers was necessary, not voluntary, just as competition today is necessary & not voluntary  
  Technical knowledge was generally shared w/in a tribe, but not btwn tribes  
  While we often think of hunter - gatherer society as living in harmony w/ nature, as technology developed, humankind fomented many ecological disasters  
  Inequality appeared at the end of the tribal society era as it crosses into what we call "civilization"  
  Thus, high levels of inequality, injustice, enslavement, etc. did not exist until until later in history  
  The middle class did not appear until there was the rise of the modern democracies  
  Tribal Society transformed into agricultural & conquest economies ruled by city states   
  Marx's next era is the Asiatic Period aka the Early Empire Era      3K BC - 200 BC  

 
Internal
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Outline on the  Pre Empire Era   10K BC  -  3K BC
External
Links
  -  Video:  The Rise of Man:  Sapiens & the Beginning of Agriculture      3:52
Link
  The Pre Empire Era runs from approximately 10 K BC to 3 K BC  
  During the Pre Empire Era FOUR milestones were crossed for humanity which included
   a. the 1st development of agriculture
   b. agriculture becomes widespread
   c. the beginning of "civilization" 
   d. the 1st permanent villages		  
  The Pre Empire Era includes what is commonly known as the New or Early Stone Age    c. 9 K   -  7 K BC     aka the Proto Neolithic Era   
Link
 The Chart on the Characteristics of the Pre Empire Stratification System shows that the pre empire era had a high level of inequality  
  During the Pre Empire Era, inequality/stratification begins as humanity develops the capacity to produce a surplus  
  The transition from H-G society to pre empire "civilization" is characterized by the scattered development of ag of the late H-G Era to where Pre Empire Society had widespread agriculture  
  Pre Empire Society was based on agriculture  
  With the transition to agriculture, we see "mini systems" develop in the hearth areas  
  Mini systems develop w/ FIVE common traits
a.  a single cultural base
b.  a single social economy
c.  are essentially self sufficient
d.  much trade w/in their system
e.  even some trade outside their system, i.e. w/ neighboring mini systems		  
  Hearth areas are settings where new practices develop, & then spread to other areas  
  In terms of the World Systems Theory, hearth areas may be thought of as "proto cores" areas  
  There are SIX major hearth areas
1. Africa:  Nile River & south, & along Mediterranean on the African north coast
2. Middle East:  Fertile Crescent:  Iran & Iraq, Jordan & Israel, Turkey
3. Indian Subcontinent:  Indus & Ganges Rivers
4. South Asia:  Assam, Bangladesh, Burma, India
5. China:  along the coast & major rivers:  Huang & Yangtze Rivers River
6. Americas:  Central & So America (Andes Mtns)		  
  From a historical perspective, the major hearth areas developed relatively simultaneously  
  The rudiments of civilization developed in all the hearth areas w/in a few thousand years, & following that, fundamental advancements in civilization (i.e. the dev of irrigation, techniques of ag, construction, engineering, smelting, etc.) occurred relatively simultaneously in a historical sense, but over relatively long periods from a human perspective  
  Agriculture in the Pre Empire Era was based on widespread domestication of plants & animals  
  Agriculture has gone through FOUR "revolutions" or major stages  
  The first agricultural revolution occurs as societies domesticated plants & animals  
  Marx holds that during the pre empire era, the "exploitation of man by man" first developed  
  During the pre empire era, the "exploitation of the Earth by man" first developed   
  While environmental degradation & species extinctions at the hands of hunters had begun in H-G Era, the hearth areas sometimes experienced environmental collapse as a result of ag practices  
  The replacement of a hunting & gathering form of economy w/ an agricultural economy resulted in people being able to produce surpluses  
  In H-G Society, no surplus was produced, therefore no one could exploit another by taking their surplus  
  The fact that a person could produce more than they could consume allowed others to "exploit" them, i.e. take their surplus or "enslave" them, i.e. make them create a surplus for another  
  During the Pre Empire Era, people gain wealth by creating it themselves or taking it from others  
  Thus as humanities' ability to create a surplus appeared, so too did  the ability to exploit, enslave, etc. another, heralding the end of relative equality in human relations  
  But the social relationships surrounding any form of exploitation are different in each era
blank
  During the Pre Empire Era, patriarchal gender relations first developed  
  See also:  Morgan:  The Origin of Patriarchy  
  See also:  Marx & Engels: Origin of the Family, Private Property & the State,  "The Historic Defeat of Women"  
  During the pre empire era, slavery first developed but was not based on race as it is in the modern era  
  The next era is the Early Empire Era which runs 3 K BC to 200 BC  

 
Internal
Links

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Outline on Marxist History
Asiatic Mode of Production
Early Empire Era      3K BC - 200 BC
External
Links
  The Asiatic mode of production is a socio political economic system characterized by an agricultural system enhanced by a centralized irrigation system controlled by the elite, & held in common by the people, who may have privately owned plots of land or communal land  
  Asiatic mode of production occurred in China, India, the Mid-East, Egypt, & Central & So. America  
  Many social theorists have examined the Early Empire Era & the Asiatic mode of production  
  See Also:  The Early Empire Era  
  Adam Smith had already noted influence of centralized irrigation tech on econ systems, esp in Egypt, China, & India  
  James Mill & JS Mill agreed w/ Smith that the centralization of the irrigation system in Egypt, China, & India has a major influence on these societies  
  Montesquieu called the centralized irrigation systems of the Early Empire Era Asiatic despotism  
  Montesquieu noted that all the groups in society, other than the elites, were so weak that organized resistance to the despot was impossible  
  Weber examined the cultures of the East & the West & noted the lack of value for Earthly material goods in many Eastern religions  
  Marx saw two major lines of development, the Asiatic mode of production in the East & the continuous change resulting in the evolution of capitalism in the West  
  The Asiatic System & the Mode of Production:  
  The Asiatic mode based on centralized irrigation  
  Marx & Engels' examination of the Asiatic mode of production was very significant for their theory because their entire economic analysis began in 1853 as a result of British imperialism in Asia, especially China  
  Marx & Engels noted that in China & other eastern regions there was an absence of private property in land, & they asked how this came about  
  Marx & Engels recognized that in Egypt, China, et al, irrigation is necessary for agriculture due to the climate  
  Marx & Engels recognized that in Egypt, China, et al, a single war could destroy the system & thereby depopulate a country for centuries  
  There is little evidence that feudalism was any more productive than the Asiatic System   
  The Asiatic System & Stability:  
  The Asiatic period was extremely stable  
  The Asiatic period was stable until invaded by West  
  The Asiatic mode was extremely stable because:  
 
 - irrigation was under the control of the govt
 
 
 - the empire was divided into villages, none of which had much power
 
 
 - each village & region was self sufficient & so did not interact w/ others
 
 
 - power was centralized both politically through a theological monarchy & economically through the landlord, irrigation master
 
  A major theoretical implication of the Asiatic System is that the stability of Asiatic System from prehistoric times until the 19th Century, when the west invaded, seems to refute Marx's assertion in the Preface to Contribution to a Critique of the Political Economy, 1859, that productive forces are always changing  
  So why did Mx raise the question of the Asiatic mode of production?  
  By showing how all factors come together to produce stability, Marx can show how factors can come together to create inevitable, "necessary" change  
  Marx's analysis of the Asiatic system demonstrates that he is not a strict determinist  
  By examining the mode production under capitalism, Marx demonstrated the inevitability of change under those historical conditions  
  Thus there is no unilinear, inevitable development of productive forces, though it seems that the engine of competition does necessitate it today  
  One must examine particular econ conditions, particular hist factors, particular climactic factors, etc. for necessary contradictions  
  Given a set of factors, change or stability may be inevitable  
  The Asiatic System & War:  
  There was little war during the tribal era because there was no surplus property to plunder  
  There was little war during the tribal era because even enslaving another brought little benefit because people generally produced only enough for subsistence living  
  As the Asiatic & the ancient societal forms developed, surplus product was produced, making it advantageous for one group to plunder another  
  Marx & Engels recognize that war was one of humanities earliest occupations, which developed as 'history' & surplus product developed  
  In war, as people are conquered with land and human accessories (homes and tools), so arises slavery and serfdom  
 
 The Asiatic mode collapsed only by invasion
 
 
 It was only w/ British rule that Asiatic mode was undermined in China
 
 
 The British, unlike previous conquerors, did not maintain the irrigation system, causing a decline in agriculture
 
  In the East, power was based on warfare, politics, etc., all of which were "non basic" in relation to an economic base  
  So China, India, Egypt were beset by centuries of warlords vying for power  
  The Asiatic System & Private Property:  
  Marx & Engels viewed the Asiatic mode of production as propertyless feudalism  
  The Asiatic system did not allow for the development of private property, & thus feudalism was not possible in the East  
  Thus, there were no large economic bases of power in the East  
  While the first form of ownership was tribal, as the Asiatic & ancient societal forms developed, so did other forms of private property  
  During the Asiatic period, some form of private property develops   
  In the Asiatic era, the ancient era, & following eras, man owned the family as he would own a slave  
  In the Asiatic & ancient eras, while the man owned the family as a slave, many other things were still owned in common  
  It is in the eras after the ancient era when private property becomes the norm, beyond the family, for more men  
 
 See Also:  Economic & Cultural Determinism  
 
 Socio Historic Overview  
  An Overview of Marxist History  
  For Marx & Engels, the Tribal Society was characterized by primitive communalism & social equality  
  For Marx & Engels, the Asiatic System is a socio political economic system characterized by an agricultural system enhanced by a centralized irrigation system controlled by the elite, & held in common by the people, who may have privately owned plots of land or communal land  
    - The Early Empire Era  
    - Gender in the EEE   
    - Race in the EEE  
  For Marx & Engels, Ancient Society was characterized by a break down which resulted from internal contradictions & the specific retinue lifestyle of Europeans  
  For Marx & Engels, Feudal Society was characterized by the birth of a limited market economy, technology & the effects of warfare, which eventually resulted into its transformation into capitalism  
  For Marx & Engels, Capitalist Society was characterized by wage labor & a market which would inevitably concentrate wealth into the hands of a few, the bourgeoisie, emmiserating the workers, the proletariat  
  For Marx & Engels, Socialist Society as characterized by the development of a classless social system, which can only occur after the proletarian revolution, with worker control of the economy, but yet has the continued existence of  many remnants of the old systems  
  For Marx & Engels, Communist Society as characterized by the development of a classless social system, which can only occur after the proletarian revolution, with worker control of the economy, but now has the no remnants of the old systems "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs."  

