Mechanization of Production and the Conversion of Labor-power into a Commodity

Abstract

A fundamental proposition of historical materialism asserts that there exists a correspondence between material productive forces and the relations of production in society. Yet, how are productive forces and the relations of production related to each other? It is well known that in the course of the Industrial Revolution which began in late eighteenth-century Britain machinery with new technology was installed into the factory floor one after another, and mechanization of production advanced steadily, while in modern societies after industrial revolutions we see the establishment of the factory system and the proliferation of large-scale firms as well as the expansion of market economy. In a market economy the bulk of products are traded as commodities in product market, and even labor-power becomes a commodity to buy and sell in labor market; the industrial revolution has brought both new production technology and new economic structure to society. Then, what relations are formed between production technology and economic structure? In this paper we examine logical relations among mechanization of production, the establishment of the factory system, and the conversion of labor-power into a commodity. The ultimate goal of our study in this paper is not to depict the transition from pre-modern society to modern society, but to elucidate the internal structure of the latter. Nevertheless, since the origin of the problem can be traced back to the experiences of industrial revolutions and industrializations in a large number of countries, we began our investigation by referring to the historical experiences, following the tradition of political economy with the social and historical points of view. In particular, we referred to British industrialization from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century, which revealed that full-fledged mechanization of production, the establishment of the factory system, and the expansion of market economy arose in the process of transition from pre-modern society to modern society, and that, more significantly, there was a rough concurrence of these transformations. This fact suggests that these transformations, i.e. mechanization of production, the establishment of the factory system, and the expansion of market economy, are not irrelevant to each other. After confirming this basic fact, we turned to a theoretical study. New production technology, a new form of business organization, and market economy were clearly defined, and the interrelations between these three concepts were analyzed. Our conclusions are summarized as follows. First, one of the characteristics of new technology in modern societies lies in the introduction of a system of machinery. Second, for production using a system of machinery to be realized, the establishment of firm, economic organization different from household, is required. Third, provided that firms are formed, depriving households of production activities, both the exchange of labor-power and goods between firms and households and the exchange of goods between firms take place, and a market economy emerges. Thus, in modern societies, production technology, economic organizations, and market economy are, far from being independent of each other, logically interrelated and mutually inseparable. Given the reproduction of the total labor force and the total products in the community, the development of large-scale mechanical industry make inevitable the formation of firm and the conversion of labor-power into a commodity. To put it another way, the economic structure of modern society characterized by the formation of firm and the conversion of labor-power into a commodity, stands on the foundation of production using a system of machinery.