Marx's Final Capitalist Crisis and the Impending Robolution

In chapter 10 of Cutting Edge, entitled “Structural Unemployment and the Qualitative Transformation of Capitalism”, Thomas Hirschl examines Marx’s theory of capitalist development, specifically focusing on the possibility for and effects of a social revolution in capitalist society.  According to Marx, “[A]n era of social revolution begins when the technological capacity of society supersedes or becomes too productive for the existing property relations” (Davis, 158).  The explicit connection that Marx draws between social revolution and technological advancements is addressed by Hirschl, who seeks to argue that, “[G]iven the framework of Marx’s dynamic theory of capitalist accumulation, the introduction of electronic technology is, indeed, a catalyst for revolutionary change” (158).  Indeed, Hirschl is a proponent of what he suggests is an imminent social revolution.  What this revolution might mean to capitalist society itself is a topic that he addresses throughout the chapter.

I found Hirschl’s ideas to be in significant conversation with Guglielmo Carchedi’s examination of advanced technologies and the productivity of labor, which we looked at last week in chapter 5.  In his chapter on the promises and realities of technology in the twenty-first century, Carchedi examines the effect/s of technological advancements on the labor force, ultimately cautioning that the cyclical process of technology replacing labor will result primarily in unemployment, poverty, human exploitation, starvation and despair.  His fear is not unfounded, nor is it particularly new, as this clip from The Twilight Zone (1964) illustrates:

Here, a single supervisor (Hanley) is replaced by a machine that is purportedly more precise and effective than he is.  Initially Mr. Whipple (the boss) is pleased with his purchase, despite the fact that it earns him his employees’ scorn and leads to him being punched in the face.  As the episode progresses, however, Mr. Whipple becomes increasingly obsessed with the machines in the factory, and is ultimately replaced by one himself, lamenting “It isn't fair, Hanley! It isn't fair the way they [machines] ...diminish us” at the end of the episode.  Although this episode of The Twilight Zone is nearly 50 years old, I found it extremely interesting that even then, the sentiment that “no one is safe from technological advancements in the work force, not even the boss” still rang oh-so true.  It is this sentiment that underscores Hirschl’s imperative that, “As more and more firms in the economy adopt these [ever-advancing] technologies, the total amount of productive labor in the system declines, and the rate of profit falls.  This increases unemployment, heightens realization crisis, and thereby sets the competitive conditions encouraging another round of technological adoption.  This cyclical process defines the ‘final’ decline of capitalism” (164).  Here, Hirschl not only echoes Carchedi’s theory of the impact of technology on productive labor, but uses it to underscore, and even announce Marx’s theory of social revolution and the decline of capitalism.

Admittedly I had, and still have, a difficult time wrapping my head around the idea of the death of capitalism, although if Hirschel is right in his analysis then we certainly seem to be moving in that direction.  He argues that, “The structurally unemployed are in the process of becoming a ‘new class’ that has nothing in common with either the capitalists or the industrial working class.  Their immediate class interests are to transform the social system to distribute goods and services on the basis of human need” (169).  On more than one occasion Hirschl suggests a move towards communism, in which wageless production via technology has the potential to at least threaten the end of capitalism.  But this emancipation, as he points out, will be hard won through political, social, and economic struggle.  Even so, Hirschl’s analysis was a bit reductive for my liking, and while his chapter very nicely laid out and explained various aspects of Marx’s theory of capitalist development (decline?), and the role that technology plays in enacting social revolution, he seems to diminish (if not overlook) the intense opposition that any movement to end capitalism would be met with.

One of the more interesting things I came across while looking for a contemporary application of Marx/Hirschl's theories was an entire collection of propaganda-esque art signaling the beginnings of a robot revolution (or robolution).  This image signals our demise at the hands of our own creations, an anxiety that is echoed throughout a litany of science fiction writing.  Does the end of capitalism signal the end of man?  I’m inclined to say of course not, but a small part of me can’t help but wonder.  If we are moving towards wageless production, my guess is that the road ahead is long, windy, and covered in blood (and circuitry).