Citation: Houston, M.

(1998)
Alienation and non-capitalist societies
in transition. Unpublished M.Phil
Thesis, University of Glasgow

Alienation
and non-capitalist
societies in transition

muir houston
 1

Chapter One

The Development of Alienation in Marxist Thought.

The conception of the alienation of the individual as an inherent effect of

capitalist society can be traced back to the writings of the early Marx. As will be

suggested it can be found throughout the rest of his writings and became one of

the common threads that could be said to characterise Marxist thought. The

concept of alienation, and its manifestation within capitalist society was most

fully addressed by Marx in the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844

(1997). It is here that Marx draws attention to the character of capitalist

relations of production and the effect of the commodification of labour and its

increasing practical division on the possibilities for the full development of the

individual. In the essay Estranged Labour, Marx examines and analyses the

objectification and commodification of labour and its effect upon the individual.

"The worker becomes poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his
production increases in power and extent. The worker becomes an ever
cheaper commodity the more commodities he produces. The devaluation of
the human world grows in direct proportion to the increase in value of the world
of things. Labour not only produces commodities; it also produces itself and
the workers as a commodity and it does so in the same proportion in which it
produces commodities in general.
This fact simply means that the object that labour produces, it product, stands
opposed to it as something alien, as a power independent of the producer. The
product of labour is labour embodied and made material in an object, it is the
objectification of labour. The realization of labour is its objectification. In the
sphere of political economy, this realization of labour appears as a loss of
reality for the worker, objectification as loss of and bondage to the object, and
appropriation as estrangement, as alienation [Entausserung]." (Marx, 1997, p:
72)
Thus the worker “.. does not affirm himself but denies himself, does not feel

content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy

but mortifies his body and ruins his mind.” (Marx, 1959, p: 110) Labour is not

seen as voluntary or an act of free choice; rather it is the means to satisfy the

external needs required for survival. This may be compared with the situation

under a higher phase of communist society, as envisaged in The Critique of the

 2

Gotha Programme, where labour has become "not only a means of life but life's

prime want." (1998, p20)

In an analysis of Marx’s writings on the subject, Wood (1981) recognises

three principal theses:

“(1) the vast majority of people living under capitalism are alienated. (2)
The chief causes of this alienation cannot be removed so long as the
capitalist mode of production prevails. (3) Alienation as a pervasive social
phenomenon can and will be abolished in a postcapitalist (socialist or
communist) mode of production.” (Wood op.cit.: 55)

Marx returned to the subject of alienation in Part I of The German

Ideology, written in 1845-46. 1 In the essay concerning Feuerbach, Marx

develops an historical account of the development of labour and property, which

relates how different forms of ownership are determined by development of the

division of labour.2

For Arthur (1998), one of the most fundamental ideas contained within The

German Ideology, discovered in the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of

1844 – and assumed by Capital – is that man produces himself through labour

– not spiritually – not biologically – but through a dialectically conceived relation

between his nature as determined by the conditions of his life, and the practical

transformation of those conditions. “The circumstances which are held to shape

and form consciousness are not independent of human activity. They are

precisely the social relations which have been historically created by human

action.” (op.cit. pp21-2) This concept is analysed through reference to the

development of consciousness as rooted in social activity. Material

circumstances condition us, and it is through the production of material life that

we express ourselves.

“As individuals express their life, so they are. What they are, therefore, coincides
with their production, both with what they produce and on how they produce. The
nature of individuals thus depends on the material conditions determining their
production.” (op.cit.: p42)
 3

The production of life is seen as fundamental to human history, but it is how it is

produced and under what conditions that are crucial for Marx and Engels. The

dialectical relationship between material production and social relations is then

related to the formation of human consciousness, which separates man from

animal and is also claimed to be rooted in social activity, “.. man’s

consciousness of the necessity of associating with the individuals around him is

the beginning of the consciousness that he is living in society at all.” (op.cit :

p51) Marx and Engels, in a continuing critique of Feuerbach, outline the

importance of the division of labour and private property on civil society, the

alienation this engenders and the materialist roots of history and consciousness.

Marx returns to the concept of alienation in the works of Grundrisse, but it

is important that this is read with the conceptions and analysis present in the

earlier writings in mind. In an attempt to analyse the concept of man and his

place in society, and to develop a Marxist conception and practice of the

psychology of the individual, the French Marxist, Lucien Sève (1978), draws

heavily on the works of Lenin, but also stresses the importance of Marx and

Engels, in the development of a science of the human personality based firmly

on historical materialism. Just as Lenin stressed that once the relations of

production had been transformed, the most important task facing the revolution

was the transformation of the personality and the development of the

'communist' man, so Sève stresses the increasing importance in present time, of

the personality and its place within the totality of social relations.

"If it is true that for humanity the greatest liberations of the past -and often still
of the present - are freedoms of an elemental character (freedom from hunger,
insecurity, brutish oppression and violence) one can foresee at a higher stage
of development an enormous liberation on a higher level becoming the order of
the day: freedom from stunted and anarchical psychological development, not
only for a tiny minority but for all men." (op.cit. :p23)
 4

In particular, Sève identifies in Grundrisse, a development of the theory of

alienation as conceptualised by Marx in the 1844 Manuscripts. Of importance

here for Sève (op. cit. : pp93-96), is the scientific investigation of money, and

how social relations are affected by the pursuit of individual wealth. This is a

wealth measured in monetary terms in contrast to what Marx describes as

general wealth which is inextricably linked to social relations.

"In fact, however, when the limited bourgeois form is stripped away, what is
wealth other than the universality of individual needs, capacities, pleasures,
productive forces, etc., created through universal exchange?" (Marx, 1973 :
p488)

It is in this area, of the contradictions in capitalist society, and the possibilities of

their destruction, that Sève recognises a dialectical 'negation of the negation':

"the real destruction of a contradiction and, through that, from a specific point of

view, the recovery of the former unity on a higher level." (Sève, op.cit. :96) In

support of this contention, Sève introduces a quote from Grundrisse in which

Marx catalogues the development of personal relations and the respective

productive capacities. Of importance from our perspective are the relations that

constitute the second and third stages of social forms.

"Personal independence founded on objective (sachlicher) dependence is

the second great form, in which a system of general social metabolism, of
universal relations, of all-round needs and universal capacities is formed for
the first time. Free individuality, based on the universal development of
individuals and on their subordination of their communal, social productivity
as their social wealth, is the third stage. The second stage creates the
conditions for the third." (Marx, op.cit p158)

Sève links the above quotation seamlessly with a second from later on in

Grundrisse, that further specifies this transition between stages; and of negation

based upon a transformation of already existing forces, as summing up, the

overall perspective of the Marxist conception of man in 1857-59. (Sève, op.cit.

p96)

"The most extreme form of alienation, wherein labour appears in the

relation of capital and wage labour, and labour, productive activity appears
 5

in relation to its own conditions and its own product, is a necessary point of
transition -- and therefore already contains in itself, in a still only inverted
form, turned on its head, the dissolution of all limited presuppositions of
production, and moreover creates and produces the unconditional
presuppositions of production, and therewith the full material conditions of
the total, universal development of the productive forces of the individual."
(Marx, 1973, p515)
The connection between the writings of Marx on alienation, consciousness and

the dialectic with social relations, present in the Manuscripts of 1844, The

German Ideology, Grundrisse and Capital, is again specified by Sève when he

comes to examine the articulation of psychology with historical materialism

through analysis of 'the personality as a living system of social relations between

acts'. (op.cit. p193)

Here Sève wishes to examine the relation between wages and labour and

the connection with the satisfaction of needs.

"Whereas labour and the result of labour, productive activity and

satisfaction of needs, constitute a cycle immediately closed on itself in
private activity, the cycle in wage-labour in a capitalist economy is open, or
rather there is no real cycle behind the appearances: the needs to which
productive activity 'corresponds' are no more those of the individual
producer than the wages he receives, a social means of having the access
to the satisfaction of his needs, 'correspond' to the labour provided.
Through the alienation of labour, in the scientific sense which the concept
takes on in Capital, it is the personality in its very foundation which is
haunted by objective social contradictions." (op.cit. p194)

The effect upon the personality of social conditions is a point which, according to

Sève, Marx returns to constantly over the course of forty years. This begins with

the analysis of the division of labour under conditions of capitalist production

contained in The German Ideology, where the individual, robbed of control over

their labouring activity becomes an ‘abstract individual’. (Marx & Engels, 1998

p92) The analysis is taken up again ten years later in Grundrisse, this time

subject to the rigorous economic conceptualisation that Marx had developed in

the intervening period. Marx relates how the exchange value of labour differs for

labour and capital. The worker, through the ‘free’ sale of his labour as an
 6

objectified definite amount of labour activity surrenders its creative power, which

is transformed into the power of capital, and as such confronts him as an alien

power.

“Thus the productivity of his labour, his labour in general, in so far as it is not a
capacity but a motion, real labour, comes to confront the worker as an alien
power; capital, inversely, realises itself through the appropriation of alien
labour.” (Marx, 1973: p306-307)

Yet again, in Volume One of Capital, Marx returns to the question, according to

Sève (op.cit. pp195-6) in a particularly suggestive way, in an analysis of

individual and productive consumption. The process of production converts

material wealth into capital, which in turn is the means of creating more wealth,

more capital and the accruing benefits to the capitalist. In contrast however, the

labourer leaves the productive process the same as he enters it – a source of

wealth – but without the means to make that wealth his own. In the realm of

consumption, Marx stresses the difference between individual and productive

consumption. In the former, the individual transforms his money, the reward for

the sale of his labour power, into the means of subsistence. In the latter, through

labour activity, the worker consumes the means of production and thus instils

them with ‘added-value’, at the same time this consumption is also the

consumption by the capitalist of the labour power he has bought. The result of

the former is that the labourer lives; of the latter, that the capitalist lives. But

capitalist relations dominate the life of the labourer; his individual consumption

becomes therefore:

“.. a factor of the production and reproduction of capital; just as is the cleaning
of machinery, whether it be done during the labour process or during a pause in
the labour process…A horse or an ox used in farmwork no doubt enjoys what it
eats, but none the less its consumption of food is a necessary factor in the
process of production. The continuous maintenance and reproduction of the
working class is a permanently necessary condition for the reproduction of
capital.” (Marx 1930, p626)
 7

Thus labour descends from ‘free self-expression’ to the position of a commodity

– it loses its ‘concrete existence’ as the creator of use-value and becomes an

abstract ‘exchange-value’ - and, as we have seen, personal consumption

becomes simply the means of preserving labour power for the capitalist and

social relations are ones of dependence. (Sève, op.cit. p197)

To sum up the argument so far; we have attempted to trace the concept

of alienation as developed by Marx in his earlier writings, and we have

contended that contrary to some interpretations, the concept is central, in its

more specified form, to his later works. For Marx, the development of the

individual under capitalist social relations was unable to reach its full potential

because of his material position in relation to capital. As we have attempted to

show, this alienation is irrevocably connected to the development of the division

of labour and private property. The enduring nature of the alienation of the

individual and the effects upon the personality will be among those issues that

will be examined in analysing contemporary studies in this area.

At this point, having traced one interpretation of Marx’s writings it is

relevant to note that this is only one of many and although there is no space

here to go into detail, it is instructive to recognise how some of these alternative

interpretations differ.

Since the writings of Marx have appeared over a period of time, and

indeed Marx wrote over a reasonably long period of time, many of the changing

interpretations have revolved around the question of how the various works are

to be interpreted in terms of importance and how these are related to the

theoretical and methodological development of Marx himself. Much of the

debate may be simplified by reference to what are considered the 'early' works
 8

especially the manuscripts of 1844 and the ‘mature’ Marx, as epitomised by

Capital.

A useful starting point in the debate, and related to our analysis, is the

work of the Hungarian Marxist, Georg Lukács and his collection of essays

entitled History and Class Consciousness, a book which many see as a product

of its time. In relation to other interpretations, especially the revisionism of

Bernstein and Kautsky, we will say nothing, as their theoretical impact on

‘mainstream‘ Marxism has limited relevance to the object of this inquiry.

Lukács analyses consciousness both historically and under the conditions

of capitalist society, in an attempt to define how the formation of a proletarian

‘class consciousness’ can be achieved despite the difficulties of overcoming

what he sees as ‘false class consciousness’. Lukács placed a great deal of

stress upon the concept of reification and the difficulties of overcoming the

bourgeois philosophy which saw the dynamics of capitalist society as ‘natural

forces’ and thus subject to 'reification'. Lukács examines commodities, and how

through a process of abstraction, these 'things', take on a character of their own.

The commodification of life, private property and the division of labour, through

processes of 'reification' are seen to take on the properties of 'natural laws' and

thus remove them from the 'totality' of social relations. For Lukács, these

processes of reification were furthered and reinforced by the 'reformist'

tendencies of social democracy, which deny the historical mission, as formulated

by Marx, of the recognition of the 'laws' of capitalism by the proletariat as

essential to the overthrow of these laws. But by taking this standpoint, social

democracy must concede defeat on every other particular issue.

"For when confronted by the overwhelming resources of knowledge, culture and

routine which the bourgeoisie undoubtedly possesses and will continue to
possess as long as it remains the ruling class, the only effective superiority of the
proletariat, its only decisive weapon is its ability to see the social totality; to see
 9

the reified forms as processes between men; to see the immanent meaning of
history that only appears negatively in the contradictions of abstract forms, to
raise its positive side to consciousness and to put it into practice" (Lukács, 1971
p197)

This 'reified structure of existence' can only be disrupted according to Lukács by

the constant efforts to make conscious these processes. In periods of crisis, as

Lukács himself was living through, the concrete contradictions of capitalism

would remain unresolved unless the proletariat was able to take the step

forward, through conscious recognition of the concrete reality, and realise its

historic role as the 'identical subject-object' whose praxis will change reality.

(op.cit. p197-8) Bottomore has provided a critique of Lukács' approach as it

applies to the development of working-class consciousness. Lukács, Bottomore

argues, requires the 'imputed' rational consciousness to be imported from

outside by the ideologists, by the Party rather than developing as the result of a

historical process which corresponds with Marx. 3 In consequence the role of the

intellectuals and theorists was to act as transmission belts to the proletariat.

According to Bottomore (1971) the relation concerning the unity of theory and

praxis, which linked the intellectuals and theorists to the concrete development

of proletarian organisations and proletarian political consciousness was never

fully addressed by Lukács. For Bottomore, this omission is of crucial importance

when related to the specific and particular moment in which Lukács found

himself.4 Bottomore also questions the way in which Lukács utilises Weberian

'ideal-types' to categorise the concept of class and thus of class consciousness.5

"The working class, and working class consciousness, are not treated at all
as elements in a total historical process, and Lukács, unlike Marx, does not
relate them to the continuing development of human labour and of the forms
in which it is organised.
Similarly, in spite of the insistence upon the fluidity of concepts, the
actual tendency of Lukács's writings is to reify them, and to turn such
concepts as class, class consciousness, and even Marxism itself into fixed
and absolute entities." (Bottomore, 1971: p54) 6
 10

The setbacks of the concrete political moment, in which Lukács was

situated, led him to withdraw History and Class Consciousness from publication

until 1967. The preface he included repudiated almost all of his theoretical

standpoint and stressed the importance in the intervening years, of the

publication of The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, in altering

fundamentally his analysis.

This brings us to another instance of apparent disunity between theory

and practice which resulted in alternative interpretations of Marx and which

developed in the context of the apparent inability of Marxist theoreticians to

analyse the events of the 1960s and 70s, and led to debates examining the

‘crisis of Marxism’.

