chapter two

From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

An Introduction to Cl ass Struggl e in the US, 19 7 !199"

Slavery is not one type o# domination and e$ploitation among others, not merely an aspect o# one %ygone phase o# history& Slavery is the primary and primordial relation o# e$ploitation, that #orm out o# which ser#dom and wage la%or arise, and that #orm toward which the master always strives' only #orce can compel the master to #orgo the use o# slaves& (hence the many )ends ) o# slavery, and its many re%irths& *Pierre +oc,es, Medieval Slavery and Liberation -19"./ Among 0e$ican activists the e$istence o# class struggle in the US is at %est an hypothesis deduci%le #rom 0ar$ist a$ioms, %ut it one o#ten resisted %y empirical reality& (here are the anti!capitalist parties and the revolutionary wor,ers and peasants armies that #ill the history %oo,s in the Americas, 1urope and Asia2 3hey certainly are not to %e #ound in recent US history& 4evertheless, class struggle in the US is a daily e$perience&1 In this essay, I present a schematic history o# this struggle during the 197 !199" period, stressing those elements that are most important #or the creation o# cross!%order networ,s o# struggle, and the #orging o# a common history uniting the US and 0e$ican proletariat&

3he Fall
3he winter o# 199" is a time o# capitalist triumphalism in the US& 3he stoc, mar,et is %ooming, it is the seventh year o# capitalist e$pansion, corporate pro#its are reaching new highs, while interest rates and unemployment are reaching lows not touched since the early 1975s& 3he situation is so unusual that a new species o# economist is appearing on the #inancial pages %usiness 6ournals claiming to have discovered a miracle& 3hese )4ew 1conomy7 economists hypothesi8e that advanced
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capitalist economies li,e the US can continue to grow without igniting in#lation %ecause o# the )hidden productivity7 gains provided %y the computeri8ation o# all areas o# production and circulation& system9s healer&. :owever, a glance at the condition o# the waged wor,ing class -wor,ing with or without the computer/, over the last ;uarter century, ;uic,ly reveals the material %asis #or capital9s triumphs& In 197 !7< the US wor,ing class reached its historic pea, o# power measured statistically& Since then, the real wage, hours o# wor,, security o# employment, share o# the total social product, capacity to stri,e, average level o# employment have constantly and, at times, dramatically deteriorated& In 197< the num%er o# stri,es reached a new historic high, a#ter many years when stri,es were common in most large industries& =y the 19"5s, however, stri,es in these industries had nearly disappeared and 199> had the lowest level o# stri,e activity since the early 19.5s& Again, in Fe%ruary 199", unemployment reached a )historical low,7 <&>?, a#ter seven years o# capitalist e$pansion@ %ut it is #orgotten that such a level o# unemployment would have %een considered a sign o# recession in the 19A5s and would have called #or e$traordinary macro!economic measures to counter its conse;uences& Consider also the issue o# )wage dispersion,7 i&e&, the di##erence %etween the wages o# the highest and lowest paid wor,ers, which is a rough, o%6ective measure o# wor,ing class solidarity& In the early 1975s )wage dispersion7 was at one o# its lowest levels in US history, %ut the 1995s have witnessed the highest levels o# wage dispersion ever in post!((II US class history& 3he wage gap %etween the %est paid male wor,ers and the least paid male wor,ers rose #rom more than B to more than A times& 3he most important change, however, can %een seen in the pro#it ratio& 3he 1975s saw a ma6or, across the %oard decline in pro#its& =etween 19<" and 19>" the US rate o# pro#it averaged a%out .5?, %y the mid!1975s it averaged a%out 11?& :ow should we interpret these changes2 For a start, it is clear that i# the trends in wage increases in the 19>5s and early 1975s, the shortening o# wor, hours, the pro#its crisis, and wage dispersion had continued, capitalism in the US would have collapsed& 3his threat o# collapse was not con#ined to the US& Similar trends were developing in 1urope, the ma6or alternative site o# US capital9s investment and pro#it& 1ngland and Italy in 197 !197<, especially, were the scenes o# remar,a%ly e##ective e$pressions o# wor,ing class power on the highest levels o# politics, e&g&, the 197< miners9 stri,e in the UC %rought down the Conservative government& 3he old contradiction %etween growth and in#lation is now history, it seems, and the new technology is %eing hailed as the

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A loo, at the condition o# unwaged wor,ers in the US shows a parallel story o# triumph and decline& 3he struggle o# women against unpaid la%or in the home in a capitalist economy has #orced %oth the government and the 0ar$ists to con#ront the value!productivity o# the largely women9s la%or involved into the reproduction o# la%or power on a daily and generational %asis& 3his wor, had historically %een unpaid in the US, where there were not even the small )#amily allowances7 that were e$perimented with %y some 1uropean governments a#ter ((II& =ut in the 19>5s, the wel#are movement largely lead %y %lac, women %rought together the demands o# the )=lac, Power7 movement and the #eminist demands #or the recognition o# women9s wor,& =y the late 19>5s the rights o# poor, unsupported women to some #orm o# payment #or their wor, o# raising children was %eing recogni8ed as a )wel#are entitlement7 %y the national government& In response to the struggles o# women these payments grew throughout the 19>5s and %y the early 1975s the 4i$on Administration was discussing a plan #or a )guaranteed national wage7 that would regulari8e a nationally agreed upon %ottom to all citi8ens9 income& 3hese discussions signaled an immense crisis #or capital, %ecause one o# greatest sources o# pro#it arises #rom its a%ility to ma,e the wor,ing class %ear the cost #or its own reproduction on a daily and a generational %asis& 3he guaranteed income and the other aspects o# the Dwel#are state,9 -e&g&, the creation o# a nationali8ed medical care system #or the elderly, 0edicare, in 19>A/ threatened this immense source o# pro#it and e$ploitation& 3his development ended a%ruptly in the mid!1975s& =y the summer o# 199> the national government had moved so #ar #rom the )guaranteed income #or all7 as to e$plicitly legislate that it was no longer guaranteeing any payment to women -poor or not/ #or the wor, they do in reproducing the la%or power o# the #uture& 3he class struggle in the 19>5s and early 1975s which led to the historic threat to capitalist accumulation did not ta,e place under the direction o# a mass, ideologically identi#ied anti!capitalist party& =ut it did see an immense production o# theoretical and agitational literature concerning the nature o# capital -the 4ew Ee#t/, #eminism, racism in all its #orms and targets -against %lac,s, indigenous peoples, :ispanics, Asians/, homopho%ia, se$uality, and the environment& 0ore crucially, it was a%le to e$press its power in the great ur%an insurrections lead %y %lac,s #rom the (atts re%ellion in 19>< to the national ur%an uprising a#ter the assassination o# 0&E& Cing Fr& in 19>", ma6or stri,es in all the core industriali8ed regions as well as new areas li,e agriculture -the United Farm (or,ers o# America stri,es and grape %oycott/ and government -the national Postal wor,ers9 stri,e/, a revolt in the army in Gietnam, stri,es in the
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university system including a nation!wide shut down a#ter the invasion o# Cam%odia in 1975, the great prison revolts li,e Attica in 1971, and the revival o# the #eminist movement& 1ven capitalist apologists were %eginning to despair in the early 1975s and were writing %oo,s a%out wor,ers with titles li,e )(here :ave All the Ho%ots Ione27A :ow did the US wor,ing class %oth waged and unwaged, which in the 19>5s and early 1975s appeared to %e sha,ing the con#idence o# the most power#ul capitalist class on the planet, #ind itsel#, a ;uarter century later, more divided, with lower wages, wor,ing longer hours, and #eeling more powerless and insecure2 :ow was capital a%le to regain its e;uili%rium and then ta,e the initiative2 A thorough answer to these ;uestions would re;uire a %oo,, %ut in the #ollowing pages I will give a s,etch o# an answer&