 
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 Weber on the  Asiatic System
The Early Empires Era     circa   3,000 BC  -  200 BC
External
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  Summary:  For Weber, the end of primitive communalism came at different times in different locations & developed into Asiatic System, Ancient Slave Society & finally W Capitalism. The Asiatic & Ancient Slave Society based on agriculture.  Religious beliefs affects or determines the Asiatic economic system.  The Greek system advanced because of class struggle.  The Asiatic system was very stable because of many factors including centralized irrigation, bureaucracy, etc.  
  Synonyms for this era include:
- Early Empire Era
- Asiatic System
- Oriental Despotism
 
  The Era of the Asiatic System saw the end of Primitive Communalism
 
  Primitive communalism was leftover from the pre empire ( 10 k - 3k BC ) & hunter gatherer societies ( 1.5 mm BP - 10k BC ), but still exists today in some native tribes
 
  Weber believes there was almost no primitive communalism left by end of antiquity period  ( 400, fall of Roman Empire ), & he was correct for Europe
 
  Even the Russian Mir, which looks very communal, forced people to return to help pay taxes, making it closer to feudalism than to communalism
 
  In all of this, Weber's goal was to explain why capitalism didn't develop out of these economic systems of antiquity & why manufacturing did not expand
 
  Communalism in early ancient society
 
  Weber explored the nature & extent of communalism in the earliest stages of ancient society
 
  Greeks & Romans were different from communalism in ancient society in that a family's land was removed from commons when they were raised to monarchical status
 
  In time, the commons were eliminated as aristocrats took private ownership
 
  In Germany access to land was distributed equally, when cattle, slaves, & other goods became early private property
 
  Agrarian Societies of Ancient Civilizations
 
  Ancient agricultural society existed at little more than the subsistence level
 
  Individual farmers had little power
 
  Weber examines this era to determine origin of later medieval & modern economic system, i.e., capitalism
 
  Religious beliefs affected / determined the economic systems
 
  Religion is an institution that may have considerable economic importance in some historical circumstances  
  The Torah [Pentateuch] maintained ancient freedom based on equality  
  For Weber, the 10 Commandments & Mosaic law protected free people from social stratification in wealth & power  
  Keeping the Sabbath was extended to laborers, slaves, & cattle  
  Greek history advanced because of class struggle  
  In Greece, the growth of sea trade led to crisis because of the:  
  a.  accumulation of wealth in money & land  
  b.  increasing indebtedness of the peasantry  
  This wealth created inequality, the new rich (commercial traders), poor free men without property, impoverished aristocrats (propertied)  
  Frequently rich traders formed alliances w/ poor free men against aristocrats  
  Much of ancient Greek history can be understood as a class struggle of old aristocrats trying to stay in power, opposed by some other class  
  The Asiatic mode of production  
  Weber's fruitful elaboration of Marx's concept  
  Weber:  Marx is correct to see stability of this system as based upon a system of fixed payments in kind, instead of production for the market  
  Centralized irrigation systems gave great power to monarchy  
  Weber, rounds out Marx's analysis by looking at the supporting institutions of religion  
  Wars were fought to obtain slaves to dig canals  
  Qualities of Oriental despotism
- every individual has a position in the system 
- individuals are essentially unfree, though not strictly a slave
- centralized irrigation
- forced labor
- highly repressive
- centralized bureaucracy
- taxation was high
- absolute leaders over retinue, army, bureaucracy
- Divine status:  divinity is not mysterious when one considers the absolute power wielded by these leaders 		  
  Note that status of divinity was also conferred upon ancient Roman Leaders & Feudal Kings & Queens  
  Bureaucracy created the separation of administration from ownership  
  Bureaucracy allowed administrators to be separated from what they controlled  
  Under feudalism, Prince granted land to nobles who paid their own costs & thus had autonomy  
  Structure of cities, military & irrigation also impacted social development  
  There were no cities developed in the East since the army was older than the city  
  Military:  
  West:  principle of self equipment  
  East:   supply of army controlled by the ruler  
  Irrigation was the heart of all this centralization  

 
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Outline on the   Early Empires Era
a.k.a.    Ancient Agricultural Society            circa 3 K BC  -  200 BC
External
Links
 
 The Early Empire Era economies were based the FIVE factors of:
- agriculture
- conquest
- minimal, hand manufacturing sector
- some trade
- some service sector activities such as banking, law, education, etc.
 
 
 The Early Empire Era's economic systems were a mixture of state capitalism & command economies which was called the Asiatic system by Marx & Weber 
 
 
 During the Early Empire Era, there was in increased division of labor  
  By 3000 BC, agriculture, irrigation & villages were well established  
  During the Early Empire Era, non production workers emerged: 
  - artisans                                 - religious leaders
  - crafts workers                       - political leaders
  - traders                                  - bureaucrats
  - warriors		  
 
 -  See Marx's analysis of the Asiatic System  
 
 -  See Weber's analysis of the Asiatic System  
 
 Demonstrations of power & inequality emerged during the Early Empire Era in the form of burial practices, elaborate housing structures, the construction of significant religious monuments, etc., e.g., Stonehenge (estimated 30 mm hours to build)
 
 
 City states grew & groups of mini systems absorbed into a common political system while retaining fundamental cultural differences through a process now known as salad bowel integration
 
  - The first independent political systems were city states (though tribes also had a political function)  
  - City states would conquer neighboring city states & build empires  
  - City states were predominant in Egypt, Greece, China, Byzantium, Rome, Ottoman,  India, Aztec, Inca  
  - City states developed the practice of colonization  
  - Colonization is the domination of another group by political & military power   
  - During the Early Empire Era, & later, many empires ruled by conquest  
  The Early Empires 
- usually conducted minimal soci cultural political domination
- usually accepted the cultures of their conquests
- usually let conquered societies exist & pay tribute
- sometimes totally decimated the conquered societies:  Rome burned Carthage to the ground & killed ALL the citizens; men, women, & children, 100% genocide, & then salted the earth, resulting in it not being rebuilt for centuries		  
 
 Political systems in this era were mostly authoritarian or totalitarian   
 
 Hydraulic societies developed irrigation & drainage systems, w/ notable examples in Egypt & China
 
 
 Religion was transitioning from animism to polytheism & had minimal monotheism
 
 
 In the ancient world,
 
  - many people existed only at the subsistence level, & many hunter gatherers still exist  
  - the steppes, plains, etc. were the climates best suited for pastoral societies  
  - the hearths of sedentary agricultural societies continued to expand  
  - the trade routes on sea & land were rugged  
  - agriculture provided an existence only barely above the subsistence level, w/ diminishing returns if people stayed in one area to long  
  - agricultural over-use of an area was an impetus to explore & trade  
  - imperialism was another reason to explore & trade  
  - political fragmentation & competition were common  
  - many religions were violently evangelical  
  - inheritance became a widespread social practice  
  - there were innovations in shipping, navigation, & warfare  
 
 Leadership cycles:  The cycle of leadership first developed during Early Empire Era & to a great extent still exists today
 
  Empires rose & fell in rapid succession
 
  At times in history, one nation may dominate by economic, political, or military power
 
  There are also periods which are in flux where no nation dominates  
  The leadership cycle generally goes through SEVEN stages of
competitive struggle,  leading to economic power, leading to
political power, leading to military power, leading to
expansion/hegemony, leading to imperial overreach, leading to
decline/defeat, leading to competitive struggle, 
and so the cycle continues		  
  A particular leadership cycle could often be eliminated by the attack, out of the blue, by a more powerful country  
  A particular leadership cycle first developed during Early Empire Era & to a great extent still exists today, meaning that some historians try to trace the development of civilization based on the conquest of empires or civilizations  
Link
 The Table on Urbanization in the Early Empire Era indicates that the trend toward  urbanization existed since the dawn of civilization and was part of empire building
 
 
 Uruk was the first known city w/ approximately 50,000 people in 3500 BC in Mesopotamia, which is modern day Iraq
 
  Slavery, armies, & administration developed during the Early Empire Era  
  Wealthy cities were prized by nomads & other city states  
 
 The concept & practice of an organized military developed & war was made profitable by
- the development of wealth based on agriculture
- the development of weapons & tactics
 
 
 Ruling a nation & the practice of slavery was based on conquest, i.e. whoever a city state could conquer, and race was not a consideration in that city states would conquer neighboring city states of the same race, & ally w/ another race
 
  The development of an organized military, the rule of a nation by conquest, & the practice of slavery created the first & greatest jump in inequality  
 
 Egypt developed a hydraulic society where the central control of irrigation allowed a small elite lived above subsistence
 
  The Egyptian hydraulic society dominated all of civilization from about 4,000 BC to 600 BC  
  Some the the social characteristics of early Egyptian society included
- chronic warfare
- slavery based on conquest
- most pyramids built w/ free labor
- centralized govt
- military
- metal plows
- property now belonging to the ruler instead of the tribe		  
 
 The caste system developed in Indian religions & later in Japan about 1500 BC
 
  Caste refers to groups people according to specific social rank  
  Variations of caste are found in all Indian religious communities, not only Hindu but also Jain, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian communities  
  All stem from the tripartite social division of the Aryans, who invaded northern India c. 1500 BC  
  However, only Hindus developed theological and legal rationales for caste  
  The caste system began w/ 3 divisions, Hindus have over 2300 today
 
  The three divisions or varnas consisted of Brahmins (priests and professionals), Kshatriyas (rulers, warriors, and administrators), and Vaishyas (farmers and merchants).   
  The caste system began w/ 3 divisions, Hindus have over 2300 today  
  Later a fourth varnas developed, the Shudras (artisans and laborers).   
  Each varnas classifies many jatis or castes, traditionally determined by occupation, but often linked through geographical locality, marriage, or dietary customs.   
 
 Despite the attempts of Gandhi and subsequent leaders to abolish the caste system, ( 1947 ) discrimination on the basis of caste persists.
 
 
 The caste system generally has normative closure & its legitimation is based on both law & religion:  Hinduism & reincarnation
 
Link
 The nature of race & slavery did not change its nature in the Early Empire Era, but it use of it did grow dramatically as did war, empire building, the conquest of other peoples
 
  Like the previous stages of hunter gatherer society & the pre empire era, the Early Empire Era viewed race as just another human quality  
  Slavery was established based on the opportunity of a defeated opponent & religion, nationality, & race were just one more factor  
  Slaves were white/black/yellow....  rich/poor......     any nationality  
 
 Patriarchy began in the pre empire era but developed fully into a social system in this era
 
  Discriminatory gender relations did not exist until the time of the Early Empire Era  
  Thus 99% + of human history has been egalitarian  
 
 Morgan:  The Origin of Sexism & Patriarchy  

 
Top
  
Table on Urbanization in the Early Empire Era:
Urbanization was part of empire building & during the Early Empire Era, less than 10% people lived in urban areas
Date
City State
Modern Country
Population
World Population
3500 BC Uruk Iraq 20,000 est 85 mm
2100 BC Ur Iraq 200,000 108 mm
1600 BC Thebes Egypt 200,000 114 mm
200 AD Rome Italy 1,000,000 165 mm

 
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Outline of the Era of the Roman Empire
circa 200 BC - 500 AD
External
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 During the previous early of the Era of the Early Empires ( 3 K BC to 200 BC ) many mini systems developed  
 
 During the Era of the Roman Empire ( 200 BC to 500 AD ), the stratification system changed little from the previous, Early Empire Era
 
  The Roman Empire dominated only the Mediterranean mini systems but did not affect five other mini systems in development in different regions  
 