Hoffman (1984) provides us with a useful analysis of the ‘crisis’ which

allows an insight into the debates that may be said, in a general way, to illustrate

the main points of contention. Hoffman seeks to examine the nature of the

'crisis' through reference to the structuralists - as said to be espoused by the

likes of Althusser - and the way in which the ‘crisis’ school turns to the work of

the Italian Marxist theoretician, Antonio Gramsci, in an attempt to resolve the

ambiguities and problems which they see as symptomatic of existing

interpretations of Marx’s work. Hoffman sees the crisis as emerging in part from

the disruption of the concept of theory and practice as developed by, among

others, Korsch, the early Lukács, Althusser and Colletti, Jean-Paul Sartre and

the theorists of the Frankfurt School. (Hoffman op.cit. pp6-7)

Hoffman recognises the two interpretations of the state which were

central to the debate as arising from an inaccurate interpretation of Marx and

Engels. Marx and Engels, argues Hoffman, should be seen as conceiving of the
 11

state as both a factor of social cohesion and an organ of class coercion.

Contrary to those who differentiate between the 'early' and the 'mature' Marx,

Hoffman stresses how the instrumental character of the state is invested with an

apparent or illusory communality which informs and is assumed in the

development of Marx's thought. For Hoffman, and he suggests for Marx and

Engels, the state is not simply a servant of private (commercial) interests. "The

state stands as the servant of the private in the name of the public…. It is the

instrument of the particular expressed as the general, the servant of individual

interests presenting themselves in universal terms." (Hoffman op.cit. p27) The

paradox between the appearance of the state as an instrument of coercion

which commands respect, can only be understood according to Hoffman by

analysis of the process of abstraction which is linked to the division of labour, the

fetishism of commodities and the reification of social relationships. "If this

fetishism which 'reifies' social relationships is to be properly understood, then

the method of abstraction which Marx employs in his analysis must be seen as

nothing more than a mental reflection of the actual process of abstraction taking

place in the real world of commodity exchange." (ibid. p100)

At this point a word must be said concerning the 'Marxism' of Louis

Althusser although by necessity this will be somewhat succinct. Part of the

problem in characterising Althusser's thought is the difficulty in recognising a

coherent thread running through it. It could be said that the structuralist

conception of society as a collection of structures each influencing the other but

with none being primary is part of the Althusserian legacy. Even this, however, is

problematic, as what then provides the dynamic? To renounce the unity of

theory and praxis and deny the importance of the dialectic, while still claiming

common heritage with Marx, seems somewhat bizarre. In an interesting and

 12

approachable summation of the works of Althusser, the work of Majumdar

(1995) attempts to provide an answer to his significance and effect on Marxist

thought and in a more general sense his contemporary relevance. 7 After a

thorough examination of Althusser and his shifts on theory, (which Majumdar

sees as stemming from the 'symptomatic' reading and interpretation of the works

of Marx, Lenin and Stalin), Majumdar concludes by suggesting that overall the

influence of Althusser was largely negative, both in terms of the revolutionary

potential of the working class, but also in relation to the continuation of a

coherent and authoritative 'orthodox' Marxism.

Specifically, Majumdar draws attention to the similarities in

conceptualisation that Althusser imports from the work of his former teacher,

Bachelard and the difficulties which this poses. The use of the 'epistemological

break' is subject to the usual difficulty of obtaining concise and clear

conceptualisations and definitions that pervades the writings (and readings) of

Althusser.8 For Majumdar this leads us into an almost 'idealist' conceptualisation

which seems at odds with Althusser's repeated rejection of 'Hegelian' forms of

Marxism. Dews (1994) who examines the links between Althusser,

structuralism and Bachelard and others of the French Epistemological School

also makes this point. Majumdar draws attention to a number of specific areas

where elements of the 'idealist' Althusser surface. In relation to the stress

placed on the 'autonomy of theory', Majumdar compares this with the materialist

conception of the primacy of matter in relation to thought, and notes the

tensions which the philosophical idealism which Althusser imports, not just from

Bachelard as mentioned previously but from Spinoza as well, creates with his

espousal of Marxism. (Majumdar 1995: pp82-111) This philosophical idealism is

also mentioned by Clarke (1980) in his polemic against Althusserianism, and

 13

sees it allied with an espousal of bourgeois sociology and stalinist politics as

characterising Althusser's intellectual project. (op. cit. p73)

It could also be said, as Majumdar suggests, that paradoxically, his drive

for symptomatic interpretation still reverberates, by opening up Marxism to a

continuous process of interpretation and 'new' readings, which further destroy

the authoritative works of the founders of historical materialism and the method

of dialectical materialism.

In relation to the concept of alienation there is little to be gained from

Althusser. In an article concerning the concept of 'fetishism' in Marx's Capital,

Geras (1971) criticises Althusser's 'reading' of Marx and the consequence in

relation to the concept of alienation. Geras suggests that it brings into question

not only the validity of Althusser's interpretation of Marx, but has theoretical

consequences as well. In rejecting the concept of alienation as 'ideological' and

'pre-Marxist', Geras states that this leads Althusser to reject also the concept of

alienation as a historically specific form of domination. (1971, p73) In particular,

the de-historicizing of the concept of alienation makes it impossible to

comprehend a situation in the future, as Marx surely did, where men will control

their relations of production and thus cease to be the mere functionaries or

'bearers' of these relations as Althusser saw them. (1971, p74) Geras went on

to provide a more detailed analysis and assessment of Althusser's philosophical

project and as we have seen earlier, a major criticism is the 'idealist'

underpinnings, e.g. the relation between thought and reality, of much of

Althusser's philosophy. (1972: p64) Geras goes on to analyse the contradictions

and tensions which this 'idealism' produces when allied with his 'symptomatic' -

reading and interpretation - of Marx and Lenin.9

 14

So far we have sought to outline a concept of alienation that can be

traced through the writings of Marx. This has involved not only an analysis of

the writings of Marx, but also an analysis of some of the other interpretations

which have appeared since. The writings of Séve and his recognition of the

coherency of the concept of alienation and its development throughout the work

of Marx is in contrast to the work of Lukács and of Althusser. The supposed

'crisis of Marxism' is related through reference to the work of Hoffman and

issues of coercion and consent which provides an other area of Marxist thought

that has been subject to varied interpretations. Throughout we have sought to

stress the importance of both the division of labour and private property as

having indirect and direct influence on the individual. Of crucial importance is

the dialectic between work and the individual. Through processes of

commodification and reification, the unnatural and debilitating relations of

capitalist society are seen as unchangeable and natural. The importance of the

relations of production and the social relations with which they interact suggest

that the pursuit of any non-alienated experience must begin with the

organisation and control of the means of production and the division of labour it

produces.
 15

Chapter Two

The Scottish Enlightenment and the unintended consequences of an

increasing division of labour.

It is not only in the writings of Marx and his followers that we find

reference to the deleterious effects of the logical progression of an increasing

division of labour, or the alienation which occurs under conditions of capitalist

production. The writings of some of the most accomplished thinkers of the

Scottish Enlightenment drew attention to what they recognised as unintended

consequences arising from the ever increasing division of labour. (Brewer, 1987)

Writing between the mid-eighteenth century and the beginnings of the

nineteenth century, Adam Ferguson (1723-1816), John Millar (1735-1801) and

Adam Smith (1723-1790), although differing in detail concerning their main

interests and perspectives on aspects of economy and society, all recognised

that an increasing division of labour may well have a deleterious effect upon the

individual and hence for the nation or society in the longer term. Marx himself

draws attention to the work of both Ferguson and Smith in Volume I of Capital

when examining aspects of the division of labour, its effects upon the individual

and upon social relations. 10 The work of Brewer provides an interesting

synthesis of the works of the above and of their significance within the historical

and intellectual context in which they engaged. (op.cit) He seeks to draw

attention not only to those instances where their thoughts on specific issues

converge, but also to stress their differences and where their thoughts diverge.

We will now briefly examine how the work of the above writers may be said to

impinge upon our object of inquiry although this will of necessity involve only a

general analysis of the scope of these important figures in the development of

eighteenth century thought.11

 16

In the case of Ferguson's An Essay on the History of Civil Society, written

in 1767, Brewer sees this as what distinguishes him from his contemporaries,

but also that which Marx recognised as of worth in the work of Ferguson. This

concerns Ferguson's analysis of the paradox of commercialism and industrial

progress: "the fact that it gives rise to personal liberty and the rule of law, but

that it also has adverse consequences which produce, among things, second-

rate citizens pursuing worthless, dehumanised, mechanical tasks." (Brewer

1987, p13) In his articulation of the division of labour, specifically the increased

mechanisation, with wider social relations, it can be seen how Ferguson's ideas

can be related to later ideas concerning exploitation and alienation. 12 At this

point it is worthwhile mentioning that the concept of 'civil society' was further

refined by Hegel and that the works of Ferguson remained important in relation

to German thought for a further century after publication of his essay. 13 As a

thinker in the moralist tradition Ferguson differed from the Whiggish thought of

Smith and Millar in their belief of the benefits of progress. In relation to the

concerns of this inquiry, perhaps of most interest are those sections of his writing

that touch upon the relationship between private property, the division of labour

and the societal consequences of these and other related factors. Ferguson also

criticises the pursuit of luxury and ostentatious opulence and the tendency for

wealth to be seen as the principal concern of the state (1995, pp231-5), the

creation of a situation where skill is no longer a measure or determinant of

wealth and remuneration (1995, p239), and how this may corrupt the operation

of democratic states (1995, p241). 14 Ferguson expands upon his critique of

luxury by examining how the unequal distribution of wealth effects the attitudes

not only of rich to poor, but also on the attitudes of the poor themselves. It is in

the last half of his Essay that Ferguson attempts to analyse how the separation
 17

and division of labour in contemporary times may hinder the advancement of

'polite' society. It is here that the increasing mechanisation and specialisation are

examined. It is within this context that Ferguson examines the forced nature of

labour and the separation of the mental and the manual aspects of labour upon

the individual.

"Many mechanical arts, indeed, require no capacity; they succeed best

under a total suppression of sentiment and reason; and ignorance is the
mother of industry as well as of superstition. Reflection and fancy are subject
to err; but a habit of moving the hand, or the foot, is independent of either.
Manufactures accordingly, prosper most, where the mind is least consulted,
and where the workshop may, without any great effort of imagination, be
considered as an engine, the parts of which are men." (Ferguson, op.cit.
p174)

Ferguson advances the notion of the diminished capacities of the individual,

under the conditions of mechanical labour, when questioning the rewards of the

individual worker in relation to the value of the individual. Ferguson believes

that the value of a person should be related to their labour, and that of labour

upon its ability to procure the means of subsistence. (ibid., p224)15 In summary

of Ferguson's position, it is possible to see how from a moralist standpoint that

refuted the linearity of progress as ultimately beneficial, the possibilities of

societal regression to darker days was a distinct possibility of commercial

society. This was linked to an appreciation of how the deleterious

consequences of the division of labour, combined with the pursuit of wealth and

property effected other aspects of society. To this end he argued for control and

moderation of the accumulation of wealth in order to mediate tendencies of

greed, envy and other corrupting influences.(1995, pp151-2) Again this relates

back to his ideas concerning the active citizen, the professionalization of the

state and bureaucracy and its effects upon the participatory potential of the

individual. Ferguson illustrate his analysis through comparison of the state form

operating in Sparta with its sole object as virtue, and contemporary commercial
 18

society where the object of the state is the pursuit of wealth. (ibid., pp154-60)

According to Brewer, it is Ferguson's concern with human agency and social

structure which provides links both to Marx and to later writers on exploitation

and alienation. (Brewer, op.cit, pp20-21) These links are further strengthened

when we examine Ferguson's view of labour as a source of fulfilment and an

opportunity to realise human potential. This can be contrasted with Adam Smith

who considered labour as a burden and a sacrifice, with rest being the fit state of

man. (ibid., p22)

"Mechanical labour is seen to have an adverse effect on the human agent.

This effect is approached through the notion of human nature and can be
described as alienation. Herein lies an ethical imperative which sees
economic exploitation and the division of labour to which it is ultimately
linked, as harmful, wrong and unjust." (ibid., p23)
Brewer concludes that unlike his contemporaries Ferguson should be seen as

moving from 'civic humanism' in a sociological direction rather than in the

direction of classical political economy and this may be illustrated in two ways.

Firstly, through the examination of the range of factors which threaten citizenship

and virtue and which were seen to include: the social division of labour,

mechanical labour, alienation, economic exploitation, class inequalities and

conflict, private property, political despotism, encroachments on civil and political

liberty and the growth of a professional army.16 According to Brewer many of

these became of central concern to 18th century social thought and Ferguson

was in the forefront of these developments. (ibid., p24) Secondly, through the

assignation of causality to social structural variables, although as Brewer

recognises this was framed in 18th century terms of corruption and lack of virtue

rather than in the 19th century terminology of industrialisation and societal

effects. Of additional importance for Brewer, and of some interest to our object of

inquiry, Ferguson is also seen to have anticipated 19 th century thought through

 19

his ideas concerning the role of the legal system in underpinning unequal

property relations and the unequal power relations that ensued.

"There is something here of the nineteenth-century idea of the social

structure of interdependent unit with causal relations existing between its
parts; there is also an anticipation of the nineteenth-century conception of
exploitation in terms of distributive justice, where private property leads to
differences in power, goods and rewards, which are upheld by other
elements of the social structure. In this way Ferguson gives elements of the
social structure a causal status in explaining economic exploitation." (ibid.:
25)
The Scottish economist Adam Smith, although primarily investigating the

development and operation of the economy, also drew some attention to what

he foresaw as the consequences of the rationalisation and fragmentation of the

increasing division of labour if left unchecked.17

"The man whose whole life is spent in performing a few simple operations of
which the effects too are, perhaps, always the same, or very nearly the same,
has no occasion to exert his understanding, or to exercise his invention in
finding out expedients for removing difficulties which never occur. He naturally
loses, therefore, the habit of such exertion, and generally becomes as stupid
and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become." (Smith, 1961
pp302-3)
But Smith also notes that this is not contained in the productive sphere, but

effects the social relations and the consciousness of the individual.

The torpor of his mind renders him, not only incapable of relishing or bearing a
part in any rational conversation, but of conceiving any generous, noble, or
tender sentiment, and consequently of forming any just judgement concerning
many even of the ordinary duties of private life. (ibid. p303)
As with Ferguson, the work of Smith is cited on numerous occasions in the

works of both Marx and Engels, although much of this is critically levelled at

Smith's economic analysis. 18 In relation to this inquiry the pertinent portions

which may be considered as relevant can be found in Volume I of Capital and in

some instances these are connected to the work of Ferguson as well. 19 Also of

interest, are sections of Engels' The Condition of the Working Class in England,

which relate the work of Smith to the role of capital in the reproduction of labour

power - linked with the work of Malthus and population levels (1998, pp150-1),

and the undesirable cumulative effect upon the individual of the division of
 20

labour and the compulsory and forced nature of the employment relation (ibid,

pp196-7)

However, as suggested earlier, Smith, like Millar thought that these

effects could be ameliorated through the use of enlightened policy, with

emphasis placed upon education and that the benefits of progress outweighed

the drawbacks.

As could be expected as a student of Smith, Millar's analysis of the

unintended consequences of the division of labour, contained in his Historical

View of the English Government (1803) 20 bears several similarities with his

teacher. However, before we examine these ideas in more detail it is useful to

provide a more general view of Millar's theoretical position. The subject matter

of what is perhaps his major work, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks

(1779),21 is concerned to trace the historical and evolutionary development of

the role of women, patriarchy, power relations - both at a village/tribal level and

at a national or societal level - and the relationship between a master and his

servants.

"There is thus, in human society, a natural progress from ignorance to

knowledge, and from rude, to civilised manners, the several stages of which are
usually accompanied with peculiar laws and customs." (1779, intro.)