Hecession
3he #irst response to a period o# growing wor,ing class power was instinctual to capital' depression, crisis and a re#usal o# investment& 3his did not re;uire much planning& Any success#ul attac, on pro#it will lead to disinvestment, according to the logic o# the system, and the period %etween 197A and 19" included #ive )recessions,7 two o# which were more severe than any since the Ireat +epression o# the 19 5s& 3his rapid!#ire series o# recessions changed what )high7 and )low7 unemployment rates meant& A#ter 19" , even though there were two periods o# )e$pansion7 -19"<!1995 and 1991!present/ the lowest the unemployment rate reached was <&>?*what would have %een considered a )recession7 rate o# unemployment in the 19A5s&

Capital9s Counter!Stri,e' )Hust =elt,7 )Sca%s,7 and )Union!=usting7

In previous periods o# unemployment a#ter ((II there was never a large!scale disruption o# the location o# the #actories and the general geographical distri%ution o# the %ranches o# industry& Steel was connected with Pitts%urgh, autos with +etroit, ru%%er with A,ron, coal with (est Girginia in the minds o# the wor,ers and capitalists& 1ven i# steel, auto, ru%%er wor,ers, and coal miners were laid o## during a )down turn,7 they remained in place #or the most part, e$pecting to %e reemployed in the ne$t )up turn&7 =ut the crisis o# 197A!19" was di##erent& Capital physically dismantled itsel# and moved to the southern US -or even to industriali8ed 3hird (orld countries li,e 0e$ico or South A#rica/, leaving %ehind a )rust %elt7 stretching #rom Chicago to =oston
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o# a%andoned #actories, steel mills, and wor,ing class neigh%orhoods& 3his planned )deindustriali8ation7 o# the traditional manu#acturing areas o# the country had a pro#ound e##ect on the sel#!con#idence o# the most well paid, and historically most com%ative strata o# the proletariat& :ow can you stri,e outside a rusty unused #actory whose replacement is %eing %uilt a thousand miles away2 1ven i# northern wor,ers, especially %lac,s, #ollowed their plants south, how could they reconstruct ties o# proletarian trust and cooperation with wor,ers they met in the new plant who might have ties with the CCC or other racist groups2 Capital9s campaign to terrori8e the waged wor,ing class into giving up the stri,e )weapon7 had many more dimensions %eside corporations9 pro#essed and demonstrated willingness to respond to stri,es %y simply moving a plant thousands o# miles away& Earge corporations also %ro,e one o# the %asic rules o# )la%or relations7 wor,ed out in the 19 5s' the prohi%ition o# using )sca%s,7 or stri,e %rea,ers, or, in the euphemistic term o# the 19"5s, )replacement wor,ers&7 3he hiring o# )sca%s7 to %rea, stri,es had %een a standard tactic o# capitalists, %oth large and small, throughout the late 19th and early .5th century& 3his practice had %een re6ected %y the larger capitalists as %eing too dangerous in the era o# mass #actories, which re;uired thousands o# wor,ers and were located in the midst o# wor,ing class neigh%orhoods& =ut, %eginning with the nation!wide stri,e o# air tra##ic controllers in 19"1, there was a revival o# the )sca%,7 so that today almost every category o# wor,ers9 stri,es including those o# meat pac,ers, paper wor,ers, coal miners, #arm machinery assem%ly wor,ers, air tra##ic controllers, pilots, and school teachers have #aced and were de#eated %y a campaign o# sca%%ing& All throughout the 19"5s there were years!long sieges o# #actories, mines, and mills that were operating at ma$imum capacity %y stri,ing wor,ers who impotently demonstrated on the outside& 3hese de#eated stri,es taught wor,ers a %itter lesson, and have de#initely reduced their capacity to re6ect the reduction o# wages and the increase in wor,!time demanded %y their %osses& For e$ample, in 197< there were <.< stri,es involving more than 1,555 wor,ers while in 199A there were only 1 such stri,es& Another tactic o# the late 19th and early .5th century that was also revived was )union %usting,7 i&e&, capitalists9 attempts to either su%vert wor,ers9 e##orts to unioni8e to drive unions out o# their #actories& From the 19 5s until the 19>5s the large corporations had wor,ed out an accommodation with the unions in their %ranches o# industry, %ut %eginning with the crisis o# the mid!1975s this accommodation went into crisis& For e$ample, when a steel mill or a coal mine was moved to a new location, the corporation would o#ten not recogni8e the older union as the %argaining agent #or the
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wor,ers in the new location& 0oreover, since companies o#ten moved their new plants to states in the South or Southwest which had laws that hindered unioni8ation, it was relatively easy #or managers specially trained in )union %usting7 tactics -taught at a very high price %y a new %reed o# )aggressive7 management e$perts/ to su%vert their new wor,ers9 attempts to unioni8e and create the solidarity re;uired to organi8e a stri,e& 3he result was a dramatic decline in union mem%ership, e&g&, in 197< a%out .A? o# the employees in the private sector were union mem%ers, in 199< only a%out 1.? were in unions& Along with these planned attac,s on the waged wor,ing class9 most power#ul weapon on the #actory level, there was also an attac, %y the state& In the 19A5s and 19>5s, unemployment %ene#its, )#ood stamps7 and other #orms o# income availa%le to wor,ers that were laid o## were made availa%le to waged wor,ers who were on stri,e #or a long time& In the 19"5s and 1995s these %ene#its were systematically attac,ed& 1ither they were #ormally denied to stri,ers or they were severely cut& Conse;uently, i# wor,ers went on stri,e in the post!197 period they increasingly #aced immediate poverty leavened %y small payments #rom stri,e #unds and solidarity #unds&

3he +ecomposition o# (or,

3he attac, on the waged wor,ing class in the large #actories, mills and mines did not end with eliminating its capacity to #ormally stop wor, and stri,e& (or,ers can re#use wor, -in order to demand higher wages, less wor,!time, and a reduction in the intensity o# wor,/ within the #actory, on the )shop #loor,7 o#ten more e##ectively than %y #ormally stri,ing& =y the 19>5s, #or e$ample, assem%ly line wor,ers had developed very sophisticated techni;ues o# slowing down the line to protest management practices and to ta,e control o# their wor,ing conditions& 3his ;uiet insurrection within the plant -called )counter!planning #rom the shop #loor7/ was more terri#ying to the capitalist than the pic,et lines outside it& For stri,es are open declarations o# war operating %y #i$ed rules, %ut this organi8ed insu%ordination within the plant was more open!ended in its threat to the sovereignty o# capital& (hat could %e done a%out it2 Again the #irst step was instinctual to capital' increase mechani8ation and surveillance& As 0ar$ wrote in Capital, machines are weapons o# war against the power o# wor,ers, and the immediate response to any increase o# wor,ers9 power is to introduce machines to replace wor,ers, to reduce the s,ill necessary to do the wor,, or to su%vert wor,ers9 capacity to re#use wor, on the 6o%&> 3he machines and techni;ues have varied with the period, #rom the Ar,wright9s )mule7 and the steam engine o# the 33