 Mini systems that were outside of the influence of the Roman Empire include:
a.  the mid east Fertile Crescent (except for Mediterranean states)
b.  most of Africa
c.  south Asia
d.  China
e.  America		  
  During the Roman Era, many regions developed dominate mini systems of their own  
Link
 The Chart on the Characteristics of the Stratification System of the Roman Empire shows that Roman society was a two level  system of Classes (Upper, Middle, Lower) and Slaves which exhibited high & medium inequality, respectively  
  There were FIVE major classes in the Roman Empire Core:
   a.  the ruling elite  b.  the common people  c.  the military  d.  merchants & intellectuals  e.  slaves		  
  a. The ruling elite of the Roman Empire made up less than 5 % of the population  
  The Roman Empire began w/ a limited democratic system similar to that of the Greeks  
  Upper Class males became Senators & had a voice in the govt  
  Circa 59 BC,  Julius Caesar was voted dictator for life  
  Because the Roman economy was dependent on environmentally degrading methods of agriculture, the Roman Empire had a continual need for new soil & therefore pursued & was dependent on the conquest for land & slaves  
  The stratification of the Roman system had a low level of openness  
 
 A person could advance their class & status position:
 
  - through a career in the military, as was seen in some men advancing from soldier to Emperor  
  - in business, though this was very difficult since most wealth was passed down along patriarchal lines of inheritance  
  - as a slave, who worked hard for a generous & justice loving person who sets you free  
 
 b. The common people made up over 65 % of the population
 
  W/in the Roman Empire, the common people were exploited and forced into a subsistence living  
  Each Roman male was forced to spend 10 yrs. in the military  
  If men in the Roman Army survived & as was often the case, the conquest was successful, they would receive land  
  One reason for the Fall of Roman Empire was that the exploitation of the common people was so great that they would not defend the Empire  
  In Rome, the people were pacified w/ "The Games," free food & drink... see any similarities to today?   
  c.  The Military  
  Though they were drawn from all classes, the military was such a large % of the population, that they should be viewed as a separate class  
 
 d. Merchants, intellectuals, etc. made us a small % ( circa 5 % ) of the population  
 
 e. Slaves made up 25 % of population  
  Slaves could gain freedom, because slavery in the Roman Era was not a racist system  
  Slaves were now “profitable” because one person could produce more than they consumed  
  Rebellions happened, & some forced reforms (Sparticus)  
  Strong state bureaucracies increased repression against the slaves as well as the free people  
  Guilds (early unions) protected markets and trade secrets  
 
 Agriculture in the "core" Roman Empire was based on slavery, but much work was done by free laborer in the rest of society  
  Roman agriculture had the characteristics of:  
  a.  inefficiency  
  b.  commodity production of olive oil, cotton, etc.  
  c.  large Roman estates  
  d.  significant trade w/ other regions   
  e. self sufficiency, which increased as the Empire declined  
  Trade was important mostly at the peak of empire, & declined as the Empire declined at which time the large Roman Estates became self sufficient, transforming into orgs more similar to feudal manors  
 
 Agriculture on the Roman Empire frontiers was based on the Estate ( feudal ) system  
 
 Agriculture in the Roman Empire consisted of estates w/ serfs & paid labor, & small farms  
  The Roman Empire depended on cereals from frontier to pacify people  
  The Roman Empire was based on militarism & conquest, more than on agriculture  
 
 Major employment for a Roman citizen was 10 yrs of military service  
 
 The fall of Roman Empire was due to many factors
 
 
 The fall of the Roman Empire occurred because:  
  1.  conquest reached a limit & so could not bring spoils to core empire  
  2.  exploitation: people did not defend the empire because they never had defended the empire  
  3.  w/ the limitations on conquest, Rome could not continue to rule the frontier  
  4.  w/o spoils from frontier, no support of people  
  5.  agriculture also depleted the environment  
  6.  slave based agriculture was inefficient  
  7.  there were not enough new slaves from conquests  
  8.  the army was no longer staffed by citizens, but by frontiers' men  
  Frontiers' men in the army were less loyal & less skilled than the citizens soldiers  
 
 Montesquieu developed an analysis on the Fall of the Roman Empire which said it was the result of social factors related to the dysfunctionality of a dominance of the military social structure at the expense of other social structures including the govt & the econ  
 
 Patriarchy & gender relations were similar to that of the earlier eras, except w/in the Roman Empire there was limited openness, & thus some women ( Cleopatra, et al ) achieved success  
 
 Slavery followed the system developed in the earlier eras in that it was based on conquest & not race; in fact, the Roman Empire is historically noted for its racial/ ethnic/ religious openness/ inclusiveness  
 
 The era that followed the Era of the Roman Empire was the Middle Ages ( 500 to 1300)  

 
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 Outline on Marxist History
Ancient Society
Roman Era      200 BC - 500 AD
External
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  Summary:  Ancient soc broke down as a result of internal contradictions & changed in response to the specific retinue lifestyle of Europeans  
  During the ancient era, the Romans destroyed agriculture, industry decayed for want of a mkt trade  
  Under the Roman military form of society, property relations developed under a military constitution  
  Engels studied early German tribes of the ancient era
 
  Engels examined retinues which were the earliest known forms of communal landed property among German tribes of the ancient era
 
  Retinues were private assocs of warriors recruited on the basis of military skills
 
  Retinues were, at first, people w/o land formed to protect &/ plunder
 
  Gangs, warlords, etc. are modern forms of the retinue
 
  Early on in the ancient era, the Scintheans were structured by of warlords & retinues, & later the Mongols adopted this structure
 
  Retinues allowed the rise of monarchic power & could only be kept together by continual wars
 
  For the retinues, plunder became end in itself
 
  The social structures of sedentarism & the homestead developed amidst the retinue structure
 
  Migratory peoples settled down & cultivated fields
 
  Yet, hereditary, priv prop existed among them from earliest times because the "sacred right of the home" was always passed down, & so when land was cultivated that land was attached to the homestead
 
  During the ancient era, & for those living outside the Roman Empire, there was a sex based div of labor wherein women, children & the old tilled the land while men made war & plundered
 
  See Also:  Gender in the Roman Era  
  The sex based div of labor where men make war & women till & keep the home is seen in similar form in many ancient cultures including the Native Americans  
 
 Thus, the sacredness of the home was not an effect but a cause of the creation of priv prop & land holdings because it allowed for significant bequeathal  
 
 Priv prop dev out of several conditions, including:
 
 
 a.  the sacred family dwelling
 
 
 b.  the Roman influence in that Romans had private property
 
  c.  the retinues which were permanent, mixed clans to which members had greater loyalty than to family or any other social structure  
  Retinues undermined the old form of communal life because:  
  a.  retinue leaders became independent of their kinsmen & tribal assembly of warriors  
  b.  retinue leaders became monarch & nobles  
  c.  retinues became intl: crossed boundaries of tribes & peoples  
  d.  leaders & members bequeathed their property to their own children rather than to their entire kindred  
  Many complex of factors transformed ancient soc into feudalism  
  No econ deterministic theory grasped complexity of the transitions from tribal society, to ancient society, to feudalism, to capitalism  
  Free peasants of ancient times transformed into serfs as a consequence of war & mil conquest which disrupted old tribal pattern by turning retinue leaders into feudal nobility  
  The dev of feudal classes occurred as a result of the transformation of the ancient, retinue classes  
  Ret warriors became aristocrats  
  Free peasants of ancient times & ret members who became sedentary (farmers) became serfs  

 
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 Outline on Weber on  Ancient Slave Society 
The Roman Era        circa  200 BC - 500 AD
External
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  Summary:  During Roman Era, development of the city state was widespread.  The Roman Empire united these city states, but the city state was still most common form of govt.  Slavery dominated in the country, while free labor dominated in the urban areas.  Slavery based on conquest, but when conquest failed, the Romans could not replenish their slave base.  Rome collapsed because as the slave economy collapsed, & the mkt econ was replaced by subsistence barter economy.  The subsistence barter economy of the late ancient slave era became the econ basis of the Middle Ages  
  The development of the city state was instrumental in the development of the ancient slave society
 
  Ancient civilization was based on urban city states
 
  The economy of the ancient slave era rested on trade of manufactured & agricultural products & was linked to marine shipping
 
  In interior, rural areas, peasants lived in self sufficient tribal communities
 
  Free labor & slavery existed side by side, but most of the econ dev was based on slavery
 
  From earliest times, cities relied on free labor while country estates relied on slavery
 
  Free craftsmen in cities; slaves worked on the land in estates not much different from those of Middle Ages
 
  Weber recognized that the exchange econ needs new mkts to grow, & there were several attempts by cities to break up the rural estates
 
  For Weber, the most salient feature of the ancient social structure was slavery  
  Weber examines why the transition from slavery to free labor occurred
 
  Weber examines why slavery prevailed in antiquity while free labor eventually became norm in the Middle Ages
 
  Weber examines the transition from ancient slave society to feudalism
 
  Conquest/slave economic systems
 
  In antiquity, it was primarily the slave owners who expanded production based on a division of labor  
  In antiquity, imperialism fed the slave market
 
  The slave market fed the economy, & kept the econ growing, squeezing out the exchange economy of the city 
 
  Through conquest, free & slave labor competed
 
  At first, the system had too much conquest & slaves & so they limited reproduction of slaves  
  The best land was used for cash crops which happened to be capable of being tended by slaves:  olives, wine, etc.   
  Other land was leased to free people who grew cereal crops  
  But ancient slaves did not reproduce themselves because they lived in barracks in non monogamous relationships, & so were replenished by conquest  
  Thus when conquests became difficult, it created a crisis for the system  
  The Conquest System never learned how to reproduce slaves  
  Fall of Rome: The Transition to the Middle Ages  
  Weber essentially agrees w/ Marx when Marx says, 
“[T]he disintegration of the Roman Empire was the inevitable political consequence of a basic economic development:  the gradual disappearance of commerce and the expansion of a barter economy.”
Das Kapital
  

 
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Outline on the  Middle Ages, aka the Feudal Era  circa 500 to 1300
External
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  In the previous era, the Fall of the Roman Empire, ( 200 BC  to 500 AD ) gave way to the Middle Ages  
 
 The Middle Ages are also known as feudal society, late agricultural society, the Dark Ages, etc.   
 
 After the Fall of the Roman Empire, a power vacuum developed in Europe accompanied by a decline in art, literature, science, technology, etc.  
 