In analysing Millar's general theoretical position Lehmann suggests that while

the term 'evolutionary naturalism' may seem the most apt, " 'economic

determinism', not too sharply defined, comes a close second." (1960, p122)

Lehmann however stress that this definition must allow for an examination of

Millar's views concerning the increasing industrialisation, urbanisation and

modern methods of communication and their effects upon the individual. In

support of such a contention Lehmann cites the essay An Historic View, where

Millar attempts a systematic approach to what he terms the 'principles of

government'. Here the state is seen as an organ of power:

 21

"Government, considered as authority organised under law, is intended

ideally to serve the purposes of defence against external and internal
enemies, and of the furthering of orderly relations among men, of justice,
and of the general welfare. Obedience to its commands rests partly on habit
and custom, partly on fear, partly on considerations of utility, but in no small
measure also on men's worship of their superiors, on their love of ceremony
and display, and on their love of the 'beauty of orderly relations'. Property is
at once a basis of political power and prestige, and a determiner, to a large
extent, of the political constitution. Its protection is a major function of
government." (op.cit. p125)

Millar does recognise however, like Ferguson before him, that authority and

power may have a corrupting influence upon those who wield it, and of the

dangers of self-interest. Institutions may not always operate as intended and

laws may be used to oppress rather than to protect. However, it would seem

that a major factor is 'human nature' and thus any attempts to alter inequality

and injustice must take this into account. It would also seem fair to suggest that

for Millar, the 'ranking' of peoples is a 'natural phenomena', and thus is not to be

related to the exploitation that arises inherently in capitalist society.22 If we now

return to those aspects of Millar's work which more directly intersect with our

object of inquiry, namely the consequences arising from the increasing division

of labour, we find similar sentiments as recognised in the work of Ferguson and

Smith. As suggested earlier, it is not surprising that Millar's general position

more closely resembles that of Smith than Ferguson. 23 In sections of An

Historical Essay, Millar deals with the division of labour as it develops under the

factory system and the challenge which this poses to educational policy. While

stressing that the division of labour promotes progress in art and science in

general and that the individual who concentrates upon a specific channel or

enterprise in these areas is likely to be more vigorous and successful than one

whose talents or application is diffused over a wider range of interests, Millar

recognised that this may not be so with the attendant effects upon the individual

under the division of labour as it operates in relation to the 'mechanical arts'.

 22

"But though the separation of different trades and professions, together

with the consequent division of labour and application in the exercise of
them, has a tendency to improve every art of science, it has frequently an
opposite effect upon the personal qualities of these individuals who are
engaged in such employments." (Ferguson, 1960 p380)24

Whilst Millar recognises that in relation to the sciences and the liberal arts the

division of labour will seldom prove to be destructive to general knowledge, the

mechanical arts, or manufacture are not subject to the same conditions or

effects. The concentration upon a specific operation by the individual requires

little in the way of input, either in the form of information or in intelligence, and in

consequence they gain little from it in terms of self-development. The time they

thus have to expend upon procuring their livelihood leaves little opportunity or

leisure for reflection from other quarters.

"As their employment requires constant attention to an object which can

afford no variety of occupation to their minds, they are apt to acquire an
habitual vacancy of thought, unenlivened by any prospects, but such as are
derived from the future wages of their labour, or from the grateful returns of
bodily repose and sleep. They become like machines, actuated by a regular
weight, and performing certain movements with great celerity and exactness,
but of small compass, and unfitted for any other use. In the intervals of their
work, they can draw but little improvement from the society of companions,
bred to similar employments, with whom, if they have much intercourse, they
are most likely to seek amusement in drinking and dissipation…" (ibid.:
p380)25
Millar then goes on to compare and contrast the abilities and intellectual

capabilities of those employed in agriculture and those in manufacture. In doing

so he utilises Smith's 'pin-maker', who although living in the town, perhaps

better dressed and better spoken, perhaps even with greater book-learning than

the agricultural peasant, is limited by the nature of the division of labour in pin-

making where his only function is to put the head on a pin, or sharpen it. This is

compared with the variety of tasks and ability to deal with unexpected situations

of the agricultural peasant and Millar thus concludes that the industrial worker:

"would, assuredly be no match for his rival. He would be greatly inferior in

real intelligence and acuteness; much less qualified to converse with his
superiors, to take advantage of his foibles, to give a plausible account of his
measures, or to adapt his behaviour to any peculiar and unexpected
emergency." (ibid.: pp380-1)
 23

In this analysis Millar recognises the long-term consequences which may arise

from this situation in regards to the masses, the labouring folk, and how they

may becomes dupes exploited further by their superiors. He then follows Smith

in calling for the establishment of schools and educational seminaries to

counteract what he sees as 'the natural tendencies of mechanical

employments', but wishes to separate them from existing institutions by

provision of public funding in the belief that the rich can finance their own

education and in this regard the parish schools of Scotland are held up as an

example to be followed. (ibid.: pp381-2)26

As we have shown there are a number of similarities in the description

and analysis of the societal effects of the unintended consequences across the

writings of Ferguson, Smith and Millar. It is these aspects which were also

picked up by later thinkers including John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) and Alfred

Marshall (1842-1924). Mill was a philosopher and economist, originally

concerned with the Utilitarianism of his father, James Mill. However in his

work, Principles of Political Economy (1848), he moved away from the utilitarian

notion of individual liberty as necessary for economic and government efficiency

towards the notion of individual freedom as a value in itself and the mark of a

mature society.27 Whilst there is little in Mill's writings that directly concern us

here, there are portions of his work which may be considered useful in relation

to our study. In the chapter concerning the combination of labour, Mill examines

how the combination of labour leads to increased efficiency and uses the

example of Smith's pins and Say's playing cards in support. He then goes on to

examine the relationship between the expansion of production and consumption

and the relation between town and country in stimulating demand before

returning to more general aspects concerning the relationship between the

 24

expanding division of labour, increasing efficiency and production and the

introduction of machinery.28 He concludes by comparing both the advantages of

the division of labour which he sees as ultimately beneficial to society in the

long run; and the limitations to the division of labour which concern the scale

and scope of the market and by the nature of employment. 29 It is however in

the section regarding the possible future of the labouring classes that Mill's

radical tendencies surface. Mill opens this account with a rejection of the

ideology of paternalism in relation to the poor. In his defence he states that with

the increasing education of the masses through newspapers and political tracts,

the authority of superiors can no longer be taken for granted and respect must

henceforth be earned. 30 He would also appear to be ahead of his time in

recognising the subjugation and oppression of women under patriarchal

capitalism and calls for equality of opportunity as one form of improving the lot

of the labouring classes whilst promoting education in general. It is however in

the last half of this chapter that Mill differs from his contemporaries. Here Mill

gives a spirited defence of the Co-operative movement in allowing labour

collectively to become the owners of the means of production and thus have

some control over the production process.31 Whilst recognising the success of

this form of collective ownership in France, despite anti-socialist repression and

state intervention, Mill states that it has only been possible for this system to be

introduced in Britain since the enactment of the Limited Liability Act. (pp764-

771) There follows a fairly detailed account of the Rochdale Society in terms of

operation and expansion.32 Mill concludes by stating sympathies with some of

the ideas and ideals of the socialist movement in relation to the organisation of

production along co-operative lines as being an improvement to be welcomed,

 25

but rejects their thinking concerning competition which he sees as a necessary

inducement to progress and innovation.

In relation to Marshall, who may be said to be the founder of neo-

classical economics, there are references to the division of labour, its

consequences and the changing forms of industrial organisation introduced

through mechanisation in Volume 1 of his Principles of Economics (1890).33 In

the section concerned with Industrial Organisation, Marshall examines the

division of labour from the starting point of Smith and Malthus, and relates this

to the ideas of Darwin on the evolutionary principle. He sees certain analogies

between the biological and the economic, although he recognises that survival

of the fittest in the economic sphere may not always be desirable. (1961 pp240-

3) In fact, he seems to suggest that a degree of altruism is necessary for the

general improvement of society, but a defence of the hereditary principle and

the belief that in modern societies increasing social mobility and a system of

meritocracy are in operation conditions this. (ibid., pp244-6) 34 In more direct

relation to our object of inquiry Marshall returns to the work of Smith, but argues

against those who take the idea, of the division of labour as a system of natural

organisation, too far. In regard to the effects of the division of labour upon the

'lower grades of industry', Marshall questions whether the present system is

best suited in the long term of providing improvements to the individual in terms

of mental faculties. This is prefaced though with another defence of the

hereditary principle:

"No doubt it is true that physical peculiarities acquired by the parents during
their life-time are seldom if ever transmitted to their offspring. But no
conclusive case seems to have been made out for the assertion that the
children of those who have led healthy lives, physically and morally, will not
be born with a firmer fibre than they would have been had the same parents
grown up under unwholesome influences which had enfeebled the fibre of
their minds and their bodies. And it is certain that in the former case the
children are likely after birth to be better nourished, and better trained; to
acquire more wholesome instincts; and to have more regard for others and
 26

that self-respect, which are the mainsprings of human progress, than in the
latter." (ibid. pp247-8)
It is interesting to note that Marshall ignores why the former are better

nourished and trained and how this may have been related to social conditions

under capitalist organisation rather than to their moral fibre. Marshall suggests

as a solution the application of the new science of eugenics to replenish the

race "from its higher rather than its lower strains," and adds as an after thought

the idea of improved education for both sexes. However this was to be a

gradual process, and not something to be rushed into. (ibid. p248) In the next

chapter, Marshall moves to consider the influence of machinery in relation to the

division of labour. Here we can see Marshall moving in the direction of Taylor's

'scientific management', where the production process is broken down into

smaller and smaller pieces, and which in his view proves beneficial to the

worker by removing much of the heavy content from labour. In this it could be

argued that Marshall is somewhat utopian in his outlook for the benefits which

this will usher in for labour.

In examining certain trends of thought which prevailed in the writings of

the above, we have sought to illustrate that the consequences of the increasing

division of labour allied with the factory system and the development of

'machinofacture', were recognised as in varying degrees untenable in their

contemporary form. While all differed in their pronouncements there can be

discerned the commonality of the long-term benefits of capitalism for all which

structure their thought. It is argued that only in the writings of Mill do we see an

attempt to engage with the contradictions concerning the ownership and control

of the means of production.35 For the rest, although for Ferguson to a lesser

degree, their faith is put in an increasing standard of living for all through the

progress of capitalist development.36

 27

Chapter Three

An Analysis of Selected Case Studies on the Relationship between

Work and the Individual

More recently the concept of alienation has been analysed in relation to

the varying degrees of alienation which can be ascribed to different methods of

production. Blauner (1964), maintains that differences in the functional and

technological content of the mode of production have a varying effect upon the

manifestation of tendencies towards alienation. Specifically, Blauner attempts to

answer the question: "Under what conditions are the alienating tendencies of

modern factory technology and work organisation intensified, and under what

conditions are they minimised or counteracted?" (1964, pvii) In this Blauner

differs from a Marxist perspective by confining the concept of alienation to the

production process rather than seeing alienation as a function of the commodity

status of labour within a capitalist society as a whole.37 Blauner sees alienation

as the product of objective conditions and subjective feelings, but confines these

to the socio-technical settings of employment, rather than acting upon social

relations in a more general sense.

“Alienation exists when workers are unable to control their immediate work
processes, to develop a sense of purpose and function which connects their
jobs to the overall organisation of production, to belong to integrated work
communities, and when they fail to become involved in the activity of work as
a mode of self expression.” (Blauner op.cit. : p15)

The categorisation employed by Blauner to illustrate the manifestations of

alienated experience:

 powerlessness,

 meaninglessness,

 isolation

 self-estrangement
 28

is similar to Marxist constructs, but as mentioned earlier, the failure to engage

with the concept of alienation and its wider social manifestations are, given the

primacy of labour activity as conduit, a shortcoming of Blauner’s analysis.

Blauner chooses four distinct industrial environments and equates them

with a characteristic technological and organisational format.38 The first of these

operated in the printing industry according to, and most closely resembled craft-

skill through its low mechanisation and relatively unique products. At present we

will add that the retention of craft status in the printing industry, according to

Cockburn (1985), was as much to do with union strength and its ability to limit

the introduction of new technologies than traditional craft skill.39 The second is

seen to operate in the textile sector, which for Blauner is more highly

mechanised, the work process more standard and best characterised as

'machine-tending technology'. 40 The third and most alienated environment is

that of the conveyor belt and automobile industry: 'assembly line technology'.

The conditions of 'life on the line' are well documented on an international level

and all stress the debilitating effects, both mentally and physically, upon the

individual.41 It is however in the fourth environment that Blauner sees hope for

the future in terms of automated technology. The chemical industry is seen as

utilising the most advanced technology in which the worker monitors instrument

panels, carrying out repair as and when necessary in the continuous process. As

Blauner proselytises: "the automated chemical industry, whose unique form of

production, favourable economic environment and new social structural

features, reverse many of the alienating tendencies of modern factory

technology and industrial organisation." (1964, p14) Nichols & Beynon (1977)

critically engage with the work of Blauner in their own study of the chemical
 29

industry and paint a picture in stark contrast to that which appears in Alienation

and Freedom.42

There are a number of criticisms that have been levelled at Blauner's

analysis. As we have shown above, there is enough contrary evidence that the

situation is not quite how Blauner suggests. In relation to methodology, Gallie

(1978) makes a number of criticisms of the methods and data that Blauner

makes use of in his study. Specifically, much of the data was old, and of dubious

quality in relation to his object of study (1978 pp25-27). In relation to the four

chosen environments Blauner is accused of using 'ideal types' in contrast to

concrete analysis and the homogeneity of employment practice is questioned.43

The conflation of aspects of job differentiation, power relations and the social

division of labour to a form of technological determinism is rejected by a number

of commentators. In particular, the neglect of the necessities of capital

accumulation, the need for 'consensual' control of the workforce and the drive

for profits, given insufficient attention in Blauner, are more fully addressed by

both Nichols & Beynon (1977) and Gallie(1978). In the area of societal effects,

Gallie's study shows how the specific national context and particular historical

circumstances can produce divergent views and attitudes within the workplace

in spite of the supposed 'equalisation' or 'convergence' brought about by the

specific technological organisation and structure of the chemical

industry.44(1978, pp 295-300)

Around the time that Blauner's publication appeared there was

considerable debate concerning the effects upon the working class of increasing

wages, perceived job security and better working conditions. Allied with

technological change, the above conditions gave rise to the thesis that a

process of embourgeoisement was in operation. This suggested that the demise

 30

in traditional working class conditions of employment led to a demise in 'working-

class' orientations and attitudes and the creation of bourgeois tendencies. A

major study was carried out by Goldthorpe et al (1968a, 1968b and 1969) in

order to test the efficacy of the embourgeoisement thesis. Whilst examining

working conditions, the research also sought to discover how and in what form

changes in terms of conditions and pay translated outside of work. In particular

how these changes manifested themselves in terms of social relations and their

effect upon more general social and political attitudes and orientations which

could be plausibly be characterised as bourgeois. The complexity of factors

supposedly in operation led to a fairly detailed research design, which included:

 the social characteristics of the workers45

 the characteristics of the industrial setting46

 the characteristics of the community setting.47

Although not explicitly concerned about alienation, Goldthorpe et al went further

than Blauner in recognising the social context inherent in changes to industrial

organisation and technological development48. In the course of their study they

focus on three major aspects which they see as impinging on their 'affluent

workers' everyday lives and deem crucial to the embourgeoisement thesis.