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19th century, to electri#ication and the internal com%ustion engine o# the early .5th century, to the introduction o# Computeri8ation and Ho%otics in the late .5th century& 3he latter innovations have led to a new source o# an$iety #or the wor,er, )downsi8ing&77 In the past, one #eared %eing laid o## #rom a 6o% %ecause o# a down!turn in the %usiness cycle and a reduction in the demand #or the commodity one helped produce& 4ormally, i# )%usiness7 was good, there would %e no reason to %e concerned a%out one9s 6o% and one could use the moment to demand higher wages and %etter wor,ing conditions& =ut this )grace period7 #or internal %argaining and struggle with the %oss is increasingly under attac,, %ecause even during a %oom time the wor,er can %e threatened with the introduction o# a computeri8ed simulation o# much o# hisJher wor, or even a complete ro%otici8ed replacement& Since the computer is a universal machine that can simulate any pattern!producing activity, almost any wor,er can %e threatened with )downsi8ing,7 i&e&, a dramatic change in or even elimination o# their assigned wor, without a reduction in the demand #or their product, conse;uently wor,ers9 power to use )good times7 to ma,e new demands and to organi8e greater control o# their wor,!li#e is threatened& =ut i# )%ad times7 are not propitious moments, and i# )good times7 are increasingly not propitious either, then what times are %est #or putting #orth wor,ing class demands2 Another classical method #or su%verting internal wor,er insu%ordination is

increased surveillance& Again this is nothing new& From the #ormation o# the #actory on the model o# the prison in the late 1"th century, to 3aylorism in the late 19th century, to Fordism in the early .5th century, the techni;ues #or monitoring wor,, controlling its motion, detecting deviations #rom the norm and crushing insu%ordination has %een at the core o# the capitalist science o# production& Since the mid!1975s a whole set o# )new7 practices have %een introduced in all the ma6or industrial %ranches o#ten associated with Fapanese management& From );uality circles,7 to )6ust!in!time production,7 to )total ;uality control,7 these so!called Post!Fordist techni;ues are no more than new ways #or the capitalists to create #orms o# surveillance and spying in the process o# production and to introduce a continual complicity %etween elements o# the wor,ing class and management& As with some o# the previous advances in )management science7 they have proved initially success#ul, %ut then in time the con#lictual class relation returns to the #ore %ecause the proletariat learns to create a counter!surveillance and su%vert complicity in its ran,s& =ut as this has %een the initial period o# their introduction, many o# these techni;ues have proven e##ective&"

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Changes in the Composition o# the (aged (or,ing Class' Immigration and Iender
3hese changes in the location and #orm o# wor, have %een crucial in thwarting the militancy o# waged wor,ers& =ut there were other, e;ually important, %ut more am%iguous #actors that will help e$plain the collapse o# many past, %ut pro%lematic %astions o# wor,ing class strength in the US& 3o understand these #actors one must re#lect on three decisive moments in the #ormation o# the US proletariat& 3he #irst two are the genocide o# the indigenous people and the massive enslavement o# A#ricans in the US territory and the third is the wave o# immigration #rom 1urope and Asia in the late 19th and early .5th centuries& 3he a%ility o# US capital to move large ;uantities o# la%or power is rooted in the success o# the genocidal elimination o# the indigenous people and their a%ility to divide 1uropean and Asian immigrants against each other, %ut more crucially against the historically most com%ative element o# the wor,ing class, the descendants o# the A#rican slaves& 3hese moments de#ined the wor,ing class composition through ((II, %ut in the 19A5s and early 19>5s one o# the most important revolutions in US wor,ing class history occurred' the %lac, wor,ing class success#ully challenged and destroyed the legal apartheid they #aced& 3his revolution opened the door #or the increasing homogeni8ation o# the wor,ing class in terms o# wages, %ecause the %lac,s, who were traditionally on the %ottom o# the wage ladder, were a%le to increase their wages& Hacism*the comple$ o# techni;ues used to divide the wor,ing class according to physiognomic #actors*#inally %egan to %e con#ronted& 3he years %etween 19>A and 197A were )the second Heconstruction7 -the #irst Heconstruction %eing the short period a#ter the Civil (ar when the US government intervened to e$tend the voting and civil rights o# the li%erated slaves/& A second revolution also too, place at the same time' the remaining indigenous peoples %egan to create uni#ied organi8ation and to challenge their legal status as )wards o# the state&7 3hey %egan to demand the strict implementation o# treaties concluded in the 19th century and to re#use their dependency on the state& 3his new presence o# the indigenous peoples on the historical stage put on the proletariat o# 1uropean origin on trial #or their previous complicity in the genocide& It was at this revolutionary moment in the mid!19>5s that US capital reversed its very restrictive immigration policy& In the thirty years since then, almost .5 million new immigrants legally arrived #rom 0e$ico, Central America, the Cari%%ean, Gietnam, Cam%odia, South Corea, China, India, and A#rica& +riven to the US %y wars -#rom
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Gietnam and Cam%odia, to 1l Salvador, Iuatemala, and 4icaragua/, and structural ad6ustment policies -0e$ico, the Cari%%ean, A#rica/, these new immigrants were politically sophisticated, %ut also desperately needed waged employment, and almost any wage would do& Since most o# these immigrants were also %etween 1" and >A years o# age, they entered directly into the US wage la%or #orce o# a little more than 155 million& 1ven though most o# these immigrants too, low!waged 6o%s they inevita%ly added to the wage pressure on the non!immigrant low!waged wor,ers especially& 3his new immigrant wave not only created new racial divisions that capital could play with, it also %egan to di##use the A#ricanJ1uropean, slave! descendedJimmigrant!descended, %lac,Jwhite, divisions that had %een the %asic racial #ulcrum in the division o# the US wor,ing class #rom its origin& Kn the other side, the new immigrants came #rom environments that had already con#ronted the most modern #orms o# capitalist e$ploitation, conse;uently their arrival added a new militancy and sophistication in the US proletariat that will have an enormous impact in the #uture& =ut most immediately they created the %asis o# the revival o# low waged )sweat shop7 industry in the US, especially in te$tiles, sporting goods assem%ly, and agricultural processing industries& 3he second great change in the composition o# the waged wor,ing class was the increasing presence o# women& From the 19th century te$tile mills to the airplane assem%ly lines o# ((II, women were a crucial part o# the waged wor,ing class& =ut 6ust as with the %lac,s, they were treated as the ultimate reserve army o# industry %y capital and as second!class citi8ens %y unions& )East hired, #irst #ired,7 applied to %oth& =ut %eginning in the late 19>5s the rate o# #emale la%or mar,et participation increased consistently and, over the last ;uarter century, has trans#ormed all layers o# employment& For e$ample, the percentage o# women in the total waged wor, #orce in 199A was <>? while in 19>5 it was women in 19>5 was ?@ similarly the la%or participation rate o# 7? while in 199A it was A"&9?& 3his too had an am%ivalent

impact on the wage la%or mar,et& Kn the one side, since women enter into the #actory or the o##ice in the #ace o# gender discrimination, they o##er an even greater opportunity #or e$ploitation than men& 0oreover, since women were still largely doing the housewor, they had traditionally done even though they had %ecome waged wor,ers, capital was a%le to continue accumulating the unwaged part o# their wor,ing day -housewor,/, while adding to it the surplus value o# women in the waged part o# their wor,ing day&9 =ut on the other side, the introduction o# a second wage in many US wor,ing class households has made it possi%le to survive the #all o# real wages without entering into poverty& 0ore importantly, the women9s waged wor, has at least
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made it possi%le #or many women to escape ;uasi!slavery in violent marriages they were o#ten doomed to %e#ore&