 Civilization continued its rapid advance in the middle eastern countries of what is now Turkey, Iran & Iraq  
  Feudalism was based on military power & economic dominance  
  The feudalistic form of society arose, over centuries, out of the fall of Roman Empire  
 
 Feudalism was at its height by the 1100s, declined in 1600s, & was mostly gone by 1800s as early capitalism made it obsolete & ineffective  
  Pockets of feudalism continued to exist, notably in Russia & China, into the 1900s  
 
 Toward the middle & end of the Middle Ages,  industrialism & the modern class system arose
 
Link
 The Chart on the Characteristics of the Stratification System of the Middle Ages indicates that this era had the highest level of inequality and had very little social mobility  
  There was extreme inequality among the 3 major classes of the middle ages
     1.  Nobility
     2.  Church Leaders
     3.  Serfs 		  
  During early feudalism, stratification was less institutionalized, then it became more fixed, & toward the end of the feudal era, it became less institutionalized again
 
  Feudal production displaced the pastoral/kinship & manor systems of the Roman system
 
  As feudal production developed & displaced the Roman Manor System, Serfs replaced slaves on the manors & freemen on small private farms  
  Serfs' existence was little better than subsistence
 
  Serfs had more rights & power than slaves but less than the freemen of the Roman Era  
  Serfs were “slaves” w/ traditional rights who were tied to land  
  At the beginning of feudalism, serfs worked & gave up their produce for protection  
  Over time, the serfs' trading of work & produce for protection became institutionalized in the form of tradition that could not be manipulated even by the king  
  However, extraordinary conditions can break even centuries old traditions, & so, as seen below, by the end of the Feudal Era, kings were exiling serfs from their homes of generations in order to privatize, control, & in some cases sell the land in what was called the Enclosure Movement  
  Serfs technically were real property, like land & so belonged to the Lord or King over them  
  Usually aristocrats did not give up or sell land, except by war  
  There were a few Slaves who were considered to be personal property, chattel, which belonged to the Lord or King over them & could be sold  
  Feudal era labor consisted of corvee labor where, for example, serfs might work for the Lord for 3 days a week & give up crops and produce   
  The Lord also had the power to take women, even married women, daughters, sons, etc. to servitude, the military, etc.  
  The Aristocratic class ruled based on ideology & military power  
  The Nobility & Church were very wealthy  
  The Church "Class" controlled access to the Bible & made power alliances w/ the Aristocrats  
  The Church was Catholic until it broke up into the Protestant religions  
  During the Feudal Era, there was a constant struggle between the Church & the State for power, & the serfs & few free people were pawns  
  Islam emerged in the Middle East & spread through North Africa to Spain & into southern Europe
 
  Circa 1000 - 1200, Islam's advance began again in Europe  
  The decline of feudalism & the transition to capitalism was due to
- the emergence of the modern form of the nation state in the 1300s
- the advance of science & technology
- the rise of merchants
- the rise of free labor
- urbanization
- Protestantism
 
  Merchants began to rise to power as they became wealthier than the aristocratic class  
  The merchants loaned huge amounts of money to struggling aristocrats & thus exerted considerable influence  
  Merchant capitalism developed w/in feudalism  
  Merchants eventually became the bourgeoisie class of the Early Industrial Age ( 1300 - 1700 )
 
  The word "bourg" meant town, & thus the merchants who were unique because they lived in the towns came to be called "bourgeoisie" or 'those who live in towns'  
  See Also:  The Bourgeoisie  
  The merchant class gained strength & size toward the end of the Middle Ages as commerce increased
 
  At the beginning of feudalism, merchants were very small in number, but by the end of feudalism, they were widespread & powerful  
  The guild system developed to a higher degree & thus the artisans escaped serfdom & became craftspeople who specialized in a trade, & eventually merchants  
  Common craftsmen were masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, plumbers, glaziers, shoemakers, etc.   
  Training new artisans through the stages of apprentice, journeyman, master was strictly controlled by the guild  
  Gender relations in the Middle Ages develops into chivalry & romance  
  Race relations in the Middle Ages transformed from the relatively "tolerant" ideology & relations prevalent since the H-G Era into modern forms of racist ideology & global slave trade  
  The next era is the Early Industrial Age ( circa 1300 - 1700 )  

 
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 Topics on Marxist History
Feudal Society
The Middle Ages      500 AD - 1300
External
Links
  SUMMARY:  FEUDALISM IS TRANSFORMED BY THE BIRTH OF A LIMITED MKT ECON, NEW AG TECH, & THE EFFECT OF 'WARFARE TRANSFORMING IT INTO CAPITALISM 
 
  From the previous era, the ancient era, the social relationship of chattel slavery is transformed into feudalism  
  Chattel slavery of antiquity gave way to feudalism  
  Feudalism arose because of the:  
  - disintegration of the Roman Empire  
  - ascendancy of many military chieftainships  
  - barbarian invasions  
  - decline of towns  
  CORVEE LABOR WAS THE TRADITION THAT PEASANTS OWED SOME LABOR TIME TO THEIR RULER / ARISTOCRAT   
  Originally, free peasants were  forced to farm, build castles, soldier, etc.  
  Later, the peasants were forced into labor or services for a fixed amt of time each yr.  
  The forced labor of peasants for a limited period of time lead to creation of the institution of  serfdom, not vice versa ( serfdom did not create corvee )  
  FORCE & VIOLENCE WAS USED TO ENFORCE ENCLOSURE & TO TRANSFORM SERFS INTO FACTORY WKRS / PROLETARIAT  
  Mx & Engels stress role of force & violence in shaping social relationships  
  The feudal lords forced free peasants to become bondsmen, & the bondsmen to become serfs  
  The feudal lords forced the common land into land belonging to only to the kingdom  
  The Thirty Years War, 1618-1648, broke the last resistance of the peasants & unlimited corvee labor was institutionalized  
  The Thirty Years War was the last great religious war of Europe: Germany, Sweden, France, et al  
  After the Thirty Years War much of Europe lay in ruins & it took Germany 200 yrs. to recover; many people left for America  
  Serfdom became the general model in Europe, but by the time of the Fr Rev, it had declined, being slowly replaced by pure capitalist labor relations  
  Serfdom existed in Russia until the 1900s when Alexander did away with it shortly before the 1917 revolution  
  THE RISE OF THE MKT ECON MADE THIS "... THE BEST OF TIMES, ...THE WORST OF TIMES"   
  For Marx & Engels the establishment of feudal serfdom is the result of a complex of factors including force & the mkt econ which increased the peasant's burden  
  The feudal economy was not a mkt econ but a commodity exchange econ  
  The methods of production were stable, but slowly the self subsistence econ in the village gave way to an exchange econ  
  Use value was now replaced by exchange value & commodity production grew  
  Capitalism was the first revolutionary mode of production in that it, the "productive forces," i.e. the serfs, came into conflict w/ the "existing relations of production," i.e. the control of property, labor relations, religion, etc. by the aristocratic class  

 
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 Outline on  Weber on  The Middle Ages
circa 500 - 1300
External
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  Summary:  Serf relationships replaced slave relationships, but serfs had some rights, they owed labor to the sovereign.  The slave based latifundia transited to serf based manors.  The latifundia traded at first, but as slave population declined, they became as self sufficient as was the manor.  The decline of Rome continued as the decline of the Dark Ages.  Retinues filled the Roman power vacuum, & developed into feudal kingdoms.  Charlemagne's Kingdom was an example of the feudal barter system based on self sufficiency.  There was a push & pull transition from to feudalism to capitalism w/ the push being the enclosure mvmt & the pull being the efficiency of manufacturing in cities  
  Slavery to Serfdom  
  For Weber during the Middle Ages, the slave system transitioned to serfdom
 
  Unfree labor lived in monogamous relationships in their own home
 
  And so the unfree laborers were able to inherit & became the early serfs
 
  Thus, the lowest classes again acquired the right to a family life & to private property
 
  Slaves had risen in status & become serfs
 
  Barracks gave way to peasant cottages
 
  Latifundia transformed into manors
 
  New relationships in the forces of production changed the social structure
 
  Great estates of Roman Empire, latifundia, devolved into feudal like, self sufficient units called manors
 
  Urban craftspeople lost their rural mkt
 
  In relation to previous ages, in Europe the Middle Ages are often thought of the Dark Ages because some aspects of society were in decline
 
  Thus commerce declined taxes declined population declined & recruits for military declined
 
  The decline of slavery made free labor more important & so less people went into the military
 
  Mercenaries became the rule, especially barbarians, i.e., those from newly conquered European & Asian countries
 
  Charlemagne:  subsistence, barter economy
 
  This subsistence, non trading economy is seen under Charlemagne   
  Charlemagne lived for 72 yrs from 742 to 814  
  Charlemagne was the most famous ruler in the Middle Ages  
  Charlemagne conquered most of Western Europe & united it  
  Charlemagne's was first Empire inside the former Roman Empire since it's collapse in the 400s  
  During Charlemagne's time, Europe had almost no towns   
  Charlemagne's empire had no standing army, no bureaucracy, no monetary taxes, & no trade  
  Charlemagne began much of the system of what was to be called feudalism by granting large estates to nobles who began some infrastructural improvements  
  Marx & Engels believed the retinues were the key to the transition from feudalism to capitalism  
  For Marx & Engels, it was retinues that favored rise of kingship  
  Retinues ceded vast tracks of formerly Roman land to the people as the commons  
  But there was a transition of this land into a land of nobles  
  The retinues resulted in a shifting of the mode of production  
  Retinue developed into aristocratic class, which became hereditary  
  Tribes always made war, but a successful warrior would develop his retinue  
  The retinue could gain power & become relatively independent of the tribe  
  They conquered land & became aristocrats, w/ hereditary status  
  Those who were not wealthy enough to equip themselves for war, became serfs  
  Those who were defenseless, voluntarily submitted to a noble or lord for protection  
  The Enclosure was the result of a gradual increase of the serf population & efficiency in production  
  Since the feudal lord was a professional warrior, not a farmer, agriculture did not develop rapidly  
  Weber quotes Marx:  peasants had no interest in increasing productivity because lord was not interested in developing a market for those goods  
  Thus neither lords, nor peasants wanted to expand production  
  But as lords controlled more land, the enclosure began ( kick serfs off the land ) because serfs' population & efficiency increased  
  Serfs fled to the cities, & here they developed the market system  
  Increased efficiency of manufacturing in cities  
  It was not just more labor that made the system expand, because plagues & wars limited population, but rather more efficient labor  
  The putting out system & manufacturing created new forms of prod to meet expanding demand  
  Expanding trade increased power of merchants ( i.e., the bourgeoisie )  
  This created "urban attraction"  
  Peasants were drawn to the cities  
  Wealth of bourgeoisie began to compete w/ the aristocratic wealth  
  Developing market limited by feudalism  
  The market system started, a feedback loop, which affected manor by creating more of a market for agricultural goods  
  But relations of feudalism set limits on advancement of capitalism  
  Serfs could not produce just for market, because they had to make large payments to manor  
  Thus could not consume, & thus failed to support guild prod in cities  
  Guilds limited production, advanced technology  
  Guilds also limited production  
  For craftsmen did not want to see falling prices  
  Manors (aristocrats & serfs ) were self sufficient & thus did not buy city goods  
  This limited guild & manufacturing system growth  
  But guilds did have sufficient production to allow them to advance technology of production  
  Growth of cities fueled the transition to capitalism  
  Cities, papal curia, towns, & emerging states of Middle Ages were all vehicles of financial rationalization of the money economy, & of political capitalism  
  Feudalism very decentralized & thus offered political independence for many lords  
  China:  no transition to feudalism or capitalism  
  China had no cities as the West did  
  They lacked political autonomy, & had no mil power of its own  
  Thus it could not defend itself  
  In short, there was no independent bourgeoisie class centered in autonomous towns  