These are their work, their patterns of sociability and their aspirations and social

perspectives. In their conclusion Goldthorpe et al(1969) reject the thesis of

embourgeoisement:

"Broadly speaking, our findings show that in the case of the workers studied
there remain important areas of common social experience which are still
fairly distinctively working class; that specifically middle-class social norms
are not widely followed nor middle-class life-styles consciously emulated;
and that assimilation into middle-class society is neither in process nor, in
the main, a desired objective." (op.cit p157)

In particular, they draw attention to the changing nature of work and suggest

that new forms of industrial organisation may give rise to new forms of strain
 31

and tension.49 Also under question is the notion that rising wages and standards

of consumption; allied with changes in the physical and social environment,

translate into a middle-class outlook. For Goldthorpe et al, what change that

could be recognised might be better interpreted by "the adaptation of old norms

to new exigencies and opportunities than in terms of any basic normative

reorientation." (op.cit. p158) Thirdly, and leading on from the previous point,

there seemed little support for the connection between increased consumption

and status aspirations. Despite the gains in purchasing power this was not

accompanied by the adoption of middle-class social perspectives. (op.cit.

p159)50 In their limited engagement with alienation Goldthorpe et al specifically

reject the materialist conception which we have traced through Marx and

Marxist thought. (op. cit. Pp179-187) It could be argued that they also reject the

views of the Enlightenment theorists who recognised the role of labour and the

relations of production on the individual potential. In place of this they posit the

position of the 'affluent' worker as being one of 'instrumentalism' related to

increased consumption and a more 'privatised' social orientation although they

do recognise the need for more research to investigate these issues.

More recently, there has been much work undertaken which seeks to

examine the consequences on the individual of the organisation of the

production process under contemporary capitalism. The period since the early

seventies has seen sweeping changes introduced in the organisation, control,

and efficiency of the production process.51 In capitalist societies there has been

much work done on the nature of the relation between workers and

management under the heading of industrial relations studies.52 In this sphere

and related to our own object of inquiry the work of P.K. Edwards is worth

introducing to illustrate changes in the nature of production and questions of

 32

coercion and consent in the labour process, and how these effect the worker. 53

Whilst it may be expected that these issues occur on a general level, Edwards

stresses the heterogeneity of these issues requires that analysis must take into

account the specificity of the operation of coercion and consent at the level of

the particular organisation. (Edwards & Scullion, 1982) Any analysis must also

take into consideration the position of 'custom and practice' as it manifests itself

in specific instances, and must also be related to the given general social

conditions that apply. What would appear to be happening on a daily basis and

at the micro level is a Gramscian 'war of position' as each side in the equation

seeks to protect their specific interests. However it must be recognised that the

paradox of coercion and consent, alluded to with the work of Hoffman (op.cit)

remains. Edwards stresses that the relationships of coercion and consent that

operate are too complex to be subsumed under general characteristics of

dichotomous relationships.54

A major influence upon the organisation of work in recent years has been

the introduction of computer technology and attendant changes in the

organisation of work. Hodson (1996) examines the effects of some of these

changes through the use of a model, which seeks to employ both elements of

Blauner (op. cit.) and labour process control debates. For Hodson, rather than

automated technology providing dignity and worth in manual employment, the

focus should be on participation and the nature of supervision and control and

with this in mind he does give some provisional support to a less alienated

experience in participatory environments (1996, p735). 55 It is argued however

that Hodson suffers like Blauner from his neglect of alienation as operating not

only at the point of production but also in the wider social context and that the

methodology may be questioned for its reliance upon secondary analysis of

 33

existing ethnographs. In the changing environment of the flexible worker - team

working in a quality circle - attempts at worker participation and inclusion by

employers must be more than illusory to overcome worker resistance and

defence of their existing position.

We now come to examine briefly some studies of new forms of

organisation which reject the benefits, the enrichment and fulfilment that these

new forms of work supposedly represent.

Thompson and Warhurst (1998), engage with the rhetoric of

commentators who see the changing employment environment as leading to the

creation of distinct changes in the form of work. Characteristics of this

environment include an end to hierarchical structures and the creation of

'portfolio people' (Handy 1995) or, 'symbolic analysts' in the case of Reich

(1993). A central claim is the emergence of the 'knowledge economy' or

'information society'. However Reich (1993) himself recognises that 55% of jobs

in the US economy are still characterised as involving repetitive and highly

specified production or in-service jobs and according to Henwood (1996) only

7% could be labelled as 'symbolic analysts'. If we look at the growth of the

tertiary sector, contrary to the claims of the proponents of various strands of the

'knowledge economy' we find that growth has been in low-paid 'donkey work' -

serving, cleaning, guarding etc, in the hospitality and private health and care

services. (Thompson and Warhurst 1998, p5) Allied with this there has been a

major shift towards 'lean' production, with notions of flexibility, Just-in-Time stock

controls and the introduction of Total Quality Management. The down-side of

these practices are well demonstrated by Harrison (1994), and the case studies

contained in Thompson and Warhurst (1998) suggest that behind the rhetoric lie

strategies which are intended to intensify the job-effort, increase the extraction of
 34

surplus value and to do this in such a way that employees are policed and

disciplined through peer group pressure. In addition, the introduction of

sophisticated computer technology allows new methods of control, supervision

and evaluation of the worker. This is examined in relation to the growth area of

telesales (Taylor 1998), the software industry (Beirne, Ramsay and Panteli

1998) and the 'bright satanic offices' of the clerical sector (Baldry, Bain and

Taylor 1998) to name but a few. The picture that emerges from these studies

gives little doubt that for the workers there has been little substantive change in

the way they earn their money. What is noticeable is the way in which the

strategy of capital is to cloak the intensification and exploitation required by

'lean' production through the attempted instillation of corporate identification and

integration. It goes without saying that such strategies must create contradiction

in a workforce based on flexible contracts and little job security.

Our final analysis of the conceptualisation of alienation as manifested

through the relationship between work and the individual personality is

concerned with the work of Erikson (1990) and more specifically Kohn (1990).

Both these authors specifically seek to position the concept of alienation in

relation not only to the work environment but also in relation to the effect upon

the individual personality. Erikson agrees with Kohn and his associates that

certain relationships between work and personality are more or less resolved.

Confident that job conditions do have an influence on personality, and that they

do so in strong measure, Erikson continues "that the more autonomous and self-

directed a person's work, the more positive its effects on personality; and the

more routinized and closely supervised the work, the more negative its effects."

(Erikson, 1990 p2) Erikson suggests that in industrialised countries, the key

sources of alienation may be reduced to two - "first, those structures in the

 35

modern workplace that subdivide labour into narrower and narrower specialities,

and second, those structures in the modern workplace that limit the amount of

control workers exercise over the conditions in which they work." (ibid. p23) In

relation to Blauner and automation, Erikson suggests that while automation may

reduce the boredom of repetitive tasks, the boredom of doing nothing may be

just as debilitating and that what are termed skills in relation to automated

processes are nothing more than "a quickness of reflex, a sureness of eye, and,

maybe more importantly, an ability to pay attention." (ibid., p26) 56 As we have

suggested earlier in relation to contemporary employment, 57 Erikson also

recognises the way in which computer technology in all spheres allows the

introduction of a "continuous, tireless time and motion study." (ibid., p28) "Once

computers are linked, anyone who touches the keyboard is automatically

reporting on himself." (Gerson 1988: 205)58

Of crucial importance is the insistence of both Erikson and Kohn that it is

naïve to assume that alienation can be discerned through so simple a procedure

as asking people about job satisfaction. For Erikson one of Marx's major

contributions on alienation was "that lack of insight into one's true condition can

itself be a consequence of alienation. The condition furnishes its own

camouflage." (Erikson, op. cit. p32)

If we now turn to the work of Kohn and his associates we find four central

presuppositions: "that analyses of the work-personality relationship should be

based on dimensions of work; that investigators should define and measure job

conditions as objectively as possible;59 that any assessment of the relationship

between work and personality should allow for the possibility of reciprocal

effects; and that one can draw reasonably firm conclusions about the work-

personality relationship on the basis of non-experimental data." (Kohn 1990 p40)

 36

Kohn continues by asserting a number of generalisations relating to what he

sees as resolved issues. Firstly, work does affect the personality. In reviewing

the research Kohn finds confirmation of Sorokin's60 assertions of 50 years ago

that individual psychological processes are subject to mediation and

transformation by occupational influences. (Kohn, op. cit. p41) Secondly, that

certain job conditions do effect the personality, independently of each other and

independent of education. (Kohn and Schooler, 1982) Kohn recognises a

number of 'structural imperatives' of which the most important are those that:

"determine how much opportunity, even necessity, the worker has for exercising

occupational self-direction …" (Kohn, 1990 p 41) In relation to occupational self-

direction Kohn sees three job conditions in particular as critical in determining

the degree workers are able, or required, to exercise self-direction at work:

1. the 'substantive complexity' of the work - the degree that the

work requires thought and independent judgement;

2. the closeness of supervision, a limiting condition on self-

direction;

3. 'highly routinised' (repetitive and predictable) jobs are also

restrictive on the exercise of initiative, thought and judgement. (ibid.,

p42)

Thirdly, Kohn suggests that although the above generalisations are based

mainly upon studies of men in the US, the evidence for women in the US seems

consonant.61 Kohn goes further and states that precise replications of his and

Schooler's studies, carried out in Poland and Japan on employed men, suggest

that the relationship between work and personality is not limited to capitalist or

Western societies.62 Fourthly Kohn suggests that there is accumulating evidence

that job conditions affect the adult personality through a direct process of
 37

learning through the job and generalising what has been learned to other realms

of life. Thus people who do intellectually demanding work tend to exercise this

intellectual ability not only at work but also outside of work. They are also seen

to seek out intellectually demanding activities in their leisure pursuits.63 "More

generally, people who do self-directed work come to value self-direction more

highly, both for themselves and for their children, and to have self-conceptions

and social orientations consonant with such values." (Kohn, 1990, p43) 64 As

Kohn suggests, this is consistent with the Marxian premise that the experience

of labour affects behaviour and orientation in other spheres of life. Fifth, Kohn

posits a reciprocal relationship between work and personality, in that job

conditions not only affect but are also affected by personality, although the

effects may suffer from a lag rather than being contemporaneous. Finally, Kohn

recognises that job conditions do not appear in a social vacuum, but are bound

up in the general given social conditions. This is conditioned however by the

results of cross-national studies cited earlier which suggest that job conditions

are not dependent wholly on political or economic organisation but are a general

structural phenomenon of all industrial societies.

In terms of methodology, the main component of Kohn and his

associates' design is concerned with the characterisation of job conditions that

contained both objective job conditions and subjective appraisals by the workers

of these conditions. This allowed them to create indices of substantive

complexity that allowed comparison across occupational settings. Other factors

which were deemed important were: the use of multiple indicators; the

interpersonal context and interpersonal relations; the issue of time in the effects

of job on personality; the possibility of threshold effects; and how job conditions

may interact in different contexts. (Kohn op. cit. pp44-50) In relation to the
 38

conceptualisation of aspects of the personality which are fundamental to the

work-personality relationship, Kohn is more tentative in his approach, yet it

would seem plausible to agree with the general outline of his proposals. Kohn

defines three dimensions of personality as being crucial to his approach:

'intellectual flexibility'; 'self-directedness of orientations'; and 'distress versus a

sense of well-being'. 65 Having characterised and attempted to define and

measure what he now sees as resolved issues, Kohn now sees the problem of

researching what he terms are the unresolved issues involved in the work-

personality relationship. Among these unresolved issues are how far Kohn's

findings can be generalised to all workers; whether all individuals are effected in

the same way; and how much does the life-course and career of an individual

effect the relationship. Finally, in a call for more research in this area, Kohn

raises the question about whether it is possible to purposively and systematically

modify job conditions, whether this would have the desired effect upon the

workers, and whether it can be carried out within the structure of capitalist

enterprise. (Kohn, 1990: pp59-62)

It is in relation to the above that we can introduce the work of

Zdravomyslov (1970), who sought to investigate how far the transformation of

work into a first need of the personality, had proceeded in a society that had

rejected the structures of capitalist society in favour an alternative model. Like

the Soviet scholars of the 1920s, including Vygotsky, Voloshinov and Luriia, who

attempted to develop concretely an analysis of how the transformation of the

personality as part of the project of developing a fully communist society could

be achieved, the emergence of a number of Soviet scholars in the 1970s, who

were concerned with similar problems under the given social conditions in

operation at the time, may be contrasted with the strategies of those Western
 39

Marxists we have examined earlier. Rather than retreat from the unity of theory

and practice into the intellectual realm in periods of apparent crisis, the Soviet

scholars stressed the importance of this unity and actively sought to develop the

dialectical relationship between labour activity and consciousness. 66

Zdravomyslov sought to develop empirical tests for a variety of factors and their

relative weights in influencing attitudes to work and the progress towards a

situation, as prescribed by Marx, where work becomes a first need of life. As

Marx and Engels recognised, it is only with the emancipation of the individual

from the requirement of labour that man’s true potential will be realised: “... man

will produce even when he is free of physical necessity, and in the true sense of

the word he will produce only when he is free of it ...” (Marx and Engels, 1956:

566, cited in Zdravomyslov, op.cit. p: 19)

In order to investigate and identify the factors that interacted to effect the

individual and their attitude to work, Zdravomyslov and his research team

utilised a methodology that drew on both quantitative and qualitative methods of

analysis.67 At the same time in a study, which in some ways parallels the work

of Zdravomyslov, his contemporary Cherniak (1974) was also interested in

defining and measuring, partly through the analysis of attitude to work, the

'social determination of the subjective'. This revolved around both objective and

subjective studies of work and non-work activity in an attempt to define and

measure the development of a 'scientific materialist world view'.

In the case of Zdravomyslov, the research program was developed with

four specific aims or objectives: the clarification, through analysis of empirical

data of the attitude to work under contemporary conditions of young workers; to

study the development of change in attitudes to work in relation to the building

of communism; to seek out those factors both objective and subjective which
 40

promoted the transformation of labour into a `first need of life’, factors which

hinder this process and how the advent of technological change may impact

upon the process under investigation; and finally, taking into account the

present material-technical base of production and of the social conditions of

labouring activity, to formulate practical recommendations in order to more fully

develop the possibilities for the formation of an attitude toward labour `as a first

need of life’. (Zdravomyslov op.cit. 10)

“The movement from scientific abstraction to empirical reality is the only

scientific method that allows us to discover, in the chaos of mass processes,

what is essential, stable, and common to all of society.” (Zdravomyslov

op.cit.: 14-15)

In regard to the object of inquiry, this means that the general concept of “attitude

to work” must be specified. For Zdravomyslov, at its most general, “attitude to

“work” is a result of the totality of social relations operating within socialist

society at its present time of development. Accordingly, the most important

factor determining this attitude toward labour, is the economic structure of

society, which includes the totality of socialist production relationships. The

ideological component is seen as a secondary factor, which is superimposed, on

the above specification, and in the last analysis, determined by the condition of

material relations in the productive sphere. In an instance which provides a link

to the work on the `prism’ of social consciousness by Vygotsky and his followers

in the `sociohistorical’ school, 68 Zdravomyslov relates how “ (A)ll this is

refracted through the structure of the worker’s personality, which is the concrete

bearer of the relationship under study.” (op. cit.: 15) In relating the all-

inclusiveness of “attitude to work” to concrete sociological research,

Zdravomyslov suggests that the special manifestations of such, the attitude

 41

towards a particular form of work under particular conditions, can be perceived

as the statistical mean tendency of individual attitudes.

This leads to an investigation of “attitude” in terms of objective and

subjective factors from which can be developed empirically verifiable criterion

which can be translated into indices which allow statistical analysis.