3he Internationali8ation o# Capital' 3he 1$port o# Commodities and the 1$port o# Capital
(e have %een e$amining the most immediate determinates o# the attac, on wages and the length o# the wor, day in the production cycle' the organi8ation o# wor,, the capacity to stri,e and the composition o# the wor,ing class& Another, less immediate, %ut e;ually e##ective cause is in the circulation sphere' the e$port o# commodities and capital& It has %een given a new prominence in the 1995s as #oreign direct investment throughout the world has risen #rom L.55 %illion in 1995 to L 1A %illion in 199A while the growth o# international trade has consistently out paced world economic growth since the 19>5s -e&g&, the I+Ps o# )high income economies7 grew %y .&9? per year %etween 19"5!199 while their imports and e$ports increased %y A&A? per year/& It has a new name as well, )glo%ali8ation,7 which has %ecome the )%u887 word o# the decade& =ut the e$port o# commodities and capital has %een an age!old )escape mechanism7 #rom the class struggle, #or it allows capitalists to escape wor,ers %oth physically and politically& (hen e$port o# commodities %ecomes a central o%6ective o# capitalists, they %ecome less concerned with the capacity o# their wor,ers to consume their products& (hen the e$port o# capital %ecomes an easy option and the e$ploitation o# wor,ers outside o# the national economy is a common mode o# capitalist %ehavior, then the ;uality o# reproduction o# the national wor,ing class is even less o# a concern& 3he period %etween 197 and 199" has %een one where there was a #undamental

shi#t in US capital9s #ocus #rom a domestic!national to an e$port!glo%al economy& A reader in 0e$ico or other parts o# :ispanic America might %e surprised %y this claim, given the enormous impact the US has had on their economic li#e& =ut the continental si8e and, a#ter the mid!19th century, demographic growth o# the US has allowed US capital to have its core circulatory interest in the national territorial limits up until recently& A relatively small amount o# the I4P was accounted #or %y e$port industries up until the 19"5s and 1995s, and even today only a%out 1.? o# US production is e$ported -compared with only a%out A? o# I+P in 19>5/& =ut the percentage o# US corporate pro#its created in #oreign #acilities has grown dramatically #rom a%out A? in 19A5 to .5? in 1995& 3his shi#t has already had enormous conse;uences on the class struggle in the US&

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3he most o%vious impact o# the new e$port regime on the class struggle has %een in the e$port o# capital& For increasingly when wor,ers made demands, capitalists respond %y threatening to e$port their plants and o##ices outside o# the US& In the past these threats might have %een ta,en lightly, %ut no more& 3here are a num%er o# reasons #or the new#ound seriousness o# these threats& First, there are now many more places where capital can sa#ely %e e$ported to -in the #orm o# #oreign direct investment/& 3he worldwide impact o# structural ad6ustment programs imposed %y the I0F and the (orld =an, has now changed the legal structure o# most o# the nations o# Asia, the Americas and A#rica in such a way that the rights o# #oreign capital are now supreme& Second, a new continental terrain -#rom =erlin to =ei6ing/ and %illions o# wor,ers has %ecome open to direct e$ploitation %y US capital since the collapse o# the socialist regimes in 1astern 1urope and the #ormer Soviet Union, and the cautious )opening7 to #oreign capital o# the nations in Asia still ruled %y e$isting communist! parties -China and Gietnam/& Kne can say that since the early 19"5s the num%er o# potential wor,ers directly e$ploita%le %y US capital has increased %y appro$imately three %illion& 3hird, an industrial proletariat has now ta,en shape in the ma6ority o# regions throughout the planet, conse;uently all the costs o# producing such a proletariat do not need to %e %orne %y the investing #oreign company& Capitalists are not a%ove pointing out to US wor,ers ma,ing L1A an hour in a manu#acturing plants that, with a little inconvenience, this plant could %e e$ported to a country where wor,ers, almost e;ually prepared, are willing to wor, #or less than a L1 an hour& 3he reality o# this threat is not lost on wor,ers and their organi8ations& 3here are certainly #ew US laws that hinder the movement o# US capital %eyond the national %orders -e$cept #or the various sanctions imposed on Cu%a, Ira;, Ei%ya, and Iran/ and that put an e$port ta$ on the outward #low o# capital& Kn the contrary, the o%sessive drive o# the most power#ul elements o# US capital on the governmental level has %een to reduce any resistance to outward capital #lows and any restrictions to the penetration o# #oreign %arriers& 3he Ieneral Agreement on 3ari##s and 3rade -IA33/, its progeny the (orld 3rade Krgani8ation -(3K/ and most importantly, the 4orth American Free 3rade Agreement -4AF3A/, and the pro6ected 0ultilateral Agreement on Investment -0AI/ are all concrete products o# this drive that has given to US capital a legal mandate to threaten any insu%ordination o# US wor,ers not only with a capital! stri,e -a halting o# production/, or a campaign o# stri,e!%rea,ing -continuing production with sca%s/, %ut with the continuation o# production in a sa#e #oreign environment where wages are a #raction o# the present US wage&15

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3his power to spatially move %eyond the reach o# wor,ing class threats is intensi#ied %y the increase o# the e$port #ocus o# the capital that remains in the territorial US& Knce e$port!oriented industry is widespread, a num%er o# #actors a##ecting the %alance o# class #orces come to the #ore& First, the old Fordist ma$im ! the wor,ers in an auto plant should %e a%le to %uy an auto ! is made null and void& For i# the mar,et #or a capitalist9s commodity is the wor,ing class or the capitalist class o# a #oreign country, then the purchasing power o# hisJher own wor,ers is not the capitalist9s concern& Conse;uently, the wor,ers cannot use the old Ceynesian threat that i# their collective wage demands are re6ected, the collective capitalists will not %e a%le to sell their commodities and %oth will lose& Second, e$port!industrial production also de!locali8es the wor,ers themselves, #or they recogni8e that the purchasers o# the products they produce have no connection to them %eyond the use value and the price o# those commodities& 3heir relation to each other is as a%stract as the mathematical space that separates them& Conse;uently, the locale o# production is not crucial to its purchase, it could have %een produced in place M, N, or O as well& 3his #urther intensi#ies the message o# the capitalist in the arena o# wage negotiation' I do not need you in particular, there#ore your particular demands are not %inding on me& 3he capitalist can move to place M, N, or O, there#ore, threatening hisJher wor,ers without threatening the mar,et #or the produced commodity& 1$port!oriented production has another side, import!oriented consumption, which has %een crucial #or decreasing wages and increasing pro#its as well& US wor,ers9 real wages were reduced in the 19"5s and 1995s without widespread stri,es and uprisings %ecause o# the importation o# clothing, shoes, electronics and agricultural products made cheap %y the systematic repression o# wor,ers organi8ations in Asia, the Americas and A#rica& 3orture cham%ers #or union militants and concentration camps #or protesting students have %ecome the )comparative advantage7 o# many 3hird (orld governments loo,ing to attract #oreign direct investment #rom the US and to %ecome )e$port!oriented&7 Free enterprise 8ones #rom :aiti to Indonesia now house US #irms that produce goods #or the US wor,ing class mar,et without concern #or la%or or environmental standards& 3he reduction o# the cost o# clothes and #ood has made it possi%le #or capital not only to reduce wages %ut to also increase the interest charges #or credit cards and mortgages and rents #or US wor,ers& 3his not only increases the share o# surplus appropriated %y capital through pro#it, rent and interest, it also creates a wor,ing class complicity with the e$ploitation o# wor,ers a%road that has only recently %egun to %e attac,ed in anti!sweatshop campaigns&

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3he changing composition o# the waged wor,ing class, the de!locali8ation o# production, the )glo%ali8ation7 o# production and consumption have not only a##ected the speci#ic %alance o# #orces %etween wor,ing class and capital& 3hey are proceeding at such a pace that the very meaning o# the terms )US wor,ing class7 and )US capital7 are %ecoming pro%lematic& For e$ample, i# )US capital7 means )capital owned %y a US citi8en7 and )US wor,ing class7 means )someone %eing e$ploited %y US capital,7 then much o# the capital in the US national territory is not US capital and an enormous part o# the US wor,ing class are citi8ens o# other countries& 3here were de#initional pro%lems o# this sort %e#ore, o# course, %ecause the locali8ation o# capital and e$ploitation is intrinsically di##icult& :owever, these pro%lems are now %ecoming critical and demanding a new strategy to deal with the actual class composition o# the wor,ing class and the concrete threats o# contemporary capital& 4ot surprisingly, however, at this very moment a new )nationalist7 ideology -#ull o# race hatred, capitalist toadying, and anti!immigrant/ is %ecoming the rallying cry o# much o# a proletariat that cannot #ind a way to e##ectively counter the tremendous #orces arrayed against it without tearing itsel# apart&

