{"id":26,"date":"2017-09-12T16:12:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T16:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-plattsburgh-anthro\/?post_type=chapter&p=26"},"modified":"2018-01-29T15:05:53","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T15:05:53","slug":"readings-and-resources-on-the-laborer","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-plattsburgh-anthro\/chapter\/readings-and-resources-on-the-laborer\/","title":{"raw":"Readings and Resources on the Laborer","rendered":"Readings and Resources on the Laborer"},"content":{"raw":"\"\"\r\n\r\nThe laborer is as essential in the culture of capitalism as the consumer and the capitalist.\u00a0 It is the laborer who produces things for the consumer to buy and for the capitalist to profit from.\u00a0 The existence of a large class of people who must survive from the sale of their labor is historically unique.\u00a0 Until a few hundred years ago people produced their own food or owned tools from which they manufactured things to use or sell in local markets. \u00a0Today, however, billions must sell their labor or starve.\r\n\r\nThe readings in this section all address the issue of labor and the place of the laborer in the culture of capitalism.\u00a0\u00a0 They address the following questions: first, historically, when did the laborer emerge as a distinct category of person; second, what is the role of the laborer in today's global economy; finally, what are the positions of women and children in the global labor force.\r\n\r\nA. The History of the Laborer<\/strong>\r\n\r\nKnowledge of the role of labor is essential to understanding the economics of the culture of capitalism.\u00a0In\u00a0Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism\u00a0we portray the workings of capitalism as a black box into which investors or capitalists (and we all are, in one way or another, capitalists) put money, and from which they expect to receive more money.\u00a0 The black box can be anything from a bank account or an insurance policy to a stock portfolio or a multinational corporation.\u00a0 For the investor, the way that the amount of money is increased in the black box matters little. \u00a0 All he or she knows is that one sum of money returns a greater sum.\u00a0 However, it is the workings of the black box that we must understand, and the organization and exploitation of labor is often what determines how much greater that sum is.\u00a0 The question is what is the human cost of turning money into more money?\r\n\r\nReading 1<\/span>.\u00a0The Manifesto of the Communist Party \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.workers.org\/cm\/cm.html<\/a>\r\n\r\nReading original texts, as opposed to second or third hand descriptions of them, is invaluable, and\u00a0Karl Marx\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Friederick Engels'<\/a>\u00a0Manifesto of 1848 is one of the most influential texts ever written.\u00a0 It can be said to mark a critical stage in the awareness of workers that they represented a special and unique class, and that the economy of which they were a part depended on their exploitation.\u00a0 Ironically few people, in spite of its historical importance, have actually read it.\u00a0 You can skip the various prefaces (although they are generally brief), but read the\u00a0Opening<\/a>\u00a0(as familiar in some countries as the Gettysburg Address is to us), and the section on\u00a0Bourgeoisie and Proletarians<\/a>.\u00a0 Feel free, of course, to continue and read the whole thing.\r\n\r\nExercise 1<\/span>.\u00a0An Eclectic List of Events in U.S. Labor History \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.lutins.org\/labor.html<\/a>\r\n\r\nA quick view of U.S. labor history from 1806 when the union of Philadelphia Journeymen Cordwainers was convicted of and bankrupted by charges of criminal conspiracy to the 1989 coal strike against the Pittston Coal Company.\r\n\r\nExercise 2<\/span>.