 
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  Outline on the   Early Industrial Age    circa 1300 - 1700
External
Links
  -  Video:  A Hole in the Sky
Link
  -  Project:  Video: The Early Industrial Working Class & the Hole in the Sky
Link
  -  Project:  The Rise of the Middle Class in the Early Industrial Era 
Link
  - Introduction: The Early Industrial Age  (1300 - 1700 ) saw the beginning of the rise of the middle class  
Link
 The Chart on the Characteristics of the Stratification System of the Early Industrial Age shows that equality increases dramatically w/ the creation of the middle class  
  During the previous era, the middle ages ( 500 to 1300 ), the fall of feudalism saw the rise of merchant capitalism & the birth of modernism  
  As feudalism went through the transition to capitalism of the early industrial age,  
   a. the nobility still depended on the ag/feudal mode of production which was very inefficient  
   b. nobles became indebted to merchants  
   c. the political elite defended status quo, which created many wars & power struggles  
   d. states & city states arose challenging kingdoms  
   e. there was a large expansion of population, trade & markets  
  A new stratification system rapidly emerged as the serfs underwent the Enclosure which created a class of freemen who eventually became workers  
  The Enclosure Movement was a long, bloody historical transition fraught w/ revolution, war, & social dislocation in which one class became obsolete & another was born  
  The relationship of serfs to the manor was such that they traded work & produce for protection, a home, & some minor rights  
  Serfs had the right to a home, which in many cases they had lived on for generations over the centuries of feudalism  
  As population grew, & the aristocrats experienced competitive pressure from early capitalism, they sought to exile serfs, i.e. kick them off their ancestral homes, from the manor  
  The Enclosure Movement, the exiling of serfs, created a new class of free people, called "freemen," & the singular in "freeman" is a common surname, & even a common name of towns  
  Freemen became merchants, craftsmen, & "the rabble," the masses, the mob etc.  
  W/ the rise of merchant capitalism, the merchant class was added to the elites & the serfs  
  By the 1500s, the world economic system was developing  
  Some craftsmen began to trade, & then became merchants who focused totally on trade  
  Then some merchants began to contract out labor, supplies & jobs  
  Artisans & “freemen” became subcontractors to merchants  
  The first sweatshops emerged  
 
 The development of the putting out system was the earliest form of wage labor & was the proto factory system  
  In the putting out system, workers get paid on how many items they put out on their stoop to be picked up & carried to the next stage in the production process  
  The competition of the putting out system, i.e. the early factory system, was very hard on artisans  
  Guilds resisted the putting out system & the destruction of the craft system
 
  Patenting developed which allowed individuals & groups an increased control of knowledge  
  Legislative interference in the labor system became more common in an attempt to control labor  
  Violence ensued as guilds, workers, et al struggled to control their workplace knowledge & labor  
  The middle class was decimated as workers became known as "wage slaves"  
  From 1600 to 1750 ( the end of early industrial age ) we see the development of the core states of the modern world system
 
  Politicians began to protect the new status quo of merchant capitalism  
  Different events/ paths of development occur in the core & the periphery:  
  In the core, Europe,  power shifted from the Netherlands to France & England  
  In the periphery, there was the rise & fall of Hispanic America  
  The economies of developing core regions experienced a rapid building of the industrial sector
 
  The early industrial age saw the construction of canal systems & the growth of industrial regions  
  Canal transportation dominated until the development of railroads starting in early the 1800s  
  Railroads allowed vast regions to be developed  
  The economies of developing core regions experienced a rapid building of the industrial sector  
  The major factor influencing the development of the periphery was the core's need for labor & resources
 
  Colonies specialized when  
    - there was demand in the core  
    - the colony had a comparative advantage  
    - the colony did not compete w/ the core  
  Colonies did not develop economically because the domination of the core removed wealth & prevented education, etc.   
  Colonies primarily served to provide raw material, labor for core, as they do in the industrial age & global age  
 
 The changes in the early industrial age created a class society that we would recognize today
 
  During the early industrial era, there was a shift from an agriculturally based economy to an industrially based economy  
 
 Mobility was based, more than before, on merit / achievement, but ascriptive stratification was still present
 
 
 There was a normative stress on equality; though the amount of equality varied widely from region to region or decade to decade
 
 
 The legitimation system for the justification of the rise of capitalism eventually developed into an Christian work ethic that held that belief that equal opportunity exists/ merit system works
 
  Marx believed that capitalism inevitably arose out of the ashes of feudalism through the dialectical development of historical materialism, i.e. the interaction of historic events & class struggle  
  Marx held that political economic systems developed dialectically through periods of crisis during which time social change occurs, resulting in periods of stability, during which time contradictions build leading to crisis...  
  For Marx, capitalism developed inevitably from the feudal era  
  For Marx, capitalism would inevitably destroy itself, as it was doing to the working class, & then develop into socialism  
  See Also:  Marx's socio historical overview   
  Weber believed that the emergence of capitalism was the result of factors such as those discussed by Marx, but also as a result of the emergence of the Protestant work ethic  
  Weber agreed w/ Marx on the origins of capitalism in the Early Indl Age, but added cultural (religious) factors:  
  a.  Weber believed that the Protestant work ethic enhanced growth of capitalism  
  b.  Weber believed that other religions such as Catholicism, Confucianism, & others restricted the development of capitalism  
  One of Weber's most important works is the Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism  

 
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 Topics on Marxist History
Capitalism
Early Industrial Age     1300 - 1700
External
Links
  INTRODUCTION:  CAPITALISM DEVELOPED OUT OF THE FEUDALISTIC BREAKDOWN
 
 
 Marx agreed w/ his contemporary historians that the mkt econ developed w/in feudalism from the 1200s to the 1300s
 
 
 Money & commodities were transformed into capital under specific historical circumstances
 
  What had been the peasants’ means of production now became capital in the hands of the new commercial lords & big farmers  
  The product that had been produced for subsistence & consumption, now was produced for the mkt  
  Corvee labor was replaced by wage labor; i.e., the wage slave developed  
 
 The transformation of money & commodities into capital require a class of owners, a means of production, a means of subsistence, & laborers
 
 
 Laborers are free in the political sense and free of or separated from the means of production
 
 
 Under capitalism, laborers own no land or tools
 
  THE ENCLOSURE FORCED SERFS OFF THEIR TRADITIONAL LANDS, & INTO THE CITIES WHERE THEY BECAME PROLETARIAT  
 
 Capitalism is therefore linked to the processes that separated the serf from the land which culminated in the Enclosure Movements
 
 
 By 1400, most feudalism had been eliminated in England & most were free peasant proprietors
 
  By 1500, the Enclosure was developing & there was  less & less usufruct  
  Usufruct is the right of enjoying a things which belongs to another and of deriving form it all the profit or benefit it may produce, provided it be without altering or damaging the substance of the thing  
  The Enclosure & the dev of capitalism created more & more proletariat  
  The Enclosure was a major economic shift where people were replaced by sheep, because the value of their wool & meat was greater than that of serf labor  
  Thomas Moore describes this tragedy of the Enclosure mvmt in his book Utopia  
 
 Capitalism was slower to develop in the rest of Europe, but by the Fr Rev, all Euro nations had significant cap econs which were displacing feudalistic relationships
 
  MANUFACTURING WAS DEVELOPED BY MERCHANTS / BOURGEOISIEWHO APPROPRIATED PRODUCTION KNOWLEDGE FROM GUILDS & DEVELOPED A DIVISION OF LABOR SO THAT WKRS COULDN'T REGAIN THAT KNOWLEDGE   
 
 Manufacture literally meant hand production
 
  Manufacture was distinguished from guild production only by the greater number of workers employed by one & the same capitalist  
 
 In the guild production, trade secrets, marketing, apprentice training, everything had been controlled by the guild itself
 
 
 The guild was a cooperative, centralized unit of production concerned with the craft and the crafts workers
 
 
 Guilds often limited production to keep prices at a living wage level
 
 
 In manufacturing, slowly the knowledge & skills of the guild wkrs were appropriated by the capitalist & used in the new capitalist mode of production
 
 
 Therefore each worker was reduced to being controlled by another who cares not for the workers’ interest, but for profit 
 
  ALIENATION DEVELOPS AS AN INTEGRAL FEATURE OF CAPITALISM BECAUSE OF MKT FORCES & COMPETITION  
 
 Under capitalism, the worker is alienated in three ways:
 
 
 Wkrs are alienated under capitalism because they are separated from:
 
 
 1.  the creative force enjoyed as a craftsperson 
 
 
 2.  other workers; each now competes against the others replacing the old cooperative system 
 
  3.  the product itself in that one does not even recognize or participate in what is being produced   
  See Also:  Alienation   
  THE MAXIMIZATION OF EFFICIENCY & THUS PROFITS CROWDS OUT ALL OTHER PRODUCTION GOALS  
  What the worker loses in creativity, the organization gains in efficiency   
  The cap firm as a whole is enriched by the appropriation of the workers' individual gifts of creativity   
  If under the guild system the mode of production was adapted to the wkr, under capitalism, the wkr must adapt to the mode of prod   
  The dev of cap, where the wkr adapts to the mode of prod, resulted in the destruction of the extended family   
  Only under capitalism do the productive forces become a dynamic element forcing universal change  
 
 Compared to capitalism, the pre capitalist modes of production were stationary in that capitalism creates the most rapid & continual changes in hist 
 
  THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LABOR FORCE INCLUDE SEPARATION, WK IN LARGE CORPS, ACCOUNTABILITY, CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS   
  Characteristics of the labor force are different in each histl era  
  Characteristics of Indl Era labor force include:   
  a.  the separation of wkplace from the home   
  b.  the separation of person from his / her position   
  c.  contractual relationships tying the wkr to the corp   
  d.  individual accountability   
  e.  employment in large scale corps  
  THE RELATIONS OF PRODUCTION OF EVERY WKR ARE HOMOGENIZING / BECOMING SIMILAR BECAUSE OF THE FORCES OF THE GLOBALIZATION OF CAPITALISM WHICH INCLUDE ED, OJT, TRAINING, COLLEGE, & APPRENTICESHIPS   
  FIVE characteristics of labor under Global Capitalism include:   
  a.  the fact that average edu has /\  
  b.  there is more OJT  
  c.  there are more company training schools  
  d.  the fact college is the norm, i.e. a strong majority of people in the dev world now have a college ed  
  e.  the fact that most jobs are apprenticed, credentialed, or have natl standards  
  Only when commerce is world wide, will global cap become permanent.   
  Only in the epoch of mod cap was the growth of productive forces inevitable for it was necessary to survive in competition.   
 
 In the system prior to global cap, different modes could come & go based on factors such as, primarily, war but also trade, slavery, religion, etc.
 