3he State and the (or,ing Class' 3he 1nd o# Ceynesianism

In such an environment o# class tension, one might e$pect the state to mediate more #orce#ully& :owever, there has %een a pro#ound change in the relation o# wor,ing class, capital, and the state since the early 1975s& 3he state has traditionally %een concerned with the reproduction o# capital and, as its necessary condition, the reproduction o# the wor,ing class& 3his concern with the wor,ing class, %eyond merely repressing its desires, %ecame especially important with the rise o# Ceynesianism in the US& )Ceynesianism7 is a #orm o# political economy named a#ter the #amous .5th century 1nglish economist Fohn 0aynard Ceynes& :is thin,ing in#luenced the US government9s economic policy o# the 19<5s through the 19>5s& It re6ected the view that capitalism, le#t to itsel#, will lead to a low unemployment, high growth economy& 3hese o%6ectives re;uired that the state try to plan the ma6or varia%les o# a capitalist economy, #rom the money supply and the wage rate, to the I4P and the pro#it rate& Ceynesianism, com%ined with the commitment o# US capital to the development o# a national mar,et, created a set o# mediating mechanisms %etween capital and the wor,ing class, #rom the #ormali8ation o# national wage negotiations and unioni8ation, to wel#are policies #or poor women and their children, to education policies to train #uture wor,ers and the management o# US apartheid -called )racial segregation&7/ Kne
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o# the most important #unctions o# the Ceynesian state was the management o# a parallel growth o# wages and productivity, via its control o# the money supply and the interest rate& I# wage increases out!ran productivity increases, then an increase in the money supply with its in#lationary impact #ollowed %y an interest rate increase and its recessionary conse;uences, would reduce the value o# the wages in line with productivity& =ut in the late 19>5s and early 1975s this cy%ernetic strategy %egan to #ail& A sure sign o# this #ailure was the lac, o# correlation %etween in#lation and unemployment -the #irst went up the latter was down, and vis versa/ called )the Phillips curve7 in economics& 3he 1975s was a period o# high unemployment and high in#lation -sometimes called )stag#lation7/ whose most important impact was the dramatic decline o# real wages in the US a#ter 197 & practice, was re6ected in the crisis& 3he new political economy hostile to wage increases was euphemistically du%%ed )in#lation #ighting,7 since it would not have %een politic to have called it what it really was' )wage hating7 and )pro#it loving&7 3he theorists o# this policy, however, could a##ord to %e more open, %ecause they were more a%stract& 3hey de#ined an accepta%le level o# employment to %e that level which does not increase in#lation& In other words, accepta%le unemployment rates had nothing to do with wor,ers9 needs, or even the national interest& In practice, any increase in wage demands #rom any part o# the proletariat was immediately used as a prete$t to impose higher interest rates that would #urther wea,en the %argaining power o# wor,ers even in a %oom& Since the real interest rates would reduce the pace o# %usiness e$pansion and the demand #or la%or power& Heal interest rates -i&e&, nominal interest rates minus the in#lation rate/ ? in the mid!1995s, remained at historic highs throughout the 19"5s and 1995s& 3he result' in#lation was reduced #rom 1.? per annum in the late 1975s to less than while the hourly manu#acturing real wage was reduced %y almost .5? in the same period& 3his decline in wages and increase in hours too, place in two ma6or %usiness e$pansions -roughly 19"<!1995 and 199.!1997/& 3he end o# Ceynesianism could not only %e seen in the in#lation!#ighting )macro! economic7 policy outlined a%ove& It also involved a success#ul ta$ revolt %y capital and capitalists& Corporations %egan a campaign in the 1975s to reduce direct ta$es on their pro#its, and eventually it lead to a dramatic reduction o# corporate )income ta$&7 For e$ample, in 19A7, US corporations paid <A? o# local property ta$es, %ut %y 19"7, they paid only 1>?, even though they are legally considered individuals and have all the rights and responsi%ilities o# individuals& 3here has also %een a steep decline in the
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3he commitment to ,eeping

wages growing in line with productivity growth, a central ma$im o# Ceynesianism in

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corporation9s share o# all ta$es -state, local and #ederal/& In the 19A5s #or every one dollar paid %y #amilies and individuals, corporations paid a%out si$ty!#ive cents, while %y the 19"5s corporations were paying twenty cents& Individual capitalists also %egan a campaign to lower their own income ta$ rates in the 1975s& 3hey succeeded as decisively as corporations& As o# the mid!1995s, individuals whose income is L.A5,555 and higher pay a%out 5? o# their income in ta$es whereas in the mid!1975s they were paying almost A5?& 3his ta$ revolt o# the rich has not only meant a redistri%ution o# income to the already wealthy& 3his upwards redistri%ution was paid #or %y de#icit #inancing and it signaled the end o# the willingness o# the capitalist class to invest in the reproduction o# the US wor,ing class via the national state apparatus& 3hese %udget de#icits #rom the 19"5s on were partly #inanced %y government borrowing from -not ta$ing/ the wealthy o# the US and the planet who %ought US 3reasury %onds at very pro#ita%le interest rates& Iovernment interest payments now #orm the third largest e$pense o# the national %udget, a#ter de#ense spending and social security -national old!age pensions/, they grew #rom "&9? o# the national %udget in 19"5 to 1A&.? in 199A& Interest payments are, in e##ect, a direct reduction o# US wor,ing class income in #avor o# the capitalist class o# the planet& =esides shi#ting the )ta$ %urden7 to reduce wages, capital9s ta$ revolt also re6ected another Ceynesian a$iom*investment in the reproduction o# the wor,ing class is essential to capitalism in an )advanced7 stage& Capital9s success#ul ta$ revolt put an enormous stress on the national %udget, since it meant that the private and corporate owners o# the social surplus would not %e ta$ed& 3his loss could only partially %e compensated %y new ta$es -which were, in e##ect, generali8ed wage reductions/ on the proletariat& As a result, )austerity %udgets7 have %ecome commonplaces in the midst o# two economic %ooms o# the 19"5s and 1995s& )Austerity,7 o# course, when applied to money was the digni#ied Protestant name #or )poverty7 in the 19th century, %ut in the late .5th century it is a cant phrase hiding a grim reality' US capitalism admits that can not solve the %asic human pro%lem o# poverty even in its own territory& 3he set o# anti!poverty programs struggled #or in the 19>5s and early 1975s occasioned %y the end o# racial apartheid and the revolt o# women to end poverty -which had at its center single women with children and the descendants o# the slaves/ was met with one )austerity7 %udget a#ter another, at all levels o# government in the 19"5s and 1995s& In the midst o# stoc, mar,et %ooms, )healthy pro#it reports,7 and the usual signals o# capitalist vitality, the evident growth o# poverty, the segregation o# social li#e, and the conse;uent despair accumulated #or all to see on the streets o# the metropolises& In the #ace o# this evidence, politicians
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said time and again, )3here is no money,7 as they spent millions seducing any wandering capitalist with a #ew dollars to invest& 3he result o# the #all o# real wages, the trans#ormation o# the ta$ %urden, the increase o# corporate pro#its and stoc, prices, the )austerity7 %udgets which ended the redistri%utive e##orts o# government, and the rise o# interest payments on the national de%t has created an increasing income disparity within US society& 3he gap %etween high and low!income #amilies has widened every year since 19"5 so that, according to #ormer US Secretary o# Ea%or Ho%ert Heich, )P3he US hasQ the most une;ual distri%ution o# income o# any industriali8ed country in the world&711