On an objective level, attitude to work may be expressed in the results of

labouring activity.69 On a subjective level, “attitude to work” can be related to the

individual’s understanding of the social significance of their labour, the degree of

satisfaction, the nature of their speciality, and the specific motivational structure

under which they operate.70

There is a further specification of attitude to labour that must be taken

into consideration, and this relates to the concept of labour as a means of

existence and as a requirement. Zdravomyslov relates how historically labour is

seen as the source of all wealth, and through the transformation of the forces of

nature, the source of social wealth. In capitalist society this wealth is the means

of enriching the few through the exploitation of the many. Under socialism,

Zdravomyslov maintains, the wealth of society is used to further the

development of labour and to transform the personality of the individual. (op.cit.:

16) As expected from a Marxist analysis, the dialectical relationship between

labour and society is stressed:

“.... labour is the foundation of the existence of all society in the sense that all

social relationships - and primarily the economic ones - develop in the sphere of

labour, or else relative to labour and its results. Labour both unites and

separates people; it is the foundation of the structure of society.” (op.cit. :16)

The difference in the functions of means and requirement in capitalist/class

society are examined and contrasted with how these same functions operate

under socialist relations of society. Under socialism, labour is not only the
 42

source of societal wealth, but also the measure of its distribution, and most

importantly, it is the main sphere for the transformation of the personality.

According to Zdravomyslov, these last two functions - the satisfaction of

needs and the transformation of the personality - are extremely important for an

understanding of the attitude toward labour under socialism.

“.... when labour is considered as a source of human existence, its value in the

collective and individual consciousness of men s conditioned by the

significance of those results of labouring activity that are called `compensation

for labour. `” (op.cit. :17)

The requirement to work is seen to be mediated by various requirements both

material and spiritual with wages as the main yardstick both for the recognition

accorded by society and for the opportunity to satisfy individual requirements for

products of society’s material and non-material production. According to

Zdravomyslov, labour as a means of satisfying basic requirements takes on a

new significance under socialist society. Firstly, this occurs because socialism

excludes the exploitation of the labour of the individual as a source of wealth for

others. Secondly, new requirements arise for the individual in which satisfaction

is achieved through the function of socially useful labour. This is mediated by

the individual personality, but generally, the objective conditions of socialist

production lead to the formation of new social requirements connected both with

the results of labouring activity and their evaluation or recognition by society.

(op.cit. p: 17-18) Crucially, the attitude toward labour as a requirement can only

be realised in those forms of labour that include creative elements which

facilitate the development of human potentials and capacities. (op. cit. p19) 71

Zdravomyslov puts forward two major hypotheses, which he intends to

test in his investigation concerning the importance of a variety of factors and

their influence upon attitude to work. Firstly, ".. the content of labour (in a
 43

functional sense) will be the leading factor determining the attitude toward

labour, expressed in the objective and subjective results under given general

social conditions of labouring activity." (ibid., p45) In this regard, Zdravomyslov

expects the following tendencies to be revealed:

 the greater the creative opportunities of the work, the higher the objective

indices of attitude toward labour will be;

 the greater the creative opportunities, the higher the subjective indices of

attitude towards labour will be;

 correlation between the intrinsic interest of the work, moving from less

creative to more creative occupations, and the attitude to work gained from

objective and subjective indices, will be higher than the correlation between the

increase in wages and the same indices of attitude toward labour;

 the structure of motives will vary more depending on its content than on

differences in wages. (ibid., p47-8)

The second hypothesis, if the first is confirmed, is that the structure of motives

will differ depending on the content of labour.

"They will differ in the respect that, in groups with relatively more creative
content of labour, motives connected with the content of labour will be
pushed into the foreground; in groups with relatively lower creative content,
motives not connected with it will be advanced." (ibid., p48)

The sampling procedures and the methods of data collection, including the use

of a control group, are documented in considerable detail and the statistical

analysis describes the methods utilised and their results. 72 In considering the

theoretical and practical conclusions of his investigation, Zdravomyslov states

that while primarily concerned with specific factors and their effect upon the

individual's attitude toward labour his investigation suggests that a leading role

in this process are general social conditions. Among the 'general social

conditions', the biggest factor influencing the individual is the extent to which the
 44

individual believes himself to be involved in the decision-making process in the

political, economic, and cultural life of society; in essence the opportunities for

involvement in its wider governance and control. In relation to the effectiveness

of motives of labouring activity, study of the actual results of labour support the

contention that ideological motives take first place. 73 In relation to the

hypotheses posited earlier, Zdravomyslov, referring to the first, states that:

"..under the given general social of the development of our society, the
content of labour and the creative opportunities of the work are the leading
specific factors that determine the worker's attitude toward labour, either
primarily as a need of the personality or primarily as a means of
subsistence." (1970: p285)
The second main hypothesis was also confirmed through analysis of the data

and showed that for workers with a relatively broad creative opportunities

motives having to do with content took first place, in contrast to those employed

in occupations with a low content of labour. (op.cit. p288) However there were

also a number of factors which were recognised as restraining the

transformation of labour into a first need of the personality. Firstly it was

recognised that there was an imbalance between the expectations of workers

and the opportunities for their realisation.74 Secondly the role of females in the

domestic division of labour and corresponding demands on their free time, limit

the capacity and opportunity of women to realise their potential and thus effects

the development of the personality in negative ways.(op. cit. p303-6)

Throughout the investigation the opportunity and possibility of creative

input in relation to the content of labour is stressed. This is not deterministic

though and Zdravomyslov stresses the role of material incentives in the

broadest sense as well as the given general social conditions as interacting in a

complex system. As general pre-requisites for the development and

transformation of an attitude toward labour as a first need of life and an

affirmation of the personality Zdravomyslov places great importance upon the

 45

continual study and development of the organisation of production particularly in

regard to the content. Also stressed is the continued development of the forces

of production, which will enable the elimination of the most routine and stultifying

of occupations and their replacement with more meaningful and rewarding work

environments. This must be accompanied with education to stress the

importance of work in relation to the development of socialist society and the

place of the individual within this collective process.75

In the case of Cherniak (1974), there are similarities in the nature of

analysis encountered in Zdravomyslov (op. cit.), although the specifics are

slightly different.76 Cherniak is concerned to "study the influence of the objective

and subjective aspects of production activity and the corresponding factors on

the process of development of the scientific materialist world-view." (Cherniak,

1974: pp39-40) The hypotheses, which Cherniak advances, are firstly: that the

content of work is an important factor influencing the world-view orientations of

workers. The tendency, if this is confirmed, is that labour, conducted under

higher mechanisation, characterised by a higher skill-level, and incorporating

aspects and opportunities for creativity, will result in a more positive world-view

orientation in the worker. Secondly, of all the subjective factors influencing the

world-view of the individual, satisfaction with work in terms of content are of

primary importance. "Thirdly, the world-view orientation of an individual has a

significant feedback effect upon all of his activity at work and in public affairs."

(op. cit. pp50-1) Cherniak then proceeds to report the results of his statistical

analysis of the data, which generally support the notion that the character and

content of labour are of major importance in the development of the personality

and consciousness. Much of what Cherniak reports is similar to the results

obtained by Zdravomyslov, but it useful to examine the results of the areas

 46

where the studies diverge.77 There is for example a greater focus in Cherniak's

analysis of the uses of 'free-time' and analysis of indices of intellectual/cultural

values. In relation to cultural consumption; it was found that workers doing more

meaningful work, having higher skills, and displaying recognisable features of a

creative attitude toward labour scored higher than those operating in less

favourable conditions.78 In examining the uses of free time, again it was found

that those doing more skilled, more mechanised work tended to devote more

time to activities Cherniak saw as important in the development of a scientific-

materialist world-view. 79 Finally the issue of a religious versus scientific

materialist world view is introduced and again workers of high skill and creativity,

involved in cultural and civic activity show a higher incidence of agnosticism and

recognition religion as a reactionary force.80

To conclude: What we have sought to do in the analysis of studies

concerned with work and the personality is to stress the importance of the

content of labour and of both subjective and objective factors as they operate

upon the personality and consciousness of the individual. As we have seen the

work of Kohn and associates suggest that this is not confined to capitalist or

Western Society. However, in relation to our own object of inquiry, the Soviet

studies are important in recognising the role that civic activity and cultural

consumption plays in socialist societies. The collective and social concerns thus

exhibited are in contrast to the individual and privatised consumption of leisure

time in some advanced capitalist economies. Thus it is worth remembering the

importance of the given general social conditions and their overall importance in

any efforts to pursue non-alienated experience.

In relation to the importance of the 'general social conditions' for the

individual personality it would seem plausible to suggest that periods of

 47

transition which directly effect these conditions will exert an influence upon the

development of individual potential. The transitional process currently in

operation in the former Soviet Union is the focus of a large-scale research

programme under the direction of Simon Clarke of the University of Warwick.

Utilising a team of Russian researchers and adopting a methodology largely

based on a case study approach the programme seeks to examine the

processes and dynamics of such a fluid moment of social change. Four volumes

have been published so far examining a wide range of issues arising out of the

transition to 'free-market' capitalism.81 While it is recognised that Russia is not

Cuba and that the transitional process in the latter is mild and selective when

compared to the traumatic upheavals currently devastating the former, it is

important to recognise how changes impact upon the wider context. Thus the

situation in contemporary Cuba allows us an opportunity to investigate and

analyse the dynamics of what may be considered as fundamental changes to

the existing system and the dialectic of the social and the individual as mediated

through the totality of socio-economic relations.

 48

Chapter Four

Some preliminary thoughts concerning the Cuban context

We started by examining the concept of alienation and the unintended

consequences of the division of labour which was followed by analysis of a

variety of studies which sought to investigate the dialectics of work organisation

and the individual personality. We are now in a position to present a preliminary

outline of how the results may be operationalised in relation to our proposed

object of inquiry.

The object of inquiry is the pursuit of non-alienated experience in post-

revolutionary Cuba and in particular how this process is effected in this

transitional period of economic and social change. In particular we are

concerned with forms of economic and social organisation and how they effect

the individual at the level of the personality and consciousness. It is our

hypothesis that the formation of a degree of collective consciousness and social

cohesion has been an important factor involved in the survival of the

revolutionary regime despite the state terrorism directed against it, both directly

and indirectly, by the United States.82 The efforts towards destabilisation of the

economy and the state have been carried out relentlessly since the revolution,

with the introduction of the Helms-Burton Act in 1996 being simply the most

recent. 83 In addition, since the collapse of 'communist' regimes in Eastern

Europe, the US has proposed a resolution to the United Nations Human Rights

Commission condemning Cuba for alleged violations of civil liberties. Table 1.

 49

provides the results of votes on this resolution since 1992 and includes this

year's vote where the US resolution was defeated.84 Specifically in this 'special

period' we are seeking to identify how far the introduction of changes in

economic and social organisation has impacted upon our hypothesis concerning

the existing degree of social cohesion.

There is no room here to provide a detailed historical analysis of the

Cuban experience nonetheless the role of external influences in the Cuban

economy must be noted.85 Of all the Latin American countries Cuba was one of

the most externalised, highly dependent on one or two cash crops and tourism

and with a very large element of external ownership. This Cuban externalisation

must be borne in mind in any discussion of the historical formation of workplace

consciousness. Externalisation had three consequences of particular importance

for our work. It restricted the scope for the formation of a coherent internal

business class. It accelerated the process of proletarianisation - particularly

resulting from the operation of the sugar sector. And in terms of ideological

formation it ensured that Cubans would tend to attach high significance to issues

of sovereignty and self-determination.

Three general periods can be identified as crucial to an understanding of

the Cuban experience:

 The first relates to the period from 'independence' in 1898 to

revolution in 1959 when the US exercised indirect and direct control of

the Cuban state and economy.86

 The second period is characterised by Cuba's articulation

into the Soviet trading bloc that occurred after relations between Cuba

and the US had completely broken down.87 A system of export credits

and access to materials and technology required for the further

 50

development of the Cuban economy was instigated and the Soviets',

introduced a degree of stability in terms of sugar prices which was in

contrast to the vicissitudes of the 'world-market' price.88 (see Table 2)

The support of the Soviet Union and its importance were illustrated

when the favourable terms of trade ended with the dissolution of the

Soviet bloc.89

 The third period is that which most directly concerns this

inquiry. The difficulties which faced the Cuban economy with the

removal of Soviet subsidies resulted in severe shortages of imported

materials and is reflected in the contraction of the economy in terms of

both falling GDP and its ability to import fuel and materials. It was

against this background that limited market reforms, capitalist foreign

investment and the expansion and promotion of a tourist industry was

instigated.

Some statistical evidence now exists on the consequences to the economy.

Using figures collected by CEPAL (Comisión Económica Para América Latina),

Tables 3 + 4 show the state of the economy in terms of GDP in general and by

selected sectors. Table 5 shows total and selected imports and exports while

Table 6 gives limited information on economic associations with external capital.

Figure 1 provides information on the increased development of the tourist

industry and Table 7 provides a picture of some of the most salient social

indicators in terms of health, welfare and education. Table 8 provides selected

information from the latest United Nations Human Development Report. Whilst

the UN statistics do reveal the degree to which Cuba has managed to maintain a

significant level of social provision, it is also clear that income inequalities have

increased. However it could be argued that GDP/capita is unrepresentative of

 51

the realities of a society where social consumption and distribution of production

is more important then market provision. Figure 2 provides a comparison

between the data for Cuba and a variety of groupings recognised by the UN

although omitting the information for GDP/capita. Information is also provided in

Table 8, which when taken into consideration with the data in the UN Gender

Empowerment Report shows the extent of gender equality and empowerment

which has been achieved, with Cuba ranking 25 th out of the 174 countries in the

report.90

What we are concerned with is how far the transition and limited 'market'

reforms included in the 'special period' will manifest themselves at the level of

both the individual and collective consciousness. We will also be concerned to

discover whether the new forms of management may have increased or

decreased the opportunity for worker participation. If we repeat our hypothesis

that the relatively egalitarian patterns of distribution and consumption allied with

radical social reforms have gone some way in ensuring the survival of the

revolution, we wish to discover how the individual consciousness may have

been affected by reforms which may be expected to have fostered more

individualised and less egalitarian attitudes and behaviour. Commentators have

stressed the importance of social justice, agrarian reform and the right to self-

determination as an historical legacy of the frustrations of the Cuban people

since 1868, and as providing the revolution, and especially Fidel Castro, with

widespread popular legitimacy and support in the formative years of 1959-61.91

In conducting this research there are a series of methodological problems

which must frame our approach. The most fundamental is the lack of reliable

points of comparison. Little or no reliable research has been undertaken which

makes it possible to identify how far in the period between 1959 and 1990
 52

new forms of collective consciousness emerged in the workplace or society at

large. This deficit must inevitably frame any attempt to assess how far the

conditions since 1990 have affected consciousness. Secondly we are attempting

to measure a process which by 1999 will have been in operation since the

beginning of the 'special period' in 1992 and thus the specifics may be difficult to

identify. In attempting to resolve these problems, there are some features of

Cuban experience which could be turned to our advantage. First the process of

transformation since 1992 has been uneven. It affected different sectors of the

economy and society with different intensity. Second, the formation of

consciousness since 1960 may be assumed to have left a generationally-

differentiated impact. Those aged below 25 will have had their formative

experience of work almost entirely in the special period. Those aged between 35

and 44 will have been formed in the high period of a socialised economy and

those aged 55 in the revolutionary period and its transition. The proposed

fieldwork of our research would therefore need to carefully select economically

and geographically contrasting areas and, within these, differentiate between

different age groups.