\u00a0Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Sweatshops in America \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/americanhistory.si.edu\/sweatshops\/index.htm<\/a>\r\n\r\nMarx and Engels' view of the laborer was formed, in part, by the working conditions\u00a0 they witnessed in the textile mills of Manchester, England in the first half of the nineteenth century.\u00a0 But \"sweatshops\" seem always to be a feature of industrialization.\u00a0 The Smithsonian Institution features a Web tour of the history of sweatshops in America, beginning in the 1820s, and taking it right to the present.\u00a0 Take the tour, and later you will get an opportunity to determine how you contribute to the development of sweatshops\r\n\r\nB. The Role of Labor in the Global Economy<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn\u00a0Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism\u00a0we discuss the expansion of multinational corporations to countries all over the world. \u00a0Generally the expansion marked the continuing effort of businesses to seek out the cheapest source of labor.\u00a0 There is nothing intrinsically wrong in this; after all, the role of the capitalist is to make money (as those of us with bank accounts, insurance policies, and pension funds fully appreciate), and one of the best ways to do that is to reduce the cost of production and service.\u00a0 This tends to be more important for some industries than for others; industries (such as textiles, shoes, electronics, and toys) that are highly competitive, in which styles change rapidly, and in which profit margins are small, depend for their profits on cheap sources of labor.\u00a0 The question, of course, is how does this search for cheaper sources of labor impact on people?\r\n\r\nReading 2<\/span>:\u00a0 Designer Jeans and Moral Dilemma \u00a0http:\/\/printarchive.epochtimes.com\/a1\/en\/ca\/yvr\/2009\/03-Mar\/12\/p05_mar12_226.pdf<\/a>\r\n\r\nHeide Malhotra discusses the moral disengagement of the consumer who purchases products like jeans knowing that they are made by poor women in sweatshops and the companies who produce them.\r\n\r\nReading 3<\/span>.\u00a0The Prison Industrial Complex and the World Economy\r\nhttp:\/\/www.globalresearch.ca\/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery\/8289<\/a>\r\n\r\nThis article by Eve Goldberg and Linda Evans is a general attack on the growth of the prison industry, particularly in the United States.\u00a0 There are more people per capita in U.S. prisons than in any other country of the world.\u00a0 They argue that prisons have become big business, and that there is a vested interest in ensuring that there are enough prisoners to fill them. \u00a0 Furthermore, they argue, prisons have become major sources of cheap labor for industry\r\n\r\nExercise 3<\/span>.\u00a0How Much Do You Contribute to the Growth of Sweatshops?\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/americanhistory.si.edu\/sweatshops\/ffchain\/game.htm<\/a>\r\n\r\nOne of aims of the book\u00a0Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism\u00a0is to help readers understand how entangled we all are in the global economy, and how our actions contribute to many of the problems that seem so distant from us.\u00a0 To illustrate, play this game \u00a0 from the Smithsonian Institution's Web exhibit on sweatshops.<\/a>\r\n\r\nReading 4:\u00a0Moral Disengagement and the Perpetration of Inhumanities \u00a0at\u00a0http:\/\/www.uky.edu\/~eushe2\/Bandura\/Bandura1999PSPR.pdf\u00a0<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe consumer's quest for low prices leads to the corporation seeking the least expensive form of labor and in doing so often results in job loss to those who seek low priced goods (the consumer); thus, our consumer side conflicts with our laborer side or those of our friends and neighbors.\u00a0 How to we resolve that conflict.\u00a0 Bandura's theory of moral disengagement as discussed in this article may help to explain.\r\n\r\nC. The Roles of Women and Children in the Global Economy<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAn important characteristic of labor is the fact that it is segmented.