3he Heturn o# Slavery in the US

3his is not a pretty picture& And it is rather one sided, #or this essay has largely dealt with actions and plans o# capital in its struggle to escape the euthanasia which threatened it in the early 1975s& 3he wor,ing class has not %een purely passive in this period o# retreat, recomposition, and re#lection& =ut the heroism, ingenuity, and toughness demonstrated %y wor,ing class struggles %etween 197 and 199" -which re;uire a chronicle o# their own/ have not %een enough to turn the tide& 3he great stri,es o# the 19"5s -e&g&, the 1>!month long stri,e o# paper wor,ers in Fay, 0aine/ and the Eos Angeles )no peace without 6ustice7 insurrection in 199. were two important moments in a long series o# episodes o# resistance, %ut un#ortunately in the last two years there has %een a series o# legislative changes that lays the %asis #or the return o# slavery in the US on a mass %asis&1. In e##ect, the US Congress has recently rede#ined what it means to %e a human %eing& I hope I do not to sound too sensationalistic, %ut it is possi%le that at the dawn o# the ne$t millennium there will %e " to 15 million adults *would constitute a%out 7? o# the )economically active population7 o# the US* in a slave!li,e status& I do not mean %y )slave!li,e status7 a complete return to the human )chattel7 o# the pre!Civil (ar period where the slave was the property o# private individuals and could %e sold at will& =ut there are many #orms o# )un#ree la%or7 close to )slave la%or7*e&g&, de%t %ondage, ser#dom, prison la%or, and corvRe& 3hese near!slave #orms o# la%or were used, e&g&, in the US South #or almost a century a#ter slavery was a%olished and the First Heconstruction was scuttled&1 3he ending o# the Second Heconstruction, practically in the late 1975s and #ormally in 199A with the Supreme Court decision to systematically void A##irmative Action legislation, has paved the way #or a second round o# near!slavery regimes in the US which prey on the traditional 43

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From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

source o# slaves' the poor woman, the prisoner, and the stranger& For i# slavery is, as Krlando Patterson suggests in his %roader de#inition, )the permanent, violent domination o# natally alienated and generally dishonoured persons,7 then these people #it the description o# the dominated per#ectly& 3he e$istence o# an )in#ormation! driven,7 )cy%er!spaced7 capitalism will not save us #rom a revival o# slavery& For as +oc,es has put it in the opening epigraph, the development o# capitalism will never automatically lead to the end o# slavery& Kn the contrary, as long as capitalism continues to e$ist there will %e an inevita%le tendency to reintroduce slave!li,e #orms o# la%or& I# waged and unwaged wor,ers do not have the #orce to resist this tendency, then many o# our num%er will %e doomed to slave status at whatever the level o# productive #orces the capitalist command&1< In 199> three separate laws, directed at single mothers, prisoners and strangers, were passed in the US Congress& 3hey #ormali8ed the collapse o# proletarian resistance to this tendency to slavery inherent in the system and #acilitated a new era o# enslavement and low wages in the US& Eet me ta,e each o# these legislative changes in turn& 3he #irst is the )Anti!3errorism and 0ore 1##ective +eath Penalty Act&7 Kn the sur#ace, this law is directed against two di##erent groups o# people -which, however, the state wants the pu%lic to identi#y/' -a/ the US supporters o# revolutionary groups around the world -#rom the Oapatistas, to the Palestinians, to the IHA/ and -%/ the people convicted o# capital crimes on death row& 3his law has very severe provisions #or %oth, %ut included in this law is a #undamental denial o# one o# the most %asic civil rights, habeas corpus, that is, the right to petition a higher court to show 6ust cause why sJhe is %eing ,ept prisoner& 3his has %een used %y thousands o# prisoners, who have reason to %elieve that they were %eing held on #alse charges and %eing treated in a discriminatory way& It is the ultimate right o# a prisoner to protest hisJher imprisonment& (hy is this so important and what does it have to do with the return o# slavery in the US2 First, %ecause there are a%out one and one!hal# million adults in prison in the US in the mid!1995s and this num%er is growing& 3he prison population has increased in line with the #all o# wages& Prisons have %ecome the )growth industry7 in the 1995s and the portion o# some state9s %udgets is larger than what is spent on higher education, e&g&, Cali#ornia& 3his growth has come #rom the criminali8ation o# the cocaine, heroin, and mari6uana industry and the )mandatory sentencing laws7 that simply assign people convicted o# particular crimes to long sentences with no

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possi%ility o# parole& As a result, i# one is poor, young, male and %lac,, #or e$ample, he would have a one out o# three chance o# %eing in prison sometime in his .5s& Iiven the )austerity7 %udgets that have continued into the %oom years o# 1995s -and the still virulent racism and classism o# the US/, there is a capitalist demand #or using these prisoners pro#ita%ly so that they would literally )pay #or their crimes&7 :ence, prison industries are %eing instituted throughout the US even #aster than the prisons are %eing %uilt, and increasingly prisons are %eing %uilt as part o# an industrial comple$&1A 0oreover, slavery cannot %e a reintroduced, especially pro#it!ma,ing slavery in the prisons, without a death penalty that would )e##ectively7 threaten the physical elimination o# any re%ellious wor,ers& Prisoners had always wor,ed in prisons, o# course, %ut this wor, was either directed at the prison9s housewor, -e&g&, the laundry or %uilding maintenance/ or #or the state9s need -e&g&, the #amous auto license plates or highway signs/& In prison industries, the prisoners wor, #or private pro#it!ma,ing companies who pay them a non!negotiated wage rate #rom which is deducted their living e$penses in the prison and a payment into a )victim #und&7 3hey are slaves, not %ecause they are #orced to wor, %y their circumstances -#or that is every proletarian9s #ate/, %ut %ecause they have no right to organi8e and negotiate their wages& 3he second pro!slavery law o# 199> was the )wel#are7 law, the )Personal

Hesponsi%ility and (or, Kpportunity Act,7 which in e##ect eliminated the US government9s guarantee to provide minimal %ene#its to every indigent person in the US& 3his law puts a limit o# #ive years on the #ederally #unded wel#are support they receive and, in order to get it, they must 6oin a )wor,#are7 program& )(or,#are7 re;uires that people receiving %ene#its report #or wor, or training at assigned places -usually in government agencies/ or they will %e cut o##& In e##ect, the wel#are %ene#it is trans#ormed into a wage& =ut again, this is a non!negotia%le wage& Conse;uently, these women, who are not a small percentage o# the adult #emale wor, #orce, are trans#ormed into a ;uasi!slave condition, a #orm o# de%t %ondage&1> Finally, we come to the immigration law o# 199>, the )Illegal Immigration He#orm and Immigrant Hesponsi%ility Act&7 3his law has many draconian penalties #or documented and undocumented immigrants even though the US is a society that is largely peopled %y immigrants& =ut most crucial #or our theme are the provisions that ma,e a transition #rom an )undocumented status7 to a )documented status7 ne$t to impossi%le& 3his creates a permanent sector o# wor,ers in the US who have no rights
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nor even a possi%ility to petition #or them& 3his stratum is immediately trans#ormed into a slave!li,e status %ecause people in this situation have great di##iculty in negotiating a wage& For an employer o# an undocumented wor,er #aces a small #ine i# sJhe is discovered, while an undocumented wor,er #aces #inancial catastrophe or even death& Prisoners, single mothers, undocumented immigrant wor,ers are all entering into a new legal status' waged wor,ers who cannot legally negotiate their wages& In other words, millions o# adults in the territorial US are #inding themselves in situations reminiscent o# the 19th century, with its plantation slavery in the South, coolie wor,ers in the (est, and indentured servants in the 1ast o# the US& 3his revival o# slavery constitutes a ma6or de#eat o# the US proletariat@ #or how can one launch a ma6or wage struggle ,nowing that there are millions o# people in slave!li,e situations undercutting wages2 Slaves, not computers, are the som%er %asis o# US capital9s )%right prospects7 in the winter o# 199"&

