How Marx Came to Discover the Alienation of Labor

[marmar]

By Mary Gabriel Sep 21, 2011 8:01 PM ET


(Bloomberg) Joblessness was liberating for Karl Marx in 1844 -- it meant he could go back to school. His classrooms were Paris’ gaslit cafes and wine cellars, and small offices filled with cigar smoke.

There were no lectures, there were discussions --boisterous gatherings that drew curious passers-by who watched men from many nations shout at one another about the relative merits of socialism, communism, nationalism, liberalism and democracy, and whether governments should be taken by force and rebuilt from the ruins, or whether appeals should be made to the ruling class that fundamental social change was coming.

All sides of the debate saw the need for new forms of government in Europe; the nature of society had changed. Absolute monarchs with their obsequious courtiers and despots with their bloody henchmen seemed like costume characters from another era. The men in Marx’s circle agreed the monarchies must go. They could not agree, however, on how, or on what would replace them.

At that time, there were no international organizations under whose auspices these men could gather. Gradually, however, in the melting pot of Paris, those who were at the forefront of the new ideologies began transcending the barriers of languages and customs to talk about common concerns. Several dominant strands were prominent among these middle-class reformers: liberalism, radicalism, nationalism and socialism. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-22/how-marx-discovered-the-alienation-of-labor-commentary-by-mary-gabriel.html

[Boojatta]

1. Marx could have been reading Dickens in a smoke-free room.

[Starry Messenger]

2. k&r

[DrunkenBoat]

3. Sounds like today: "Wages had been falling for nearly 20 years while the cost of living

during the same time rose 17 percent. In 1844 wide-scale food shortages began. A series of scandals exposed how French officials had helped create the economic imbalance by concentrating extreme wealth in the hands of a select few."

PS: My ancestors came to the US from the Silesia region around 1840 so I've always assumed it was for reasons related to the unrest of the times.

Silesia Uprising

As if on cue, such violence occurred. Word arrived of an uprising in the Prussian region of Silesia, where on June 4, 1844, a group of weavers marched on the home of Prussian industrialists. Their demands for higher pay denied, the weavers stormed the house and destroyed it. The next day, as many as 5,000 weavers and their families burst into homes and factories, destroyed machines, and looted and ransacked residences and offices. The industrialists called in the Prussian military, which fired on the crowd, killing 35.