In addition there are a number of indicators already in the public domain that

may be used as preliminary sources of levels of active participation from which it

may be possible to identify both positive and negative factors which impact upon

the individual consciousness. Two indicators in particular can be recognised as

providing a start point in this regard. The first of these involves the perceptions

and motives behind the participation in the international struggles which Cuban

volunteers engaged in Angola and Ethiopia among others. The level of civilian

volunteering for such missions and for membership of the militia would be
 53

relevant data. The second set of indicators would derive from an examination of

levels of absenteeism and productivity.

The negative factors which may more recently be expected to impinge at the

level of the individual are the inequalities arising from the limited market reforms

and the unequal access to hard currency, in particular US$, which increased

tourism and to a lesser extent external capital will usher in. In addition, and in

relation to the work of Zdravomyslov, it would seem important to recognise that

the increases in the general education level of the population in general and

more specifically in relation to young Cubans, may create situations whereby the

expectations of more educated workers cannot be fulfilled in the current

economic context. For Zdravomyslov this mismatch between expectations and

circumstance may be mediated through increased opportunities for participation

in organisation and decision making procedures at the social, political and

economic levels. 92 Also of importance may be limitations to increased

participation which may result from economic associations with external capital.

One of the most important positive factors, which may influence the

individual consciousness and personality, although very difficult to measure, has

been the attitude of the United States both historically throughout the 20 th

century and throughout the revolutionary period. It is suggested that the attitude

of the US has been a major factor influencing and maintaining social cohesion in

respect of the basic ideals of the revolution, namely the pursuit of development

and social equality within a framework of national independent sovereignty and

self-determination. Since the formative period of 1959-61, the intransigence of

the US undoubtedly provided the circumstances which turned a population

which expressed a high degree of 'anti-communism' into a radical socialist and

collective population. It is further suggested that this pattern has been repeated
 54

and that when internal and external contradictions have surfaced the

manoeuvring of the US has reinforced these socialist and collective ideals.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the period after the collapse of the Soviet

system when the internal contradictions of Cuban society were most strongly

expressed. The US response of an increased blockade allowed the renewal of

the original ideals and the mobilisation of popular support for the Cuban socialist

project and went some way in attempts to overcome the contradictions created

in preceding years.

Having outlined our general object of inquiry it now comes to the point where

we must attempt to define how such an investigation may be operationalised. It

is our intention to focus our investigation on different sectors of the economy in

an attempt to examine how the effects of transitional change manifest

themselves in relation to each sector's specifics and peculiarities. Of crucial

importance will be attempts to substantiate the presence of attitudes and

behaviour, which can be recognised as manifestations of social cohesion and

expressions of support for the programmes of radical reform upon which the

revolution was based. Three sectors immediately come to mind:

1. the agricultural sector, in particular the sugar sector as characterised by

the different social and economic organisation represented by the CPAs

(Cooperativas de Producción Agropecuaria) and the UBPCs (Unidades Básicas

de Producción Cooperativa) and, which given its importance to the Cuban

economy is almost self-selecting;93

2. the tourist sector, which it is suggested may be deemed most susceptible

to negative influences upon attitude and behaviour through the availability of

scarce 'hard' currency and which may also provide the opportunity to examine

some of the ways in which foreign capital operates in partnership with the state.
 55

Attempts will be made to analyse the degree to which this may result in more

individual and materialist tendencies and the possibility that this may create a

schism between the rural and the urban which was largely absent in the pre-

transition era;94

3. the state sector, especially those involved in the provision of the social,

health and welfare services are seen as important not just for their effect upon

the standard of living of the Cuban people, but as institutions which may be seen

to embody many of the principles of social justice and equality of opportunity

embodying the ideals of the revolution.95

These sectors will be sub-divided in relation to age, which will allow investigation

of the differential experience of the age groupings selected. It is suggested that

the experiences of those born in the period 1959 -64 are of extreme importance.

According to Luis Martín (1992), this cohort comprises the largest grouping

amongst the young people who are the numerically dominant grouping in

society. Luis Martín suggest that this has had an important effect upon the

changing focus and interests of young Cubans as a whole.

"This group's entry into the stage of 'early youth' (fourteen to seventeen
years) between 1973 and 1981 shaped a social image of young people as
students and tended to focus the attentions of youth organisations and of
society as a whole upon students' problems. Its transition to 'middle youth'
(eighteen to twenty-four years) between 1977 and 1988 produced an
increase in attention to the problems of young workers. Its arrival at 'mature
youth' (twenty-five to thirty years) between 1984 and 1994 made this
subgroup predominant, a situation that will continue throughout the 1990s."
Luis Martín (op.cit. p143)
It would seem therefore that analysis of this group will be of crucial importance

in our attempt to trace the development or relapse of individual and collective

consciousness and reinforces the need to examine the concrete historical

experience of particular age groups to allow comparative analysis.

Having outlined the general areas of interest to our study we will now attempt

to provide details of how such an inquiry may be designed. As we have stressed

in our analysis of both Kohn and the Soviets, the importance of both subjective
 56

and objective factors must be recognised in any investigation of the 'social

determination of the subjective'. Our inquiry must thus involve a synthesis of

qualitative and quantitative methods of investigation. This will require the use of

questionnaires and surveys, interviews (both formal and informal), and periods

of participant observation. We will seek to define and measure attitudes and

behaviour, which relate to the perceptions of those under study in relation to a

number of specific issues. These issues will include:

 perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the Cuban

experience since 1959, specifically in relation to radical social reform and the

changes in social, political and economic organisation. In particular, what are

seen as positive or negative aspects of the transformation of capitalist social

relations and the implementation of socialist models;

 perceptions of previous attempts at organisational and economic

reforms;96

 the perception of opportunities available for participation in the social

political and economic spheres and the actual levels of participation and

involvement in mass organisations including trade-unions (CTC), the local,

provincial and national assemblies which comprise People Power (OPP), the

Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR), the Federation of Cuban

Women (FMC) and the Communist Youth Movement (UJC);97

Possible options include attempts to examine the perception of the virtues and

disadvantages of the pre-revolutionary system and to compare these with

attitudes concerning the pros and cons of the present system. Of crucial

importance in this respect, and possibly the most difficult analytical task, is to

identify and measure those aspects of social, political and economic

organisation that allow the transformation of the individual and the development
 57

of human potential. How far has the creation of el neuvo hombre proceeded and

how far are conditions instigated in this special period detrimental to such a

process. 98 The concept of the 'new man' is indelibly linked with the work of

Guevara, although the idea can be recognised as present in the writings of

Lenin (op.cit.). 99 Of importance to Guevara was the concept of socialist

emulation and the use of moral incentives and volunteer work brigades. It is

interesting to note that during the process of 'rectification' begun in 1986 there

was a re-examination of Guevara's ideas and the reintroduction of volunteer

work through the operation of 'microbrigades' especially in the construction of

child care centres and clinics. 100 As recognised earlier, there is widespread

participation in the various mass organisations but of crucial interest to us is the

reasoning behind such participation and whether there are sufficient

opportunities for individual input in areas of strategy, accountability and decision

making. This is an issue raised by Hernández and Dilla (1992) who stress the

need for more research in this area to provide concrete analysis of how far in

practice these organisations are able to fulfil their theoretical function of active

rather than formal participation.101

An example of one possible research strategy may be illustrated through

reference to the sugar sector. As mentioned earlier, the two main forms of

organisation are the UBPCs and CPAs. Of interest to us are differences in

objective quantitative indicators relating to productivity, efficiency and output. As

Table 9 shows, differences in yield, both within and across the differing forms of

organisation are recognisable. What we are concerned with is how far these

differences are attributable to objective factors and how far they are related to

subjective factors. It is recognised however, that differences in yields, may be

closely related to the availability of and access to scarce inputs, mainly fertilisers
 58

and fuel and these effects must be investigated. If the range of objective inputs

is relatively comparable, how far can differences in outputs be identified as

relating to subjective factors, or, to differences in the social and cultural

organisation of the enterprises?

We have thus identified a number of levels on which the analysis will

proceed. Firstly we must examine both the subjective and objective factors

which impinge upon economic activity and organisation. As recognised earlier, of

importance will be the ability and opportunity to have meaningful input in relation

to both the content of labour, its organisation and the distribution of its product.

Secondly we must analyse the incidence and reasoning behind participation in

both the mass organisations previously mentioned and other forms of social and

cultural life at the level of the community. Thirdly we will seek to probe individual

cognition of the importance of the wider geo-political context within which Cuba

is situated.

Finally, having obtained data relating to these factors and issues, a

number of statistical tests will be used to attempt to gauge the relative

importance and the interrelated nature of these factors. The sectoral and age

differentiated approach will allow us to introduce a level of comparison and take

into consideration how different sectors and different age groups are unevenly

effected at both the individual and collective level. Hopefully this will provide

suggestions as to what forms of organisation are best suited to resolve the

apparent contradictions and which allow the pursuit of non-alienated experience

and the true development of individual capacities and potential within the wider

context of Cuban societal development.

 59

Table 1.

Votes on resolution in Human Rights Commission - US proposal on 'alleged'

human rights violations in Cuba.
Voting 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

In favour 23 27 24 22 20 19 16

Against 5 10 9 8 5 10 19

Abstentions 19 15 20 23 28 24 18

Table 2 - Comparison between Market prices and Soviet prices for sugar.
Cuba: Production, exports and export prices for sugar
`1961-76
US Cents/lb.
Thousand Of Tons
Production Exports A B
1961 6876 6413 4.09 2.75
1962 4882 5132 4.09 2.83
1963 3883 3520 6.11 8.34
1964 4475 4176 6.11 5.77
1965 6156 5316 6.11 2.08
1966 4537 4435 6.11 1.81
1967 6236 5683 6.11 1.92
1968 5165 4612 6.11 1.9
1969 4459 4799 6.11 3.2
1970 8538 6906 6.11 3.68
1971 5925 5511 6.11 4.5
1972 4325 4140 6.11 7.27
1973 5253 4797 12.02 9.45
1974 5925 5491 19.64 29.66
1975 6314 5744 30.4 20.37
1976 6151 5764 30.95 11.51
- - - -- -
`A = price paid by
Soviet Union
`B = World
Market price

Source: adapted
from Pollitt 1985
 60

Table 3 - Cuban GDP - Main Indicators

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Population (thousands) 10,577 10,694 10,793 10,869 10,940 10,960 10,999 11,028
Economic Growth [a]
GDP (% change) 1.5 -2.9 -9.5 -9.9 -13.6 0.6 2.5 7.6
GDP by type of expenditure [a]
Consumption (% change) 2.2 -3.7 -10.0 -10.8 -5.3 0.7 1.0 3.5
General Government (% change) 0.9 0.1 -10.4 -5.2 -1.1 -1.9 -7.4 2.0
Private (% change) 2.9 -5.8 -9.8 -14.0 -7.9 2.4 6.4 4.3
[a] Calculated on 1981 prices - figures for 1996 are estimates. Adapted from Table A1 - CEPAL 1997

Table 4 - GDP by selected sectors

GDP by selected sectors of (estimate)
economic activity (as % of total) 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

All agriculture (at 1981 prices) 8.8 8.9 9.3 9.3 9.2 8.6 7.2 7.2 6.5 6.1 6.2 6.8
(at current prices) 9.3 10.3 10.5 10.6 10.3 10.8 10.4 9.9 7.6 6.5 5.6
Mining (1981 prices) 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.7 1.0 1.1
(at current prices) 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.7
Manufacturing Industry (1981) 25.4 23.9 23.5 23.9 23.3 22.8 22.8 21.1 21.7 23.2 24.0 24.1
(at current prices) 25.4 24.9 23.8 24.2 22.9 22.2 24.0 26.9 27.0 33.2 34.9
Construction (1981 prices) 6.2 5.9 5.4 5.8 6.4 7.4 5.9 3.6 2.7 2.7 2.8 3.4
(at current prices) 6.3 6.3 5.5 5.7 6.1 6.8 5.7 4.6 4.4 3.9 3.8

Basic Services
Electricity, gas & water (1981) 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.0 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.5
(at current prices) 1.7 2 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.3 1.8 1.6 2
Transport, storage and comms. (1981) 6.2 6.3 6.6 6.6 6.5 5.9 5.8 5.5 5.1 4.9 5.1 5.1
(at current prices) 6.3 6.5 7.1 6.9 6.6 5.8 5.9 5.2 4.5 3.8 3.6
Other Services
Personal, communal and social services (1981) 16.2 16.8 17.8 18.3 19 19.7 21.9 24.8 28.7 28 26.7 26.2
(at current prices) 17.5 19 20 20.1 21.8 20.4 24.3 27 28.1 21.2 20.1
Adapted from Tables A5 and A6, CEPAL 1997 -
 61

Table 5 - Value of total and selected imports and exports

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
($000s) (estimate)
Total export of goods 5,392,000 5,415,000 298,000 1,779,000 1,137,000 1,315,000 1,479,000 1,967,000
Selected exports
Sugar ($000s) 3,919,715 4,313,843 2,259,280 1,220,076 752,505 748,007 704,253 951,689
% of total 72.7 79.7 75.8 68.6 66.2 56.9 47.6 48.4
Volume (tonnes) [a] 7,118,958 7,169,049 6,731,953 6,081,630 3,661,950 3,188,207 2,600,102
Medicine ($000s) 55,289 84,558 31,192 3,086 5,507 76,287 40,718 51,650
% of total 1.0 1.6 1.0 0.2 0.5 5.8 2.8 2.6

Total imports 8,124,200 7,417,000 4,233,000 2,315,000 2,037,000 2,111,000 2,772,000 3,695,000
Selected Imports
Petrol & Derivatives 2,604,243 1,994,402 1,252,506 811,335 699,396 742,579 838,938 953,038
Volume (tonnes) [a] 13132618 9900372 7815974 5449819 5304531 5581672 6031661
Rolled Steel 222,501 214,331 47,586 24,115 25,139 31,272 66,013 89,558
Volume (tonnes) [a] 730027 712204 175947 37028 46294 46708 241375

[a] 1995 = estimate

Adapted from Tables A17, A18, A20 and A21 - CEPAL 1997

Table 6- Economic associations with external capital - by Country

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Country estimate
Spain 1 3 9 10 14 10
Canada 2 8 16
Italy 1 5 4 7
France 1 3 5 2 2
Holland 1 2 3 3
Mexico 2 3 3 4 1
Rest of Lat. Am. 2 3 11 9 4
Rest of World 1 4 11 16 22 4

Total 1 2 11 33 60 74 31 48
Source: Table A26 - CEPAL 1997
 62

Table 7 - Selected Social Indicators

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Doctors 34752 38690 42634 46860 51045 54065 56836 60129

Family Doctors 8965 11915 15141 18503 22021 25055 27169 28350
Hospitals 265 268 269 272 279 280 281
Polyclinics 421 419 421 423 429 435 440
Patients per Doctor 303 275 252 231 214 202 193 183
Hospital Beds per Thous. 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.5 7.5 7.3
Infant Mortality per 1000 Live 11.1 10.7 10.7 10.2 9.4 9.9 9.4
Births
Primary Schools 9,417 9,395 9,346 9,368 9,440 9,425 9,420 9,481
Middle Schools 2,175 2,170 2,102 2,089 1,926 1,805 1,952 1,891
Higher Schools 35 35 35 34 33 33 32 32
Total Number of Schools 12,908 12,850 12,702 12,663 12,511 12,254 12,263 12,233
Students per Teacher (Primary) 12.3 12.5 12.3 12.4 12.9 13.6 13.1 13.0
Students per Teacher (Middle) 9.9 10.0 9.4 8.8 8.5 9.8 9.5 10.1
Students per Lecturer (Higher) 9.9 9.8 9.0 7.7 6.7 6.0 5.3 4.9

Daily Calorific Intake/ person ….. ….. ….. 2833 ….. ….. ….. …..
Daily Grammes of
Protein/Person
(1988-90) 77.4