Conclusion' )3he Force to Compe l the 0asters7

Surely any story that ends with the revival o# slavery is a story o# wor,ing class de#eat& It is important #or 0e$ican comrades to ,now the grim #acts, %ut we cannot end here& 1specially not in an article meant to %egin a discussion a%out )the #orce to compel the masters to #orgo the use o# slaves7 in the common history and #uture o# the US and 0e$ican proletariats& A good place to %egin this discussion is with 4AF3A itsel#, the o##icial document %y which the masters o# 0e$ico and the US have agreed to structure relations %etween themselves and )their7 proletariats in the coming decades& 3he 4AF3A principle is' free the flow of capital and commodities across the borders and highly restrict the passage of labor power, allowing capital to easily escape wage struggles while ma,ing it di##icult #or wor,ers to escape wage de#eats& 4AF3A has de#initely %een success#ul #or US capital& Since 199< real wages %oth in 0e$ico and the US have #allen while trade, capital #low, and pro#its have increased dramatically in the US& =ut 4AF3A is not yet a per#ect capitalist tool& A ma6or de%ate among capitalists in the US since 4AF3A %ecame operational in 199< has %een over how restricted should the passage o# la%or %etween 0e$ico and the US %e2 3he #ar right has %een demanding )an immigration moratorium7 while the center o# the political spectrum is satis#ied with creating a class o# immigrants in a ;uasi!slave status who would neither %e a%le to access government services nor negotiate their wages& 3he )Illegal
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Immigration He#orm and Immigrant Hesponsi%ility Act7 o# 199> was a tentative compromise %etween these two groups, %ut the sparring %etween openly racist hard! cops li,e Pat =uchanan, the Hepu%lican presidential candidate, and neo!social democrat so#t!cops li,e Ho%ert Heich, Clinton9s #ormer Secretary o# Ea%or, will continue #ar into the #uture& For this politics is used to manipulate the ;uantity o# la%or power moving across the %orders and to divide 0e$ican and US wor,ers #rom each other in accordance with the needs o# capital& 0oreover, this vicious de%ate allows the 0e$ican government to appear as a concerned protector o# immigrant 0e$ican wor,ers -and their remittances/ in the US& =ut this 4AF3A de%ate is an e$ercise in #utility #or the 4orth American wor,ing class, #orever driven %etween the rhetoric o# racist e$clusion, e##icient slavery, and 0achiavellian paternalism& NAFTA must be turned upside down and rewritten in the interest of the North American proletariat At the very least, this revision would re;uire putting new restrictions on the movement o# capital and a li%eration o# the movement o# wor,ers& 3his strategy %egan to %e discussed in the struggle against 4AF3A in 199 %y di##erent cross!%order alliances o# la%or unions and was #orce#ully put on the wor,ing class agenda %y the 1OE4 in the Hevolutionary Eaw they proclaimed on Fanuary 1, 199<& 3he Oapatistas sel#!consciously chose that date to %egin their uprising as a %low against 4AF3A&17 3hey called 4AF3A a )death sentence7 #or the indigenous o# 0e$ico and demanded that the 4AF3A!inspired revision o# Article .7 o# the 0e$ican Constitution %e annulled and that any #oreign company coming into 0e$ico pay the same wages to 0e$icans that they pay at home& =ut the Oapatista9s demand #or legal and economic autonomy #or indigenous regions o# 0e$ico, i# success#ul, would go #ar %eyond the precincts o# the indigenous to #undamentally undermine the e##ect o# 4AF3A on the whole 4orth American proletariat& Indeed, this re%ellion has already helped to halt the e$pansion o# 4AF3A to Chile, Argentina, Costa Hica and other parts o# the Americas& In this sense, the revolt in Chiapas poses the pro%lematic o# the 4orth American wor,ing class in its sharpest contours& 3his e$plains why the US government has %een so diligent in arming and training the 0e$ican Army -under the cover o# a phony )drug war7/ and why the 0e$ican government has %een so harsh in its re6ection o# the San Andreas accords %y claiming that it would )=al,ani8e 0e$ico&7 3he pro%lem with indigenous autonomy #or capital is not that it would %ring a%out the %rea,up o# 0e$ico, %ut that it would provide a model #or wor,ers -%oth waged and unwaged, %oth US and 0e$ican/ to restrict and control all capital that #lows into its

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From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

vicinity& 3hough not anti!capitalist in itsel#, this autonomy would have revolutionary conse;uences in the contemporary era o# totalitarian neo!li%eralism& Conse;uently, an important condition #or the common #uture proletarian #uture in 4orth America is the survival and success o# the struggle #or indigenous autonomy in Chiapas& Can the search to #ind )the #orce to compel the masters to #orgo the use o# slaves7 end in the e!idos o# Chiapas, the poorest -and richest/ region in all o# 4orth America2 3his would %e surprising only to those ignorant o# 0ar$& For in the decade a#ter the de#eat o# the 1"71 Paris Commune, 0ar$ turned his attention to the revolutionary possi%ilities in the communal land and peoples o# the world& :e #ound them in the Hussian obshchina , )a #orm, al%eit heavily eroded, o# the primitive communal ownership o# land7 and similar to the e!ido& In one o# his last pu%lished writings, the "reface to the Second #ussian $dition of the Manifesto of the Communist "arty -1""./, he laid his considera%le prestige on the concluding sentence' )I# the Hussian revolution %ecome the signal #or proletarian revolution in the (est, so that the two complement each other, then Hussia9s peasant communal land!ownership may serve as the point o# departure #or a communist development&71" 3hese were prescient words, %ut they were certainly )o## color7 #or those committed to the vanguard role o# the industrial proletariat in 1"".& Eet us learn #rom history, especially our history to ;uestion our assumptions and dismissals&

0e$ico City!Parma!4ewport!=roo,lyn Fuly 1997!0arch 199"

4otes
1& 3here were periods when there was and much US political cooperation organi8ations& and 3he communication %etween 0e$ican proletarian

involvement o# the Industrial (or,ers o# the (orld -I((/ in 195> stri,e o# 0e$ican miners in Cananea and with the 0agon %rothers9 )desert revolution7 in =a6a Cali#ornia was well ,nown& +uring the 0e$ican Hevolution, the American Federation o# Ea%or -AFE/ organi8ed contacts with Ea Casa del K%rero 0undial and many other newly #ormed 0e$ican unions& 3he Congress o# Industrial Krgani8ation -CIK/ supported the Cardenas government9s e$propriation o# the oil companies and colla%orated with the Con#ederacion de 3ra%a6adores de 0e$ico -C30/ in the 19 5s& 3hese organi8ational ties %egan to #ade in the 19<5s and are only %eing revived in the 1995s, under the pressure o# 4AF3A& For a discussion o#
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George Caffentzis