\u00a0 That is, it is divided into relatively highly skilled and well-paying jobs, and supposedly less skilled, low paying jobs.\u00a0 The implication of this of often missed by people who speak about \"eliminating poverty\"; if this division always exists (and it will as long as there are industries that depend on cheap labor for their survival), then there must always be an underpaid and overexploited group.\u00a0 The identity of this class of workers may change, as it did in the United States.\u00a0 But regardless of the identity of these workers, as long as there is a need for cheap and overworked labor, and as long as there are more people than jobs, the unemployed and underemployed will always be with us.\u00a0 Furthermore, social discrimination, whether it is an outgrowth of the culture of capitalism or not, will make certain groups--largely women, children, and disenfranchised minorities--more susceptible than others to economic exploitation\r\n\r\nReading 4<\/span>:\u00a0Global Sweatshop Wage Slavery: Worker Exploitation in America and Globally\r\nhttp:\/\/www.reimaginerpe.org\/node\/5247<\/a>\r\n\r\nNone of us are removed from the exploitation of labor.\u00a0 This article by Stephen Lendman of the Centre for Research on Globalization\u00a0describes the plight of women in the United States and Mexico who produce most of the clothing sold all over the world.\r\n\r\nReading 5<\/span>.\u00a0Do You Know Who Made Your T-Shirt \u00a0 \u00a0https:\/\/laborawareness.wordpress.com\/child-labor-today\/<\/a>\r\n\r\nAs economic conditions decline children must work for lower and lower wages.\u00a0 Furthermore, the breakdown of social units, such as families, requires more people to seek employment. \u00a0 Thus children are often thrust into the workforce for the survival of the family.\u00a0\u00a0 Millions of children are involved in economic activity\r\n\r\nReading 6<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0The Cruel Economics of Human Trafficking in India\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.asianphilanthropyforum.org\/cruel-economics-human-trafficking-india\/<\/a>\r\n\r\nLaborers must subsist on the sale of their labor--there is little else they have to sell in the market. For women, the sex industry is often their only opportunity for wages. As this report from Asian Philanthropy Forum\u00a0indicates, the sex industry is one of the few growth areas for poor women in India\r\n\r\nReading 7<\/span>.Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap http:\/\/www.aauw.org\/research\/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap\/<\/a>\r\n\r\nNot only must some segments of the population accept less desirable jobs, they often must accept lower wages than more favored segments of the population for the same work.\u00a0 Thus, as this article from \u00a0AAUW\u00a0indicates, women earn for equivalent jobs, on the average, .80 for every $1.00 earned by men\r\n\r\nReading 8<\/strong> \u00a0Modern Slavery Estimated to Traps= 45 Million People Worldwide http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/06\/01\/world\/asia\/global-slavery-index.html?_r=0<\/a>\r\n\r\nMost people believe that slavery is a thing of the past.\u00a0 However, as this from the New York Times reveals, slavery thrives in many parts of the world.\u00a0 You can also get get information about where modern slavery exists from The Atlantic article at http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/news\/archive\/2016\/05\/where-the-worlds-slaves-live\/484994\/<\/a>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The laborer is as essential in the culture of capitalism as the consumer and the capitalist.\u00a0 It is the laborer who produces things for the consumer to buy and for the capitalist to profit from.\u00a0 The existence of a large class of people who must survive from the sale of their labor is historically unique.\u00a0 Until a few hundred years ago people produced their own food or owned tools from which they manufactured things to use or sell in local markets. \u00a0Today, however, billions must sell their labor or starve.<\/p>\n