 
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 Outline on the  Putting Out System
External
Links
  The putting out system, (POS) which developed during the Early-Industrial Age, was the earliest form of wage labor & was the proto-factory system  
  See Also:  The Early Industrial Age  
  In the POS, workers get paid on how many items they put-out on their stoop to be picked up & carried to the next stage in the production process  
  The competition of the POS, i.e. the early factory system, was very hard on artisans
 
  Guilds resisted the POS & the destruction of the craft system
 
  The precursor to the POS was craft / guild  production which was the primary form of production outside of agriculture
 
  Craft / guild production predominated during all previous historical eras including:
- Pre-Empire Civilization
- The Early-Empires Era
- The Roman Era
- The Middle Ages
 
  That is, craft / guild  production predominated from circa 10 K BC until the 1300s until is was displaced by the POS which eventually evolved into industrial, factory production  
  The POS developed in the Era of Mercantile Capitalism
 
  During the Era of Mercantile Capitalism, the goal of national economic policy was to enrich the govt treasury
 
  The elites realized that they did not need colonies or silver & gold mines, rather they could benefit the most from the export of goods & thus a favorable balance of trade
 
  A favorable balance of trade occurs when a nation has more exports than imports
 
  The POS is aka cottage industry or sweatshops, which developed into mini- proto-factories
 
  The POS increased control by merchant class, who were the new, powerful class who developed out of the collapsing social relationships of feudalism
 
  The merchant would "put out" the raw materials to be worked on by the laborers & would later the workers would put out the finished product to be collected & sold by the merchant
 
  Workplace structure in the POS was organized by the merchants around simple tasks of the production process that non-guild workers could perform
 
 
 The POS allowed merchants to control craft knowledge, production, marketing, & price & took that power away from the craftsman
 
 
 The POS increased the division of labor
 
  See Also:  The Division of Labor  
  Craft production had a limited division of labor where apprentices & journeymen did the menial work, & learned more complex tasks as their skill level increased  
  But w/ the POS, all tasks are simplified & divided creating the disadvantage that workers lose conception of the whole task  
  An example of the development of the POS can be seen in the development of the textiles industry 1600s & the 1700s   
  In the development of the POS in the textile industry, merchants avoided the control of the guilds over the early stages of the production process by bringing the raw material (e.g. wool, cotton, etc.) to rural cottages & having unskilled country people weave it
 
  In the development of the POS in the textile industry, the merchants escaped the control of the guilds over the assembly process by having cloth woven in the countryside  
  In the development of the POS in the textile industry, the merchants avoided the control that the guilds had over the market & sales process by picking up the finished products that the workers had put out, & took the products to market  
  To escape the control of the guilds, the merchants moved production from the urban areas to the country  
  The hiring of non-guild workers by the merchants allowed them to set wages & prices at a level outside of the guild structure
 
 
 In the POS, the workers had a high independence when compared to workers today & set own pace  
  In the POS, the workers set their own pace because they worked on a piece rate  
  In the POS, the workers sometimes they hired help & had apprentices much the way contractors hire subcontractors today  
  In the POS, the workers often accepted work from several merchants at the same time  
  Compared to the craftwork system, the POS increased worker alienation  
  See Also:  Alienation  
  Under the craftwork system, the craftsmen closely guarded their trade secrets, & controlled the level of output because they understood that their knowledge was their only power & that overproduction would reduce their profitability  
  In the POS, the workers are deskilled, lose authority & power, & have lower wages that craftworkers  
  Braverman & Stone argue that under the POS merchants organized the workplace in order to deskilling the workers so that they, the merchants, could control the workplace  
  See Also:  Braverman  
  The merchants brought many non-guild workers into production  
  Apprentices & journeymen who could not find work because of the encroachment of merchants into the craft market became unemployed & some of them betrayed their guild by giving trade secrets to the merchants  
  Peasants, immigrants, widows, young women, wives & other unskilled workers were trained in one small area of the production process & became the non-guild, non-crafts workers  
  No workers in the POS had enough knowledge to go into business for themselves  
  Workers in the POS became subcontractors & wage laborers who were paid a piece rate  
  It is believed that the workers in the POS experienced the earliest form of wage labor   
  Workers in the POS, got paid on how many items they put out & this competition was very hard on artisans   
  Merchants financed the POS process, i.e. paid for tools, raw material, transportation, & market risk  
  Some merchants owned the spinning & weaving equipment  
  The POS undercut the price of guild production, hurting the guilds & creating incentives for merchants  
  The POS presented problems for the merchant such as the difficulty in regulating standards of workmanship & the difficulty in maintaining schedules  
  Another problem for the merchants in the POS was that the workers might sell raw materials for their own profit  
  During the Early-Industrial Age, during the development of the POS, there were periodic shortages of workers so merchants increasingly turned to machinery for greater production   
  As the POS evolved into the the early industrial factory system, the merchants began developed the centralized factory system where the workers left their homes & went to the factory to work for central control over workers
 
  The early industrial factory system allowed for centralization of the work process & the increased control over the workers
 
  The POS is still the most typical, i.e. numerous industrial system today, but the factory system produces more goods  
  Today, the POS is located in mostly peripheral nations, though the development of the work at home movement is gaining popularity workers & businesses, & has great similarities to the POS  
Link
 The Table on a Comparison of the Craftwork & Guild System & the Cottage Industry & the Putting-Out System shows that control of production & profits shifted from workers, i.e. craftsmen, journeymen, apprentices, & the guild to merchants  

 
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Top
  
Table on a Comparison of the Craftwork & Guild System & the Cottage Industry & the Putting-Out System
External
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The Craftwork & Guild System
The Cottage Industry & Putting-Out System
  
 
 Craftsmen buy raw materials & hire workers, including apprentices & journeymen The merchants buy raw materials & contract workers
 
 
 Craftsmen, journeymen, apprentices, etc. owned their own tools Merchants owned the tools & the POS workers owned no tools
 
 
 Craftsmen determined the process of the work & possessed knowledge & trade secrets which they taught to journeymen & apprentices Merchants determined the process of the work & possessed knowledge & trade secrets & doled these out in small parcels to an atomized workforce which could not put them together in any meaningful way
 
 
 Craftsmen controlled the division of labor Merchants controlled the division of labor
 
 
 Craftsmen set the pace of the work & the amount of output Merchants roughly set the pace of the work in that the workers were paid by the piece; therefore, the workers did have a greater amount of control over the pace of work than do factory workers
 
  Craftsmen set their own hours By paying by the piece, merchants did not directly control the workers' hours.  The contracting of a particular output to be produced in a particular amount of time did determine hours in the long run  
 
 Craftsmen determined the quality of the products Merchants had to implement an inspection system to determine the quality of the work, & the utilization of the piece rate system was effective in this regard
 
 
 Craftsmen sold the product & reaped the profits which they shared w/ journeymen, apprentices & the guild Merchants sold the product & reaped the profits out of which their only obligation was wages, material, & other expenses
 
 The Table on a Comparison of the Craftwork & Guild System & the Cottage Industry & the Putting-Out System shows that control of production & profits shifted from workers, i.e. craftsmen, journeymen, apprentices, & the guild to merchants

 
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 Outline on  Weber's Complementary Analysis on
Western Capitalism: 
The Early Industrial Age    circa  1300  -  1700
External
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  SUMMARY:  Capitalism required free labor & the Enclosure Movement released serfs, creating free labor.  The release of serfs, rationalized labor by making it more efficient.  The ideology of Protestantism enhanced development of capitalism, but English Mercantilism was a separate path that did not enhance the development of capitalism  
  CAPITALISM REQUIRES FREE LABOR
 
  Weber agreed w/ Marx that "free" labor is a requirement of capitalism
 
  Free labor was:
- freed from the bonds of servitude as existed under slavery or serfdom
- separated from their means of production
 
  THE ENCLOSURE FORCED SERFS OFF THEIR TRADITIONAL LANDS, & INTO THE CITIES WHERE THEY BECAME PROLETARIAT  
  The Enclosure Movement resulted in a major structural change in the econ social structure & therefore throughout society
 
  The Enclosure Movement is the removal of land from the Commons & the removal of serfs from their ancestral feudalistic lands  
  Starting in the 1500s, there was a great mass of vagabonds, an army of unemployed, which fostered the first poor relief
 
  By the 1700s, labor contract took place of unfree work which meant less capital invested in slaves
 
  THE RATIONALIZATION OF LABOR RESULTED IN INCREASED EFFICIENCY, EXPLOITATION, & ALIENATION  
  The risk of death or injury was no longer on owner but on worker her or himself
 
  Labor created the possibility of exact calculation
 
  Labor is economically compelled to sell their labor
 
  The means of production were concentrated in hands of the entrepreneurs
 
  PROTESTANTISM ENHANCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM 
 
  See Also:  Weber's Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism  
  CAPITALISM DEVELOPED IN SPITE OF ENGLISH MERCANTILISM
 
  Capitalism did not emerge out of non rationalized English mercantilism, by which monarchy granted fiscal & colonial privileges & monopolies
 
  Modern capitalism was pioneered by entrepreneurs which developed independently of political administration & secured systematic support of Parliament in 1700s, after collapse of fiscal monopoly policy of Stuarts  
  The Bank of England, as dominated by Paterson, a Scotchman, gave way to rationalistic, free trading Puritans  

 
Internal
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Top
  Outline on the   Industrial Age    circa 1700 - present
External
Links
   - Introduction:  During the industrial age, in the core countries the economic base became totally industrialized, while agriculture & other economic systems waned  
  The previous era, the early industrial age, ( circa 1300 - 1700 ) saw the birth of capitalism  
Link
 The Chart on the Characteristics of Stratification System of the Industrial Age demonstrates a system w/ a high level of equality and social mobility
 
  Class society emerged w/ the industrial revolution as the agricultural base transformed into an industrial base & became fully developed in the industrial age, i.e. many classes exist
 
  In the industrial age, mobility is based on merit/achievement but significant ascription is still present  
  In the industrial age, there is a normative stress on equality, though the level of equality varies widely  
  Legitimation in industrial society is based on the belief that equal opportunity exists & that the merit system works  
 
 THREE historical events impact the development of world system during the industrial age including the:
  a. Industrial Revolution
  b. French Revolution
  c. independence of European colonies
 
  During the industrial age, uneven development continued and England advanced & became the dominant core country  
 
 The class system develops fully in the industrial era into the multiple classes of the upper class, the middle class, & the lower class  
  During the industrial age, the middle class becomes a political force in conflict w/ the upper class   
  See Also:    Class   
  There were THREE industrial waves in Europe that were based on technological development & the class system in that the technology was available primarily to the upper & middle classes  
  Today we call the class division of information technology (computer) availability "the great divide"  
Link
 The Table on Industrial Waves, which occurred primarily in Europe & marginally in the US, describes the development of industrial technology  
 
 The US made rapid development to core status because of the social, political, & geographic factors including that
 
  a. natural resources were relatively untouched in the US  
  b. there were few political boundaries to fragment development  
  c. these factors attracted immigration which created rapid population growth which increased  market demand & the availability of workers' skills  
  d. cultural & trading links w/ Europe helped the US  
  e. manufacturing belt spread west from Boston, NY, Baltimore to Chicago  
 