From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

the relation o# US and 0e$ican wor,ing!class organi8ations #rom 195> to the 19<5s see :arvey A& Eevenstein, Labor %rgani&ations in the 'nited States and Me(ico) A *istory of their #elations& -(estport, C3' Ireenwood, 1971/& A good hand%oo, #or the post!4AF3A renaissance o# relations %etween US and 0e$ican la%or unions see :arry =rowne -ed&/, Cross +order Lin,s) A -irectory of %rgani&ations in Canada, Me(ico, and the 'nited States& -Silver City, 40' Interhemispheric Hesource Center, 1997/& .& A review o# the )4ew 1conomy7 literature would include articles li,e Alan =& Crueger9s ):ow Computers :ave Changed the (age Structure' 1vidence From 0icro+ata, 19"<!19"9&7 .uarterly /ournal of $conomics 15" -Fune 199 /' 0uch27 Special Heport, The 0nformation Arena, Congressional !>5, Fohn H& Cran#ord9s )1conomy (ill =ene#it #rom +eregulation' Suestion Is, :ow .uarterly, supplement to no& 19, 0ay 1<, 199<, and 0ichael Hothschild, )3he Coming Productivity Surge,7 Forbes ASA", 0arch .9, 199 & =ut these technology %oosters need to con#ront )the productivity parado$,7 i&e&, la%or productivity grew %y annually %etween 19>5s and 197 %ut it has #allen to 1&1? %etween 197 ? and

the present& 3he latter period has seen an elephantine investment in computer hardware, so#tware, and personnel, %ut it produced a productivity mouseT For a discussion o# this parado$ see +aniel 1& Sichel, The Computer #evolution) An $conomic "erspective -(ashington, +C' =roo,ings Institution Press, 1997/ and 3homas C& Eandauer, The Trouble with Computers) 'sefulness, 'sability, and "roductivity -Cam%ridge, 0assachusetts' 0I3 Press/& & See Fred 0osley, )3he rate o# pro#it and economic stagnation in the US economy,7 *istorical Materialism, Autumn 1997& <& +aniel P& 0oynihan, The "olitics of the 1uaranteed 0ncome) The Ni(on Administration and the Family Assistance "lan -4ew Nor,' Handom :ouse, 197 /& A& :arold E& Sheppard and 4eal S& :erric,, 2here *ave All the #obots 1one3 2or,er -issatisfaction in the 456s -4ew Near' Free Press, 197./& >& Carl 0ar$, )0achinery and Earge!Scale Industry,7 Capital) A Criti7ue of "olitical $conomy, Gol&1, Chapter 1A& -:armondsworth' Penguin, 197>/& 7& For a thorough 6ournalistic account o# )downsi8ing7 and wor,ers9 reaction to it see 3he 4ew Nor, 3imes9 Special Heport, The -ownsi&ing of America -4ew Nor,' 3imes =oo,s, 199>/&

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George Caffentzis

From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

"&

For a positive discussion o# )Post!Fordism7 see A& Eipiet8, Mirages and Miracles) The Crisis of 1lobal Fordism -Eondon' Gerso, 19"7/ and #or a criti;ue o# the thematics o# )Post!Fordism7 see Ferrucio Iam%ino, )A Criti;ue o# the Fordism o# the Hegulation School,7 Common Sense) /ournal of the $dinburgh Conference of Socialist $conomists 4o& 19, 199>&

9&

For statistics on the increase o# the total wor, day o# US women since the early 19>5s see Fuliet =& Schor, The %verwor,ed American) The 'ne(pected -ecline of Leisure -4ew Nor,' =asic =oo,s/& Schor shows that there has %een an e$traordinary constancy o# the US housewi#e9s wor,ing hours throughout the twentieth century& For e$ample, even though the average US home has much more capital e;uipment and )la%or!saving7 appliances in 1995 compared to 19.A there has %een virtually no decrease in the housewi#e9s wor,ing hours' in 19.A she wor,ed A1 hours per wee, while in 1995 she wor,ed <9 hours -p& ">! "7/&

15&

3he literature on )glo%ali8ation,7 )neo!li%eralism,7 )li%erali8ation,7 )the 4ew International +ivision o# Ea%or,7 )3he 4ew 1nclosures7 and other terms used to descri%e the post!197 history o# planetary capitalism is immense& I merely suggest a short list' 0idnight 4otes, Introduction, %ne No, Many 8eses -=oston' 0idnight 4otes, 1997/@ Silvia Federici, )Heproduction and Feminist Struggle in the 4ew International +ivision o# Ea%or&7 In 0& H& +alla Costa and I& +alla Costa -eds&/, 2omen, -evelopment, and the Labor of #eproduction) 0ssues of Struggles and Movements -Eawrenceville, 4F' A#rica (orld Press, 199"/@ Ferry 0ander and 1dward Ioldsmith -eds&/, The Case Against the 1lobal $conomy and For a Turn Toward the Local -San Franscico' Sierra Clu% =oo,s, 199>/@ Hoger =ur%ach, Krlando 4une8 and =oris Cagarlits,y, 1lobali&ation and its -iscontents -Eondon' Pluto Press, 1997/@ Cevin +anaher -ed&/, Corporations Are 1oing to 1et 8our Mama) 1lobali&ation and the -ownsi&ing of the American -ream -0onroe, 0aine' Common Courage Press, 199>/& For a more sceptical treatment o# these descriptions see Paul :irst and Irahame 3hompson, 1lobali&ation in .uestion) The 0nternational $conomy and the "ossibilities of 1overnance -Cam%ridge, UC' Polity Press, 199>/&

11& 1.&

Suoted in Cevin +anaher, Corporations Are 1onna 1et 8our Mama, p& .9& 3he story o# the epic stri,e in Fay, 0aine was told %y +avid Hi,er in 0idnight 4otes -ed&/ The New $nclosures -4ew Nor,' Autonomedia, 1995/&

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From Capitalist Crisis to Proletarian Slavery

1 &

An important set o# articles on slavery and its horrendous cousins was edited %y Eeonie F& Archer, Slavery and %ther Forms of 'nfree Labour -Eondon' Houtledge, 19""/, see especially I&1&0& de Ste& Croi$9s )Slavery and Kther Forms o# Un#ree Ea%our7 and Ho%in =lac,%urn9s )Slavery*its Special Features and Social role&7

1<&

Krlando Patterson, Slavery and Social -eath) A Comparative Study -Cam%ridge, 0A' :arvard University Press/, p& 1 @ and Pierre +oc,es, Medieval Slavery and Liberation -Eondon' 0ethuen U Co& Etd&, 19"./&

1A&

For a discussion o# the )prison!industrial comple$7 see Section Kne o# 1lihu Hosen%latt -ed&/, Criminal 0n!ustice) Confronting the "rison Crisis -=oston' South 1nd Press, 199>/&

1>&

3here has %een a ma6or struggle against the 199> wel#are law9s provisions concerning the non!negotia%lity o# the wages and wor,ing conditions in wor,#are& For e$ample, one activist group, Association o# Community Krgani8ations #or He#orm 4ow -ACKH4/, has created a union o# wor,#are employees in 4ew Nor, City and is demanding recognition& 3he Clinton Administration has responded to such e##orts %y placing a provision in the 1997 =udget %ill re;uiring that wor,#are wor,ers employed %y state governments should receive at least the minimum wage&

17&

For a discussion o# the comple$ con6uncture o# #orces that led to the decision to start the Oapatista insurrection on Fanuary 1, 199< see Su%commendante 0arcos with Nves Ee =ot, 0l sogno &apatista -0ilan' 0ondadori, 1997/, pp& 1 !1<9&

1"&

3he "reface is reprinted in an important collection o# essays and documents concerning 0ar$9s last decade' 3eodor Shanin -ed&/, Late Mar( and the #ussian #oad) Mar( and 9the peripheries of capitalism: -4ew Nor,' 0onthly Heview Press, 19" /& 3he ;uote is on p& 1 9&

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