Adapted from Tables A58 and A 59 - CEPAL 1997

 63

Table 8 - Human Development Indicators - Selected Countries Comparison

A B C A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 D

High human dev. 73.52 95.69 78.68 76.79 70.27 95.23 96.16 79.03 75.51 16241
4 USA 76.4 99 96 79.69 72.99 99 99 98 93 26977
14 UK 76.8 99 86 79.41 74.18 99 99 86 85 19302
31 Chile 75.1 95.2 73 78.01 72.16 94.96 95.4 72.06 64.71 9930
41 Dominica 73 94 77 6424
45 Panama 73.4 90.8 72 75.56 71.42 90.22 91.37 73.06 63.35 6258
46 Venezuela 72.3 91.1 67 75.28 69.51 90.34 91.79 68.43 57.95 8090
51 Grenada 72 98 78 5425
53 Colombia 70.3 91.3 69 73.07 67.67 91.38 91.23 70.66 62.74 6347
62 Brazil 66.6 83.3 72 70.72 62.76 83.21 83.32 71.8 69.1 5928
Med. human dev. 67.47 83.25 65.61 69.68 65.35 76.93 89.53 63.67 64.93 3390
73 Ecuador 69.5 90.1 71 72.16 66.99 88.22 92.04 68.86 64.27 4602
84 Jamaica 74.1 85 67 76.34 71.91 89.11 80.81 68.85 63.43 3801
85 Cuba 75.7 95.7 66 77.64 73.86 95.29 96.17 67.26 62.12 3100
86 Peru 67.7 88.7 79 70.19 65.33 82.96 94.54 76.13 72.03 3940
114 El Salvador 69.4 71.5 58 72.13 65.88 69.75 73.45 58.06 52.15 2610
126 Nicaragua 67.5 65.7 64 69.93 65.16 66.62 64.65 65.69 59.74 1837
Low human dev. 56.67 50.85 47.09 57.46 55.9 38.34 62.96 39.51 52.22 1362
131 Myanmar 58.9 83.1 48 60.55 57.25 77.69 88.73 47.53 46.42 1130
132 Cameroon 55.3 63.4 45 56.72 53.92 52.13 75.05 40.97 48.29 2355
133 Ghana 57 64.5 44 58.85 55.21 53.55 75.88 38.07 48.58 2032
174 Sierra Leone 34.7 31.4 30 36.27 33.25 18.19 45.39 23.68 35.66 625
All dev. 62.2 70.44 57.49 63.67 60.78 61.82 78.86 53.06 58.9 3068
Least dev. 51.16 49.2 36.42 52.3 50.03 39.3 59.19 30.85 40.32 1008
Ind. countries 74.17 98.63 82.81 77.9 70.36 98.5 98.76 83.98 81.57 16337
World 63.62 77.58 61.59 65.37 61.92 71.48 83.71 58.07 62.51 5990

A = Life expectancy at birth (years).

A1 = Female L. E. @ Birth
A2 = Male L. E. @ Birth
B = Adult literacy rate - %
B1 = Female L. R. %
B2 = Male L. R. %
C = Combined 1st, 2nd & 3rd level gross education - %
C1 = Female combined 1st, 2nd, 3rd level gross education - %
C2 = Male combined 1st, 2nd, 3rd level gross education - %
D = GDP/capita ($)

Source: Adapted from United Nations Development Reports - 1998

 64

Table 9 - Yield Comparisons of selected CPAs and UBPCs

Tonnes/ha Tonnes/ha Tonnes/ha Tonnes/ha % Change

1989/90 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 89/90-

92/93

UBPC 'Fajardo', Habana 62 63 61 40 35.5

CPA '17 de Mayo', Habana 86 90 79 54 -37.2
CPA 'Antonio Rojas', Habana 100 75 54 44 -56
CPA 'Revolucion de Octubre', Matanzas 84 65 56 48 -42.9
CPA 'Manuel Ascunce', Matanzas 90 88 60 45 -50
CPA '17 de Mayo', Matanzas 99 96 69 59 -40.4
CPA 'Hermanos Almeida', Matanzas 89 87 75 39 -56.2
CPA 'Heroes de Moncada', Matanzas 82 67 64 40 -51.2
UBPCs 'Pedroso' and 'Socorro', Matanzas 64 62 59 53 -17.2
UBPC 'Arratia', Matanzas …. 79 64 51 ….
UBPC 'Ciego', Matanzas 47 40 37 36 -23.4

Average 80 74 62 46 42.5

…. = not known
Source: B. H. Pollitt's fieldwork, 1994

Reference: Table 4, (Pollitt, 1997)

 65

Figure 1 - Tourism development indicators

Tourism Indicators

1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Visitors (000s) 340 424 461 546 619 742 1004
Gross Deposits
243.4 387.4 567.0 720.0 850.0 1,100. 1,380.
($000s)
Avg per tourist $ 82.5 105.3 135.6 137.9 150.3 170.3 187.8

Visitors (000s) Gross Deposits ($000s) Avg per tourist $

Adapted from Table A23 - CEPAL 1997

 66

Methodological Appendix

This research is concerned with the pursuit of non-alienated experience. With this

in mind it is necessary to focus how and in what circumstances alienation arises and thus

how it can be combated and overcome. In a most general sense the worker is subject to

alienation through the operation of four recognisably different but dialectically

interdependent elements. Firstly labour is alienated from the product of its labour, secondly

the worker is alienated through the labour process. Thirdly the worker is seen to be

alienated from their fellow human beings and finally the worker is seen to be alienated from

their 'species being', as social beings acting collectively for the development of all. It is

suggested that the work of Zdravomyslov and Cherniak assumes, without much

investigation, that the transformation of those elements have been to some extent achieved

by virtue of the general social conditions which they saw operating in Soviet society. This

leads them to focus more upon how, under those conditions, the development of

communist consciousness and of individual potential may be more fully realised. We, on

the other hand are more specifically concerned with the systemic roots of alienation and

with how production, distribution and consumption are socially controlled. Of key

importance is the opportunity for meaningful input in the processes of decision-making in

social, political and economic activity and the creation of an environment which more fully

addresses the opportunities for the development of individual creativity and potential.

In relation to our specific methodology it is expected that we will attempt to utilise

the methodology developed by Zdravomyslov (1970) and his associates. It is recognised that

this will require some adaptation to reflect the specific, concrete realities of the Cuban

context and to address some of the underlying assumptions which are mentioned above.

Zdravomyslov utilised a number of sources of data collection which included

information from documents, information taken from foremen, information supplied by

the individual both in the form of questionnaire data and that gained from the follow-up
 67

control interview. This allowed the collection of both objective and subjective data and the

comparison of groups differentiated in relation to the character and content of work.102

As we have seen with the work of Kohn, Zdravomyslov and Cherniak, the character

and content of labour is of crucial importance as a factor influencing the individual.

Zdravomyslov and his team used a number of recognised methods of investigation to

collect their data. Firstly data was collected on the individual, which included demographic

data about the worker; trade and level of skill; amount of wages; fulfilment of work norms;

and the presence or absence of disciplinary sanctions. Secondly information was gained

from the foreperson or group leader which covered some of the aspects above but included

other issues concerned with: quality of work; whether involved in on-the-job training or

other skill raising activity; degree of responsibility shown; and degree of initiative shown.103

In relation to content of labour Zdravomyslov identifies six groups ranging from manual

labour to workers engaged in the operation or setting up of complex equipment. The six

groups are then used to analyse the average characteristics of a number of variables

including age, seniority, skill level, education and wages. Character of labour is concerned

with factors that relate to skills, opportunities for initiative and creativity, the quality and

quantity of the product, responsibility and conscientiousness, discipline and absenteeism.

The data collected allowed the calculation of three objective indices:

R = degree of responsibility and conscientiousness on the job - which allowed four groups

to be isolated (high - average - less than average - low).

I = degree of initiative on the job, including such traits as participation in rationalisation

and invention, involved in suggesting improvements in the production process and

organisation of labour, and which allowed three groups to be isolated (high - medium - low).

D = level of labour discipline which included the presence or absence of refusal to work,

of administrative reprimands and rates of absenteeism or poor time-keeping. This again

allowed three groups to be distinguished (high - average - low).

 68

If we now move to examine the subjective factors which are the subject of the

questionnaire we can see that in an analysis of socialist society particular attention is paid to

participation in social, political and cultural activity. More attention will be focused on this

area than is present in both Zdravomyslov and Cherniak who assumed the presence of

some form of socialist consciousness as inherent in the nature of socialist society. In

respect of our own investigation more emphasis will thus be placed upon issues of

participation and motivation in regard to perceptions of such issues as internationalism,

membership of militias and mass organisations and the ideals of sovereignty and self-

determination. While examining satisfaction with the job, the reasons for taking the job,

questions relating to issues of skill, and the conditions in which the work is carried out,

specific attention is paid to how, if the work week was shorter, the individual would spend

the increased 'free time'. The questionnaire contained a mix of open and closed questions

and those that were concerned with satisfaction and use of 'free time' allowed the

respondent to provide a number of responses to these questions. The data obtained from

both subjective and objective factors is then subjected to a number of statistical tests which

allows a number of different correlations to be calculated. The strength of the correlation

and its level of significance allow the relative importance of a number of factors to be

assessed e.g. What is the relationship between level of education and wages; how is

satisfaction at work correlated to 'free time' activity; is there a correlation between degree of

initiative and civic or communal activity. In addition we would be concerned to examine

how the age variable interacts with factors concerned with initiative, responsibility,

efficiency and productivity. We would also be concerned to investigate the individuals

perceptions in relation to the issues discussed in the last chapter which relate to the specific

individual cognition of the positive and negative aspects of the concrete historical

processes which the revolution has undergone and their perceptions of the wider geo-

political context in which Cuba is situated. Thus we can examine the data at a number of

levels. Firstly we can examine the relationship between the six groups which comprise the
 69

content of labour and the indices concerning the character of labour. Secondly we can

examine the relationship of the content or character of labour and the subjective factors

relating to satisfaction, motivation, participation, perception etc.

The use of a follow up interview allows clarification and expansion of the answers

from the questionnaire and would be expected to provide greater understanding of the

individuals attitudes and behaviour as indicated by the questionnaire responses. The use of

some participant observation will also provide further depth and understanding of the

processes under investigation and is expected to be most useful in examining elements of

social and cultural activity and in capturing some of the more intangible nuances of the

production process.

The design of the study would then be replicated as closely as possible in each of

the sectors under examination.

 70

1
It is perhaps here that the differences between Hegel's 'idealist' conception of alienation and Marx's
'materialist' conception are most fully addressed. Engels in Ludwig Feuerbach and The End of Classical
German Philosophy (1998) later put the philosophical links into the wider context of German
philosophical development.
2
Part of Marx's analysis of Feuerbach's philosophy is to be found in The Holy Family (1975).
3
See Bottomore, 1971: pp52-3
4
ibid., p55-6
5
The Weberian influence upon Lukács is also recognised by Merleau-Ponty (1974)
6
This 'reification' is somewhat ironic given Lukács's analysis of 'commodity fetishism' and the reification
this engenders.
7
It is suggested however that Majumdar overestimates Althusser's position and overstresses his
importance within the French Communist Party
8
This is especially so when Althusser attempts to use the concept to defend his periodisation of Marx's
thought. (Majumdar, 1995, pp30-37)
9
For example, practice as 'theoretical practice' (Geras, 1972: pp60-3) and the 'autonomy of theory' and
the production of knowledge (1972: p63-8).
10
In this regard see Volume One of Capital (1998 Electronic edition) pp 178, 508, 519-521.
11
There is no place here to engage critically with the main body of these authors work, which must
involve far greater depth than is possible in this inquiry.
12
See Brewer (1987) pp14-20, for an analysis of Ferguson on among other things: the pursuit of wealth,
power relations, oppression, luxury and decadence; and how this relates to mechanical labour.
13
For a brief discussion of the articulation of Ferguson's thought in relation to Hegel, Schiller and Marx,
see the Introduction by Fania Oz-Salzberger to the 1995 edition of An Essay in the History Of Civil
Society.
14
Brewer specifically relates this strand of though to the eighteenth century 'critique of luxury' and shows
its articulation as anticipating the idea of 'status exploitation'. A chief concern of this critique was the
effect of increased commerce and opulence upon virtue, morality and public spirit. (ibid. pp15-16).
15
Much of the substance of Ferguson's critique of private property and the division of labour is
recognised by Marx (Capital, Vol. 1, pp519-522) [1998 electronic edition], although in this sense the
concept of 'value' is not directly transferable.
16
The professionalisation of the army was of major importance to Ferguson who was to lobby on the
formation of a Scottish militia, not welcomed by those who feared a resurrection of Jacobite sympathies
only recently quelled.
17
We are only concerned here with the work of Smith as it intersects with our inquiry and thus we shall
not engage with the main body of that work.
18
In respect of the Marx's critical engagement with Smith's economic analysis attention is drawn to
Capital Vol. II, Pt.II, Chapter X, Vol. III, Pt. II Chapter VIII, Pts. IV and V, and Value, Price and Profit
19
In relation to the division of labour, see: pp 500, 508-9, 520-24. For the conjunction of the division of
labour and the characteristics of modern industry, see Chapter XV, section 8 - Revolution effected in
manufacture, handicrafts and domestic industry by modern industry, especially sub-section (a)
20
Excerpts of this work are contained in Lehmann (1966)
21
This is reproduced in Lehmann's autobiography, cited above.
22
As we have earlier mentioned in relation to Ferguson and Smith, we are not concerned here with any
fundamental critique of Millar's work rather with his recognition of the social consequences of the
division of labour and mechanisation upon the individual.
23
It is interesting to note here that Brewer places much less importance upon Millar's economic analysis
than Lehmann does. Brewer in particular mentions Millar's conception of surplus as being a regression in
comparison with Smith.
24
The references are to the page numbers in Lehmann (1960), these are excerpts from pp 143-6, 153-6,
and 159-61, of the 1803 edition of An Historical View.
25
The similarities of the analyses of Ferguson, Smith and Millar are quite obvious in relation to the
unintended consequences and their effects upon the individual.
 71