The readings in this section all address the issue of labor and the place of the laborer in the culture of capitalism.\u00a0\u00a0 They address the following questions: first, historically, when did the laborer emerge as a distinct category of person; second, what is the role of the laborer in today’s global economy; finally, what are the positions of women and children in the global labor force.<\/p>\n

A. The History of the Laborer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Knowledge of the role of labor is essential to understanding the economics of the culture of capitalism.\u00a0In\u00a0Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism\u00a0we portray the workings of capitalism as a black box into which investors or capitalists (and we all are, in one way or another, capitalists) put money, and from which they expect to receive more money.\u00a0 The black box can be anything from a bank account or an insurance policy to a stock portfolio or a multinational corporation.\u00a0 For the investor, the way that the amount of money is increased in the black box matters little. \u00a0 All he or she knows is that one sum of money returns a greater sum.\u00a0 However, it is the workings of the black box that we must understand, and the organization and exploitation of labor is often what determines how much greater that sum is.\u00a0 The question is what is the human cost of turning money into more money?<\/p>\n

Reading 1<\/span>.\u00a0The Manifesto of the Communist Party \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.workers.org\/cm\/cm.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Reading original texts, as opposed to second or third hand descriptions of them, is invaluable, and\u00a0Karl Marx\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Friederick Engels’<\/a>\u00a0Manifesto of 1848 is one of the most influential texts ever written.\u00a0 It can be said to mark a critical stage in the awareness of workers that they represented a special and unique class, and that the economy of which they were a part depended on their exploitation.\u00a0 Ironically few people, in spite of its historical importance, have actually read it.\u00a0 You can skip the various prefaces (although they are generally brief), but read the\u00a0Opening<\/a>\u00a0(as familiar in some countries as the Gettysburg Address is to us), and the section on\u00a0Bourgeoisie and Proletarians<\/a>.\u00a0 Feel free, of course, to continue and read the whole thing.<\/p>\n

Exercise 1<\/span>.\u00a0An Eclectic List of Events in U.S. Labor History \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.lutins.org\/labor.html<\/a><\/p>\n

A quick view of U.S. labor history from 1806 when the union of Philadelphia Journeymen Cordwainers was convicted of and bankrupted by charges of criminal conspiracy to the 1989 coal strike against the Pittston Coal Company.<\/p>\n

Exercise 2<\/span>.\u00a0Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Sweatshops in America \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/americanhistory.si.edu\/sweatshops\/index.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Marx and Engels’ view of the laborer was formed, in part, by the working conditions\u00a0 they witnessed in the textile mills of Manchester, England in the first half of the nineteenth century.\u00a0 But “sweatshops” seem always to be a feature of industrialization.\u00a0 The Smithsonian Institution features a Web tour of the history of sweatshops in America, beginning in the 1820s, and taking it right to the present.\u00a0 Take the tour, and later you will get an opportunity to determine how you contribute to the development of sweatshops<\/p>\n

B. The Role of Labor in the Global Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism\u00a0we discuss the expansion of multinational corporations to countries all over the world. \u00a0Generally the expansion marked the continuing effort of businesses to seek out the cheapest source of labor.\u00a0 There is nothing intrinsically wrong in this; after all, the role of the capitalist is to make money (as those of us with bank accounts, insurance policies, and pension funds fully appreciate), and one of the best ways to do that is to reduce the cost of production and service.\u00a0 This tends to be more important for some industries than for others; industries (such as textiles, shoes, electronics, and toys) that are highly competitive, in which styles change rapidly, and in which profit margins are small, depend for their profits on cheap sources of labor.\u00a0 The question, of course, is how does this search for cheaper sources of labor impact on people?<\/p>\n

Reading 2<\/span>:\u00a0 Designer Jeans and Moral Dilemma \u00a0http:\/\/printarchive.epochtimes.com\/a1\/en\/ca\/yvr\/2009\/03-Mar\/12\/p05_mar12_226.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Heide Malhotra discusses the moral disengagement of the consumer who purchases products like jeans knowing that they are made by poor women in sweatshops and the companies who produce them.<\/p>\n

Reading 3<\/span>.\u00a0The Prison Industrial Complex and the World Economy
\nhttp:\/\/www.globalresearch.ca\/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery\/8289<\/a><\/p>\n

This article by Eve Goldberg and Linda Evans is a general attack on the growth of the prison industry, particularly in the United States.\u00a0 There are more people per capita in U.S. prisons than in any other country of the world.\u00a0 They argue that prisons have become big business, and that there is a vested interest in ensuring that there are enough prisoners to fill them. \u00a0 Furthermore, they argue, prisons have become major sources of cheap labor for industry<\/p>\n

Exercise 3<\/span>.\u00a0How Much Do You Contribute to the Growth of Sweatshops?\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/americanhistory.si.edu\/sweatshops\/ffchain\/game.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

