The Subjection of Labour to Capital: The Rise of the Capitalist System

William Lazonick and William Lazonick
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William Lazonick: Department of Economics Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138

Review of Radical Political Economics, 1978, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-31

Abstract: In this paper I present an analytical study of the historical development of the family, mass schooling, and the labor movement in 19th century England. It is emphasized that what occurred in 19th century England was not just the emergence of the first industrial capitalist economy but also the first industrial capitalist system. By the 1870s in England, most of the characteristic institutions of the advanced capitalist systems of the 20th century - the factory, the welfare system, the industrial city, municipal police forces, the dependent family unit, mass public schooling, labor unions, electoral democracy — had emerged. Therefore, just as 19th century England supplied Marx with the classic case of the development of capitalist production, so, too, does it provide us with the classic case of the development of the capitalist system. Here, for the first time in history, the materialist conception of history can be applied to developed capitalism itself. In addition, by analyzing the system as a whole, we are in a better position to assess the strengths and limitations of Marx's own theories of capitalist development. A main theme is that, while Marx presents a profound analysis of how economic development both creates and reproduces the subjection of labor to capital, he neglects the role of cultural and political development in reinforcing and reproducing this domination.

Date: 1978
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