Robots, computers, the internet, in a word: rapid technological development. This is the material basis of economic crisis we have already experienced in the 21st century and of the ones to come. Discussions of the disrupting effects of technology on employment in the future abound but the missing link is the relationship that technological change has on economic crisis.
Technological change is the primary cause economic crisis. In fact, it is the primary cause of historical development.
Technological change, for example, brought forth the emergence of agriculture and the industrial revolution and the massive social and political transformations that corresponded to these technological developments.
This is the central thesis of the “materialist conception of history” or more simply historical materialism: “At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production.”
In other words, technology develops to such a degree that it can no longer develop within the existing social framework and this contradiction forces people into social and political revolutions.
We see worry in mainstream discussions of employment and technology in the future. Robots and computers will replace human workers and there will be mass unemployment etc etc. The thing to see here is that “work” as we know it is one of the social relations that will block further technological development; the way humans work will of necessity be revolutionized.
Marx wrote about this process as early as 1848. In 1859, he wrote, “From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution. The changes in the economic foundation lead sooner or later to the transformation of the whole immense superstructure.” For those unfamiliar with Marx’s writing this may seem a bit jargony.
The “productive forces” are technology, science, skill, organization, and know how. If I am going to build a house the productive forces are, the blueprint, the tools (nail guns, skill saws etc) and the skills of the workers.
The “relations of production” are a little trickier because these relationships appear as things. For example, when you go to Wal-Mart and buy a sweater it appears like a very simple process you hand over some money and get the sweater. But what is actually happening is that your labor which has now taken the form of money (you worked and got paid) is entering into a social relation with someone’s else’s labor which has now taken the form of a commodity (a thing that is sold and bought — in this a case a sweater). So you have traded the product of your labor with the product of someone’s else’s labor. The market mediates this process of social interaction and hides it. The commodity seems like a simple thing but when it circulates (is bought and sold) it is really mediating social relationships. For this reasons Marx said that the commodity is a fetish. A thing representing a relation.
The commodity is one of the social relations that can go from a “form of development” at one historical stage of development and become a fetter at another. But, the key social relation in capitalist society is profit. Marx demonstrated that the profit has a tendency to decline as technology develops. As technological development becomes widespread — globalized — — unbearable pressure is put on profits. If capitalist can’t make profits production contracts. Contracting production is a recession and in extreme cases depression. Rapid technological development is the underlying and hidden cause of 21st century crisis.
Next week I’ll write about technology, the profit rate, and crisis.