 Industrial waves also occurred in Japan
 
  In 1868 a revolution placed the Meji in power & they launched a successful modernization program  
  Other modernization programs succeeded, at great personal cost, in Russia beginning in the 1930 and in China beginning in the 1960s  
  WW1, The Great War, allowed Japan to grab market share in textiles, ships in Asia & Latin America & thus become a core power  
 
 The development of ocean shipping, especially metal hulls, advanced international trade & labor division
 
  By WW1 there were regular ocean trade routes & schedules and trade was widening & switching patterns  
 
 Automotion created a revolution in transportation & agriculture
 
  Cars, trucks, roads, tractors each created their own industry  
  There was a vast expansion of automotion industries starting in 1945 & continuing today  
  Automotion enhanced urban growth, & resulted in the decline of the rural population  
  In the US in the 1950s, Eisenhower begins interstate system  
 
 Pax Britainia, "The sun never sets on the British Empire." indicates that Britain ruled as a sole superpower through WW1
 
  Britain had competition from German, France, the Netherlands, & Japan over territorial & commercial domination of the periphery  
  Britain was top dog of the core; a sole superpower  
  Peace reigned when the balance of power was maintained  
  War ensued when the balance of power failed  
  Core nations competed via militarism, administration, & economic dominance  
 
 The final quarter of 19th Century saw a 2nd wave of imperialism in the competition over control of Africa & other corners of the world such as SE Asia
 
  Btwn 1880 & 1914, the Europeans sliced the periphery into a patchwork of colonies   
  As the Europeans sliced up the periphery into colonies, there was no regard for existing mini systems & empires  
 
 Europeans colonized an area 3 times the size of the US
 
 
 The Berlin Conference, 1885-6, established “rules” for European powers over colonization including that nations will
a.  give a notice of intent to colonize
b.  live by the rule that occupation equals sovereignty
c.  settle disputes by arbitration
 
  Africa was divided into zones of commodification of industrial, agriculture, & mining production, & subsistence agriculture to produce labor  
  In the 1990s, recent conflicts in Sudan & Rwanda are the result of independent groups vying for power w/in a boundary as establish. by Europeans at turn of century  
 
 The periphery in the industrial age retains the same characteristics even though everything else has changed
 
  Africa & other sectors of the globe made up the periphery  
  The core needed the labor & resources of the periphery to develop  
 
 Colonies specialized when there was demand in the core, the colony had a comparative advantage, & the colony did not compete directly w/ a core country
 
  Bismarck of Germany launched the "Sporting Wars" which were characteristic of European colonization around the world  
 Link
 The Table on US Size indicates that from 1870 - 1900 European powers colonized an area over three times the size of continental US
 
  The Euros colonized   10 mm square miles which was 20 % of land surface of Earth  
  The Euros colonized 150 mm people into their empires which included 10 % of the world's population  
 
 Gender relations in the industrial age result in womening gain equality 
 
 
 Gender relations in the industrial age are advanced by the intelligencia of 1st Wave Feminism  
 
 Gender relations in the industrial age are advanced by the women voters of the Suffragettes  
 
 Gender relations in the industrial age are advanced by the working women the Depression Era & WW 2 Women  
 
 Race relations in the industrial age became transformed as slavery was eliminated in most industrialized nations, but powerful vestiges of racism remained  
 
 The next era is the age of global capitalism ( 1910 to the present )  

 
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Table on Industrial Waves, which occurred primarily in Europe & marginally in the US
PW
The Golden Triangle of London, Paris, Berlin developed during the Industrial Age
1790 - 1850 water power, steam power, cotton, iron, textiles, canals, & turnpikes
1850 - 1870 coal steam, steel, machine tools, steam ships, Rail Roads, world shipping
1870 - 1914 electricity, telecommunications
1890 - 1950 internal combustion engine, oil, plastics, electricity, aircraft, radio & telecommunications
1950 to  present nuclear power, aerospace, electronics, chemicals, interstates, global air travel
1990 to  present solar, robotics, microelectronics, biotech, advanced materials, information technology, internet

 
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Table on US Size: Europeans colonized an area three times the size of the US
PW
U.S. 3,618,770 square mi 2,316,012,800 ac 2.3 bb ac
AK     591,004 square mi     378,242,560 ac   .378 bb ac
US - AK  3,027,766 square mi  1,937,770,240 ac 1.9 bb ac

 
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  Outline on  Global Capitalism circa 1910 to present
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  The previous era, the industrial age, ( circa 1700 - present) saw the development of modern capitalism  
 
 In the era of global capitalism, this economic system, accompanied w/ the development of technologies w/ a global reach, became truly global in scope reaching to the farthest corners of the planet
 
Link
 The Chart on the Characteristics of the Stratification System of Global Capitalism demonstrates that this system has a wide range of equality, w/ some regions w/ high equality & other regions w/ low equality
 
 
 During the era of global capitalism, Pax American replaces Pax Britannia
 
  After WW 2, the US emerged as the dominant state  
  The seeds of the Cold War are planted during WW2, sprout in the 1940s and by the late 1950s, the Soviet Union was a superpower w/ equal status to the US  
  Decolonization started in the 50s and smoothed out in 60s, but was complicated by the cold war  
  The Cold War creates neo colonialism  
  Neo colonialism is an economic & political strategy whereby the colonizers indirectly gain/maintain influence in the periphery via  
  a.  international financial regulations  
  b.  commercial relations  
  c.  intelligence operations  
  d.  international corporate imperialism via transnational corporations which established overseas subsidiaries  
 
 Corporate imperialism is the process whereby nations or regions are dominated & controlled economic rather than military force
 
  By the mid 90s, 40,000 transnational corporations, of which 90% are headquartered in the US, had 180,000 subsidiaries w/ $6 trillion in sales, which is equal to the US's total output  
  International corporate imperialism exercises considerable power, & frequently adversely affecting the periphery  
 
 -  Supplement:  The Fortune 500, 1998,  1 - 50
Link
  -  Supplement:  The Fortune 500, 1998,  51 - 100
Link
  -  Supplement:  The Fortune 500, 1998, Overview of GM
Link
 
 -  Supplement:  The Fortune 500, 2000, 1-50
Link
  -  Supplement:  The Global 100, 1998, 1-51
Link
 
 -  Supplement:  The Global 100, 1998, 51-100
Link
  -  Resource:  The Table on a Comparison of Corporations' & Nations' Income, 2005
Link
  The Table on a Comparison of Corporations' & Nations' Income, 2005, demonstrates that of 500 corps & 181 nations: 
                -  the top   10 corps are larger than 140 nations 
                -  the top 200 corps are larger than 100 nations 
                -  the top 500 corps are larger than   80 nations		  
 
 "The Gulf Widens btwn the Fast & Slow Worlds"
 
 
 The catch phrase on the fast & slow worlds means that the gap in income & quality of life btwn the rich & the poor in the core & peripheral nations increased by three btwn the 1960s & 1990s
 
 
 An example of "the gulf" is that 5% of world has 40% of telephones
 
  An example of "the gulf" is that 10% of the world uses 90% of its resources  
  Does the fast world, western culture, affect entire world?   
  The fast world now encompasses everywhere, but not everybody...   
  An example of the pervaisiveness of the fast world is that poor Mexicans are aware of details of international soccer, music, film, fashion, etc.  
  An example of the pervaisiveness of the fast world is that poor Appalachians are aware of details of NASCAR racing, music....  
  Even in the fast world, the core, there are significant regions of the Slow World, i.e. regions that have peripheral economic development  
  The next significant historical era is the post industrial age, circa 1970 - present  

 
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A Socio Historical Overview of the  Post Industrial Age  circa 1970 to Present
External
Links
  -  Project:  Your Experience of the Post Industrial Age
Link
  -  Project:  Your Experience of the European Model
Link
 
 Introduction: During the Post Industrial Age, the economy shifted from basic industry to services & high tech jobs
 
  The Post Industrial Age may be seen as a product of both the Industrial Age & the Era of Global Capitalism in that industry matured, resulting in the development of the service & the high tech sectors, and the deindustrialization of the core, i.e. movement of basic industry to the periphery, & the globalization of all facets of society, e.g. the economy, culture, etc.  
 
 The previous era, the Era of Global Capitalism, ( 1910 to the present ) created many of the conditions that came together to herald the Post Industrial Age  
Link
 The Chart on the Characteristics of the Stratification System of the Post Industrial Age indicates that the ranking system is open, placement is based on achievement, legitimation is based on the culture of law ( "the rule of law" ), the basis of ranking is accomplished through a bureaucratized state capitalist, economic system, & the range of equality is broad, running from low to high  
 
 There are 10 fundamental qualities of Post Industrial Society
1.  Less heavy basic industrial production
2.  The service economy comes to predominate in the first world
3.  More high tech jobs
4.  The information economy / internet is integral to the overall economy & growth
5.  Knowledge & education are equivalent to property & wealth
6.  Working middle class transforms into the white collar middle class
7.  Rise of professional classes
8.  Part time, serial employment
9.  The continuation of the growth of global capitalism
10.  Global monopolies & mergers develop		  
 
 Some of the fundamental qualities of post industrial society have decreased inequality and many other have increased inequality  
 
 During the Post Industrial Age, many people have not made the educational shift to high tech / service because education is an expensive investment
 
 
 Some people see the rise of professional class in the Post Industrial Age as the end of the class dominated system  
 
 In the Post Industrial Age, production is more complex, forcing the elites to make concessions to get knowledge from workers
 
 
 In the Post Industrial Age, there is increased productivity which creates more surplus, of which more is going to workers, resulting in less strikes & bigger markets
 
 
 Employment relations in the Post Industrial Age achieve many Labor's goals, w/o the intervention of the Labor Movement
 
 
 In the Post Industrial Age, the reduced population growth rate in industrial society has created a larger "pie", & less mouths to feed
 
 
 In the Post Industrial Age, elites must invest in the workforce as they never have before
 
  But an educated workforce & open trade systems creates a value system of egalitarianism / democracy  
 
 Historically, the elites needed the allegiance of the population only during times of war
 
 
 In the post industrial era, the elites need the allegiance of the general population, especially the middle classes, for the normal functioning of the high tech / service economy
 
 
 Given the high tech nature of wars of the 90s & 00s, it is not clear that the elites still have the need for the allegiance of the population during times of war, but most agree that they do  
 
 The marginal utility of wealth declines in the Post Industrial Age  
 
 Review the Marginal Utility  
 
 The declining MU of wealth means that middle & upper class workers & professionals are less motivated by $$ which result in the demand for more free time & other perquisites
 
 
 But on the other hand, the international division of labor has resulted in increased world inequality which demonstrates that improved employment relations have not been globalized  
 
 The degree of inequality in the stratification system in the modern world system has increased   
 
 Historically there has been extensive social mobility in the US mostly from the beginning of immigration & conquest in the 1400's to the 1950s  
 