One of aims of the book\u00a0Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism\u00a0is to help readers understand how entangled we all are in the global economy, and how our actions contribute to many of the problems that seem so distant from us.\u00a0 To illustrate, play this game \u00a0 from the Smithsonian Institution’s Web exhibit on sweatshops.<\/a><\/p>\n

Reading 4:\u00a0Moral Disengagement and the Perpetration of Inhumanities \u00a0at\u00a0http:\/\/www.uky.edu\/~eushe2\/Bandura\/Bandura1999PSPR.pdf\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The consumer’s quest for low prices leads to the corporation seeking the least expensive form of labor and in doing so often results in job loss to those who seek low priced goods (the consumer); thus, our consumer side conflicts with our laborer side or those of our friends and neighbors.\u00a0 How to we resolve that conflict.\u00a0 Bandura’s theory of moral disengagement as discussed in this article may help to explain.<\/p>\n

C. The Roles of Women and Children in the Global Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

An important characteristic of labor is the fact that it is segmented.\u00a0 That is, it is divided into relatively highly skilled and well-paying jobs, and supposedly less skilled, low paying jobs.\u00a0 The implication of this of often missed by people who speak about “eliminating poverty”; if this division always exists (and it will as long as there are industries that depend on cheap labor for their survival), then there must always be an underpaid and overexploited group.\u00a0 The identity of this class of workers may change, as it did in the United States.\u00a0 But regardless of the identity of these workers, as long as there is a need for cheap and overworked labor, and as long as there are more people than jobs, the unemployed and underemployed will always be with us.\u00a0 Furthermore, social discrimination, whether it is an outgrowth of the culture of capitalism or not, will make certain groups–largely women, children, and disenfranchised minorities–more susceptible than others to economic exploitation<\/p>\n

Reading 4<\/span>:\u00a0Global Sweatshop Wage Slavery: Worker Exploitation in America and Globally
\nhttp:\/\/www.reimaginerpe.org\/node\/5247<\/a><\/p>\n

None of us are removed from the exploitation of labor.\u00a0 This article by Stephen Lendman of the Centre for Research on Globalization\u00a0describes the plight of women in the United States and Mexico who produce most of the clothing sold all over the world.<\/p>\n

Reading 5<\/span>.\u00a0Do You Know Who Made Your T-Shirt \u00a0 \u00a0https:\/\/laborawareness.wordpress.com\/child-labor-today\/<\/a><\/p>\n

As economic conditions decline children must work for lower and lower wages.\u00a0 Furthermore, the breakdown of social units, such as families, requires more people to seek employment. \u00a0 Thus children are often thrust into the workforce for the survival of the family.\u00a0\u00a0 Millions of children are involved in economic activity<\/p>\n

Reading 6<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0The Cruel Economics of Human Trafficking in India<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.asianphilanthropyforum.org\/cruel-economics-human-trafficking-india\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Laborers must subsist on the sale of their labor–there is little else they have to sell in the market. For women, the sex industry is often their only opportunity for wages. As this report from Asian Philanthropy Forum\u00a0indicates, the sex industry is one of the few growth areas for poor women in India<\/p>\n

Reading 7<\/span>.Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap http:\/\/www.aauw.org\/research\/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Not only must some segments of the population accept less desirable jobs, they often must accept lower wages than more favored segments of the population for the same work.\u00a0 Thus, as this article from \u00a0AAUW\u00a0indicates, women earn for equivalent jobs, on the average, .80 for every $1.00 earned by men<\/p>\n

Reading 8<\/strong> \u00a0Modern Slavery Estimated to Traps= 45 Million People Worldwide http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/06\/01\/world\/asia\/global-slavery-index.html?_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n

Most people believe that slavery is a thing of the past.\u00a0 However, as this from the New York Times reveals, slavery thrives in many parts of the world.\u00a0 You can also get get information about where modern slavery exists from The Atlantic article at http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/news\/archive\/2016\/05\/where-the-worlds-slaves-live\/484994\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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