26
Millar recognises the limitations of the parish school concept as it operated at this time, but sees
benefits of the system that can be built upon.
27
Hutchinson Multimedia Encyclopaedia (1996)
28
Mill (1909 ed., 1976 reprint), Book I, Chapter 8 Of Co-operation, or the Combination of Labour.
29
Agriculture in particular was seen as imposing limitations upon the practicable division of labour.
(op.cit pp 130-1)
30
(ibid. p759) Mill also suggests that unfavourable political consequences will result from the increased
political awareness of labour and this is tied to a lack of social mobility in operation in Britain. The poor
will not always consent to their position in life and opportunities for advancement must be
provided.(ibid., p761)
31
This can be related to his hopes for some form of inclusion for labour to be available mentioned above.
32
(ibid. pp771-792) provides an interesting précis of the operation of such associations in France and in
England
33
The references relating to Marshall's Principles are taken from the 9th Edition, (1961)
34
Marshall here gives a defence of the caste system of the division of labour in which he suggests that the
benefits of the system have outweighed its flaws.
35
This is also allied with, unfashionable for the time, support for the equality of opportunity of women.
36
As recognised earlier the main panacea was the limited and gradual education of the masses but this
was in the main concerned with providing a recognition of the 'natural' or reified structure of society.
37
Blauner does however begin his analysis specifically from an outline of Marx's conception of
alienation.
38
The specifics and results of Blauner's investigation are well-documented and only general coverage and
criticisms will be offered here.
39
The term 'skill' is subject to considerable debate concerning how much is socially constructed and how
much can be recognised as resulting from tangible or intangible characteristics. See also Cockburn (1983)
for further patriarchal aspects of the notion of skill. In addition, the work of Baron (1992) attempts to
overcome the dualism - patriarchy and capitalism - of Cockburn's analysis through utilisation of a
approach that stresses how gender is embedded in class and changes are the historical product of the class
struggle.
40
In relation to the textile industry both Cockburn (1985) and Warde (1992) provide a radically different
view form Blauner's simplistic analysis of the conditions and relations of the production process.
41
In the case of Britain see Beynon (1973), for France see Linhart (1985) and for Japan see Kamata
(1983)
42
Nichols & Beynon are themselves subject to criticism by Harris (1987) who carried out an
'anthropological' study of the same chemical plants. However her naïve understanding of the dynamics of
capitalism are coupled with an attitude to research practice that has been questioned since Whyte's Street
Corner Society. The hopes of the chemical company in her ability to negate some of the images obtained
in Nichols & Beynon says much in regard to the superficiality of her analysis. It is also lacking in similar
aspects to Blauner in relation to the articulation of the plant within the wider context of capitalist society.
Finally she mistakenly equates their argument with Braverman (1974), rather than as engaging critically
with Blauner and other commentators who saw automated technology as enriching and fulfilling.
43
Studies of textile workers Cockburn (1985) and chemical workers Nichols &Beynon (1977) show the
degree of differentiation not only in these industries in general but also the differentiation that occurs at
the level of the plant or enterprise.
44
Both Nichols & Beynon and Gallie found little evidence of the 'happy worker' advanced by Mayo
(1949) and later by Bell (1974) and others.
45
These include affluence, economic security, physical or geographic mobility and consumption-
mindedness (Goldthorpe et al 1969 p32)
46
In relation to industrial setting, the characteristics include advanced technology, 'progressive'
employment policies and harmonious industrial relations. (ibid. p33)
47
These include newness, instability and 'openness'; social heterogeneity; economic expansion, 'optimism'
and relative isolation from older industrial regions. (ibid. p33)
48
They do however engage with conceptions of alienation in their conclusion although only at the general
level.
49
They mention specifically the effects of shift work; the flattening out of promotion hierarchies and the
effect upon social activity of shift and overtime working. (ibid. p157-8)
50
"In short, class and status relationships do not change entirely pari passu with changes in the economic,
technological and ecological infrastructure of social life: they have rather an important degree of
autonomy, and can thus accommodate considerable change in this infrastructure without themselves
changing in any fundamental way." (ibid. p163)
 72

51
We will examine the introduction of such practices as flexibility, Just in Time, and 'quality circles' in
relation to the rhetoric employed by those who herald such introductions as beneficial and enriching
below.
52
In part this focus upon coercion and consent in the workplace can be related to criticisms of Braverman
(1974) which sought to address what was seen as the omission of worker resistance in his treatment of the
labour process.
53
Working within the SSRC Industrial Relations Unit at the University of Warwick, Edwards has been
concerned to investigate issues of coercion and consent, discipline and control, as they manifest
themselves at the point of production in capitalist society.
54
. Factors which impinge on the relationship include: the method of remuneration (different strategies
are seen to be in effect under conditions where there is some form of piece-rate and where the
remuneration is based on hourly-rate); the method of organisation and the ability for management to
closely supervise and the ability of workers to retain some control through their specific skill or job
requirements. (Edwards 1990)
55
Specifically Hodson recognises the effects of computer technologies upon each of the environments
characterised by Blauner (1996, p721)
56
This sounds remarkably similar to those abilities which for Bowles and Gintis (1976) were the aims of
capitalist education for the majority.
57
See the work of Thompson and Warhurst (op.cit)
58
Cited by Erikson (op.cit. p28)
59
Kohn recognises both the desirability and difficulty of research design, which will address both
objective conditions and subjective appraisals. (op.cit. p38-9) This is an issue we will return to with the
work of Soviet scholars of the work-personality relationship.
60
Sorokin, 1927, p321
61
See, in general, Kohn and Schooler (1982), and also Mortimer, Lorence and Kumka (1986)
62
In relation to Poland, see Slomczynski et al. (1981) and Miller et al. (1985) and for Japan, see Naoi and
Schooler (1985) and Schooler and Naoi (1988). Kohn also cites a number of other national studies that
seem to support their contentions, which were carried out in West Germany, Canada, Norway, Italy and
Ireland. (Kohn, 1990, p42)
63
(Kohn and Schooler 1978, 1982; J. Miller et al. 1979, 1985; K. Miller and Kohn 1983)
64
(Kohn 1969; Coburn and Edwards 1976; Hoff and Gruneisen 1978; J. Miller et al. 1979; Mortimer,
Lorence and Kumka 1986; Slomczynski et al. 1981; Grabb 1981; Naoi and Schooler 1985; Kohn and
Schooler 1983; Bertram 1983)
65
The respondents' answers to a variety of cognitive, perceptual and projective tests that require
considerable thought and reflection measure intellectual flexibility. "Self-directedness is reflected in not
having authoritarian/conservative beliefs, in having personally responsible standards of morality, in being
trustful in others, in not being self-deprecatory, in not being conformist in one's ideas, and in not being
fatalistic." (Kohn, 1990: 52-3) 'Distress' is considered along with 'self-directedness' as an underlying
dimension of self to society, and is reflected by distress, anxiety, lack of self-confidence and distrust.
66
The role of labour activity in the development of consciousness is central to Engel's The Part Played by
Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man (1998). See also Woolfson (1982)
67
The object of study was to be young workers, up to the age of 30, in Leningrad.
68
The work of Vygotsky, Voloshinov, Luria, and Leontiev are at present enjoying something of a delayed
introduction to thinkers in western academia through among others the work of Bakhurst (1991).
69
This may be determined through reference to indices, which measure labour productivity, labour
initiative, and labour discipline.
70
It is suggested that there are a number of similarities here between the concerns of Zdravomyslov and
Cherniak, and those of Kohn and his associates in the definition of the problem and the attempts to
investigate it.
71
"The communist attitude towards labour is a complex social phenomenon, which is in a certain sense
independent of an y concrete form of labour. The chief element in it, as Lenin pointed out, is an attitude
toward labour as not only work for oneself or even for people close to oneself, but for the society as a
whole - an understanding of the significance for society of conscientious productive labour."
(Zdravomyslov, 1970, p19) See also in this connection the importance placed by Lenin on 'socialist
emulation' and the role of the Subbotniks. (Lenin, 1968, p488)
72
For details of the sampling procedure, see pp49-58. In respect of the data collection two methods were
used: an individual 'card' (pp59-66), and a questionnaire (pp 66-80). In relation to the 'control' aspect of
data collection, see pp80-84. (Zdravomyslov, 1970)
73
See Table 26, (op.cit. p191)
74
This is related not just to the material and technical base of society in terms of likely opportunities for
the individual but also to the need for better organisation and support from the education system and the
development of systems of occupational orientation and selection. (op. cit. p301-2)
 73

75
In this regard see Note78, above.
76
The categorisation and definition of the subjective and objective are similar in both cases, as is the
concept 'content of work'.
77
It is worth mentioning that Cherniak's conception of the concrete reality of Soviet society is far more
optimistic, indeed almost utopian, than that recognised by Zdravomyslov.
78
Cultural consumption included reading newspapers, attendance at cultural institutions and the reading
of 'socio-political' literature. This is also reflected through participation in the 'efficiency suggestion'
movement. See Table 2(Cherniak 1974: p56)
79
For a list of free time activities and results see Table 3. (ibid., p57)
80
Again this is not determinism in respect of the content of labour, but recognition of its importance in the
totality of social relations.
81
(Clarke, S. ed. - 1995, 1996a, 1996b, 1996c)
82
The export of state terrorism as a major plank of US foreign policy, not just directed against Cuba but
on a global level, is well-documented in the works of Noam Chomsky (1987, 1989, 1992) "Thus, we had
no 'genuine choices' when we invaded South Vietnam, overthrew the democratic capitalist government of
Guatemala in 1954 and have maintained the rule of murderous gangsters ever since, ran by far the most
extensive international terror operations in history against Cuba from the early 1960s and Nicaragua
throughout the 1980s, sought to assassinate Lumumba and installed and maintained the brutal Mobutu
dictatorship, backed Trujillo, Somoza, Marcos, Duvalier, the generals of the southern cone, Suharto, the
racist rulers of southern Africa, and a whole host of other major criminals; and on and on." (Chomsky,
1992, pp13-14)
83
The 1500 pages of classified documents made public on 18/11/97, covering US policy towards Cuba in
the period 1962-64 make interesting reading and show the lengths to which the US state were prepared to
go to in attempts to destabilise Cuba. On 22/11/98, a report written six months after the Bay of Pigs by the
inspector general of the CIA at the time, Lyman Kirkpatrick, gives examples of efforts at destabilisation
including the formation of paramilitary groups, which had been carried out since 1959. (Granma
International, Issue 14, 1998) Among the clauses of Helms-Burton Act are those ordering punitive
measures against countries that fail to comply with the blockade, or utilise former U.S. properties
nationalised by the Cuban government in the early 1960s for their commercial operations. This is in
addition to the general blockade upon trade with Cuba, which is the focus of a yearly condemnation by
the UN General Assembly. (Granma International, Issues 7 & 17, 1998)
84
Since 1992 a special UN rapporteur has been assigned to monitor the situation in Cuba. It is widely
believed that the rapporteur is reliant upon US State Department and exile groups for his information.
(Granma International Issue 17, 1998)
85
The complexities of the historical development of Cuba, its external relations and internal policy are
beyond the scope of this investigation. The specifics will be examined in more detail in subsequent
papers.
86
In order to influence subsequent events, as the 1898 struggle neared victory, the US intervened and
occupied the country. One of the conditions for ending the occupation was the imposition of the Platt
Amendment, which allowed US military intervention whenever the US decided it was warranted. The Platt
Amendment also removed the freedom for Cuba to decide its foreign policy and ability to contract debt. The
amendment was invoked three times and US troops were sent into Cuba in 1906, 1912, and 1917. (MacEwan,
1981 p15) In 1934, a Reciprocal Trade Agreement was signed and with some modifications this remained
in force until the revolution of 1959. The agreement lowered Cuban duties on many items, specified goods
upon which duty would not be raised, reduced internal taxes and quantitative restrictions on goods of US
origin and prohibited exchange controls. . The increasing influence of the US can be gauged by the fact that
before independence US investments totalled US$50m, by 1906 this had grown to US$160m, and by 1923
they were worth US$1.2bn. Much of this was concentrated in the sugar industry where 48% of sugar
production was in US owned mills in 1920 and grew to 70-75% in 1927. (MacEwan 1981, pp11-13) In
addition the US extended its economic control over other sectors of the economy including the telephone
system, the principal port facilities of Havana, a large share of the utilities and domination of the railway
system. MacEwan also suggest that this dominance by US interests allied with the 'sugar oligarchy'
retarded infrastructural developments conducive to wider economic and social development and this may
also have restricted the ability of other nascent bourgeois formations to evolve. See also Perez-Stable (1993),
who suggests that an understanding of the position of the indigent bourgeoisie is crucial in relation to events
as they progressed during 1959-61.
87
It could be argued that the period immediately before and after the revolution constitutes a separate
period worthy of study. It was in this period that the programmes of radical income redistribution, the
First Agrarian Reform Act of 1959 and nationalisation were introduced. Given the extent of US interests
this inevitably led to conflict. The final event preceding the breaking off of relations was the Bay of Pigs
fiasco in 1961.
 74

88
The stability of the sugar price, as Cuba's main export, undoubtedly helped to provide the resources for
the tremendous achievements in terms of social reforms in the areas of health, welfare and education.
89
For an analysis of the Cuban sugar industry in the Soviet era and possibilities for the industry in the
post-Soviet era, see Pollitt and Hagelberg (1993), and Pollitt (1985, 1996, and 1997).
90
The Gender Empowerment Report is concerned with female representation in parliament, at the level of
administration and management and in the scientific and technical sectors. (UNHDR 1988)
91
For a reasonably balanced analysis of the period '59-61, attention is drawn to the work of Peréz-Stable
(1993), less balanced and cynical is that contained in Thomas (1971).
92
The process of 'rectification' begun in 1986 and mentioned on page 60 (below) was an attempt to
address concerns regarding the extent of bureaucratisation and the formal rather then active participation
in the mass organisations of popular democracy.
93
The CPAs were formed around 1977 through the pooled resources of individual private farms which
created economies of scale through more rational and specialised use of land, labour and other inputs and
were formed in periods of relative well-being in relation to mechanisation and imported inputs. The
UBPCs by comparison were formed from the large state farm complexes and in direct response to the
deteriorating economic conditions in 1993. For a more detailed analysis of the specifics and particulars of
the formation of both models and their background see Pollitt (1996, pp22-41) For a more detailed
analysis of the specific reforms which resulted in the formation of the UBPCs, see Carmen Diana Deere
(1997)
94
The absence of a rural/urban divide is in no small way connected to the requirements of sugar
production and its attendant seasonal requirement for large-scale mobilisation during harvest time. For a
detailed analysis of the requirements of the large scale cultivation of sugar and Cuban agriculture in
general see Pollitt & Hagelberg (1993) and Pollitt (1990, 1996, 1997)
95
The three sectors defined above are only general categories and will need to be refined in discussion
with the Cuban state concerning access and logistics. It is recognised that a number of other sectors
would have provided interesting areas of research but for recognisable reasons of commercial sensitivity
and security would be unlikely to be permitted. Specifically attention is drawn in this regard to the areas
of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, where in certain areas Cuba is at the leading edge of development.
For an overview of the role of medical applications of advanced technology, see Limonta Vidal and
Padrón (1992, pp163-174).
96
Whilst periods of structural reform are recognised in relation to economic development and strategy a
more detailed analysis will appear in a subsequent paper.
97
Castro convened the CDRs in September 1960 in response to the perceived threat of foreign
intervention and the real threat of counter-revolutionary activity instigated with US support. In 1986 these
organisations represented 84% of the Cuban population over 14 years of age and were involved in a
variety of activities in the areas of health care, education, volunteer work as well as their more traditional
role of defence and citizen security. In this regard and also for an overview of popular participation see
Hernández and Dilla (1992, pp31-46) The FMC was formed in support of the social revolution in August
1960, according to Hernández and Dilla (op.cit. p37) in 1986, 3.1 million or 80% of the adult female
population were involved. A more detailed analysis of the activities and importance of Cuban women is
presented by Peréz-Stable (1993, pp107-9, 135-142) Preparations for the introduction of OPP were base
around a pilot project in Matanzas province in 1973, and established on a national scale in December
1975. For the background to the introduction of OPPs and its relation to the constitutional changes of
1975 see Suárez-Hernández (1992, pp52-4).
98
For an analysis of Che Guevara and his writings on the problems of transition and their contemporary
relevance see Tablada (1989)
99
Anderson (1997) in his biography of Guevara also cites the example of volunteer brigades in Mao's
China as an influence in this matter (p503)
100
The microbrigades were reactivated in September 1986 and in the first two years of operation had built
110 childcare centres with a capacity for more than 23,000 children. By September 1989 they had
constructed 16,515 dwellings, 1,657 family medical clinics, 22 bakeries, 9 polyclinics and 8 special
education schools. Rodriguez Garcia (1992 pp108-9)
101
For an analysis of popular participation and some of its limitations see Hernández and Dilla (op.cit.
pp40-44)
102
For the classification of the character and content of labour. (Zdravomyslov op.cit. pp23-34)
103
Zdravomyslov recognises that there may be problems, especially of impartiality, yet suggests that in
practice extremes deviating from the information already gained in terms of productivity and discipline
will stand out and thus can be excluded. (ibid. p61)
 75

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