 There is clear evidence that upward social mobility slowed & eventually reversed from the 1960s through the 1980s  
  In the mid 1990s, there was a restart of upward social mobility which ended w/ the "slowdown" of 2001 to 2003 & has not restarted as of 2004  
 
 The economic decline of the US in the modern world system appeared as early as the 1960s  
 
 Economic decline stimulated support for Reaganomics in the 1980s  
  Average Americans became more afraid for their economic security  
  The corporate class became more involved in politics in an attempt to reverse the decline in US profits & market influence  
 
 Today's development of the modern world system goes beyond capitalism and communism in that there is competition among many forms of state and monopoly capitalism  
 
 The process of stratification has moved to a new level, the global level  
 
 Deindustrialization was the label given to the movement of industry from the core to the periphery & semi periphery  
 
 A major cause of the increase in inequality in the P-I Age is the large loss of industrial jobs in America  
  A major cause of the increase in inequality in the Post Industrial Age is the growth of jobs at both the higher & lower ends of the income scale  
 
 The P-I era is characterized by Reaganomics, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the collapse of Communism during the early 90s, the "New Democrats" (Clinton, et al) in the 90s  
 
 It is no longer simply capitalism vs. communism, but competition among differing forms of organization in the capitalist world economies  
 
 Historically speaking, most global competition, which is often in the form of nationalism, has been among differing forms of capitalism  
  The cold war / competition btwn capitalism & forms of socialism are the historical anomaly  
 
 Ronald Reagan was the President from 1980 to 1988 & he ushered in a "Republican Revolution" which was labeled "Reaganomics"  
 
 Reaganomics was a unique combination of:
-  econ policy which cut govt regulation, cut taxes, & had no Industrial Policy,
-  social policy which eliminated welfare, &
-  foreign policy which supported Poland & the Pope & oversaw the beginning of the collapse of communism		  
 
 The effects of Reaganomics, including tax cuts, a military buildup, & deficits, were significant & are still felt in the 00s  
 
 Reaganomics in the 80s resulted in downsizing, “service” jobs, cut wages, mergers, less regulation & govt  
  During the era of Reaganomics, the US moved from having average inequality to having the greatest inequality  
  Reaganomics contributed to an increase in income & wealth inequality that had already begun as a result of changes in the world economy  
  But Reaganomics did little to change the basic causes of American economic decline  
 
   In 1989 temp jobs were only 3% of new jobs
  In 1993 they were 26%    (New York Times, March 10, 1994)		  
 
 The poverty rate increased because of Reaganomics... & persisted  
 
   1989   poverty rate was 12.8%
  1991   14.2 % as the recession grew
  1992   14.8 %  at the height of the recession
  1993    15.1 % when the recession was over		  
 
 Average family income declined after Reaganomics, & increased w/ Clinton  
 
 There has been a decline in average family income through 1994 when it temporarily increased, followed by continued decline
It was down 7 % since 1989		  
 
 There was a short recession at the end of the 1st Bush admin, ( Bush, Sr Presidency 1989 - 1992 ) that ended in 1992 & there was econ growth by 1994  
 
 The econ growth in the 90s & 00s is a historically new phenomenon in that few new jobs were accompanying gen econ growth  
  When jobs appeared, they were "soft jobs"  i.e. temporary, part time, w/ low wages & few benefits  
 
 In the 90s the effects of Reaganomics began to be reversed  
 
 From the beginning of the 1980s, the US already had the highest level of income inequality among industrial nations  
 
 By the end of the 1980s, this inequality was even higher, & it continued to grow in the 90s finally leveled out toward the end of the 90s  
 
 By 95, the US was coming out of the recession in better shape than Europe & Japan  
 
 By the late 90s the growth of inequality resulting from job cuts, lower paying jobs, & more temp jobs created higher profits, was reversed.... at least in the short term  
 
 Some analysts belief that the European Model will create a better econ in the 21st century  
 
 Germany & Japan have less inequality than the US because:  
 
 a.  workers are paid more  
 
 b.  workers have higher levels of education  
 
 c.  workers have higher levels of skill  
 
 d.  both the labor force & corp mg. are more loyal to each other than in the US  
 
 The major point of the P - I Age is that there has been a historic shift in the American stratification system & the place of the US in the modern world system  
 
 It is the end of the Cold War & while American is dominant, it is not absolute, economically speaking, because we are challenged by Europe & Japan  
 
 Gender in the P - I Age:  The "New Woman"  
 
 Race in the P - I Age:   
 
 At this time there are no more historical eras on the horizon, but possibilities include
- the Biotech Age
- the environmental / global warming / population crash era
- Pax Democratica / market econ era
- "The End of History"
- the Information Age		  

 
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 Outline on  Socialism
External
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  Socialism is an economic system, normally found in industrialized countries, in which the means of production is publicly owned
 
  There are several different types of socialism that vary on govt. control, mkt emphasis, control of the society's culture, & more  
  State socialism emphasizes the major role of govt. as the central planner of the economy, & society in general
 
  Market socialism emphasizes the major role of worker owned enterprises that compete w/ one another, as the most influential planner of the economy, & society in general  
  Democratic socialism emphasizes the major role of democratically elected councils as the most influential planner of the economy, & society in general, & control of the culture is seen as more important than control of the economy  
  A mixed economy is a form of socialism combined w/ a form of capitalism  
  Mixed economies are economic systems in which the govt. provides extensive social services & performs some major econ functions while manufacturing & other industries are at least in part, privately owned  
  Socialism is said to occur when the govt. regulates & controls the profits of the major segments of the economy even though those segments remain privately owned
 
  Though many theorists had examined socialism before, Marx is considered to be the father of socialism because he gained widespread international recognition
 
  Marx advocated that workers should unite, take control of the means of production, abolish production related private property, & socialize the means of production
 
  For Marx, the first & most critical task of socialism is the abolition of alienated labor, thus allowing true human freedom
 
  With "actualized labor," people are no longer compelled or controlled by social conditions but rather are able to consciously able to determine their future
 
  One of Marx's most quoted phrases was that he said under socialism there would be 'a withering away of the state'
 
  The withering of the state connoted not that there would be no govt., as is often misunderstood, but that govt. would cease to exist as we recognize it now in that it would be controlled by the people, a tool for the public's use, rather than being controlled by the elite
 
  Critics of socialism hold that it is impossible for the mkt to function because socialism is by definition monopolistic in that there is only one producer, the state owned enterprises, which do not have any competition to spur efficiency
 
  The lack of competition & the norm of taking care of people rather than doing what is most efficient means that govt. & business decisions are based on social policy rather than market factors
 
  Socialist economies cannot possibly be as efficient as capitalist ones & thus the socialist nations had a lower standard of living than capitalist nations
 
  Marx recognized that socialism would not be as efficient as capitalism; however, Marx & many socialists believed that people would settle for less as a society if they could have no poverty, free education, no crime, & other benefits 
 
  Marx believed that after the proletarian rev, wkrs would control the econ, but there would still be many remnants of the old systems  
  The socialist economies that existed were not the result of an overthrow of capitalism, but rather were the result of the overthrow of feudalism & thus they did not have the efficiency that would have been in place had a fully mature capitalist nation  
  W/ the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, once socialist nations were given a choice, people have for the most part voted for politicians favoring capitalist or mixed economies & democracy
 
  Regardless of the path of its development, socialism has shown itself to be a route to a modern industrial country
 
  After its inception in 1917, the Soviet Union was more efficient & dynamic that western societies as seen in its rapid industrialization, the launch of Sputnik, its world class educational system etc.
 
  As the despotism of the political system sets in, this threw a pall over the socialist econ & culture  
 
 State socialism  failed because it was accompanied by an authoritarian political system & because of its inability to compete in a globalized, post industrial econ  
  As the old, despotic socialism dies, these nations are developing forms of worker ownership that are in fact closer to Marx's ideal communist society  
  Worker owned enterprises that compete w/ one another has created an econ system called market socialism  

 
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 Outline on the  Communism
External
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  Communism is a system proposed by Marx, & others, to date not realized in the world, in which all wealth is collectively owned, workers control the work place, & govt. as we know it is not needed
 
  For Marx, under communism the remnants of exploitative society are now gone  
  Under socialism, some expletive aspects of capitalism still exist, but under communism these are now gone  
  Under communism, society will be economically be organized around the principle embodied in Marx's famous maxim, "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs."  
  The former Soviet Union declared that it had transformed itself from socialism to communism in the 1960s, but this was false, as was its socialism
 
  Under communism, Marx proposed that there would be a classless society in that there would be little economic differences in income
 
  Marx proposed that w/ unalienated, or "actualized labor" each person would produce as they & society needed & thus from each worker would come the production according to their ability, & to each worker rewards would be given according to their need  [ Marx did not use the term:  actualized labor ], oft summarized as "From each, according to their ability, to each according to their need"
 
  As under socialism, Marx predicted that govt. as we know it would wither away in that it would truly be a tool of the public rather than a tool of the elite
 
  For example, Marx thought govt. would be able to give up its police function, & indeed in the former Soviet Union, crime was a fraction of what it was in the western nations because there was little poverty
 
  Marx believed that once capitalist nations had totally matured , maximizing concentration of wealth & the exploitation workers, the people would realize that the system could offer them nothing more & seek to overthrown it & establish socialism
 
  Thus in light of Marx's analysis, the socialist revolutions that occurred in Russia, China, & the other socialist nations were pre mature in that these nations were essentially feudal
 
  Russia, et al, went directly from feudalism to what Marx would have seen as faux socialism
 
  Most theorists believe that Marx was wrong in that no capitalist nations have transitioned to socialism; however, it is useful to note that Marx believed that socialism & communism would evolve only in totally mature capitalist nations
 
  Marx & others wrote a lot on communism, & examined it philosophically, but in reality no nation has even every approached Marx's & other's vision of socialism, much less communism
 
  For Marx & others, communism is a social system that seeks to end the exploitation of people by people
 
  For Marx & others, communism is:
 
  -  not an end, but a means to greater freedom and humanity
 
  -  an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself
 
  -  the next stage in human emancipation and recovery
 
  Marx believed that we are a creature of the social conditions we have created, but we need no remain a prisoner of those conditions in that we could develop a social system, such as communism, that freed us of the constraints of social conditions
 
 
 For Marx, to establish socialism, & then communism, society must abolish production related private property, & socialize the means of production
 
 
 The abolition of production related private property & socialization of the means of production are the first steps in the abolition of alienated labor & establishment of "actualizing labor"  [ Marx did not use the term:  actualizing labor ]  
  Actualized labor allows freedom & may be understood as a process of labor or creation whereby people are no longer compelled or controlled by social conditions but rather are able to consciously able to determine their future  
 
 The ultimate goal of Marxism is to meet the needs of the individual to achieve their freedom  
  Marx held that to achieve freedom, people must associate freely & fulfill their human needs to further their development  
  Marx believed that true human freedom was now possible  
  Up until the period of the ind rev, relations of production, i.e., had not been sufficient to support humanity  
  For Marx, in the ind age humanity had conquered nature, & all that was left was to end the exploitation of people by people  

The End
 
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