World History Part 2 by chronicle ias.pdf

8/20/2019 World History Part 2 by chronicle ias.pdf

1/80

Add : D-108, Sec-2, Noida (U.P.), Pin - 201 301Email id : [email protected]

Call : 09582948810, 09953007628, 0120-2440265

WORLD HISTORYWORLD HISTORYWORLD HISTORYWORLD HISTORYWORLD HISTORY

(PART-II)(PART-II)(PART-II)(PART-II)(PART-II)


2/80

2© CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY


3/80

1. Political Philosophies (Forms & Effect on the Society) ..................................................... 5-27

2. The League of Nations ..................................................................................... 28-32

3. United Nations................................................................................................... 33-46

4. Cold War ............................................................................................................ 47-54

5. NAM ................................................................................................................... 55-57

6. Redrawal of National Boundaries and Decolonization ............................... 58-74

7. Disintegration of USSR .................................................................................... 75-80

CONTENTS


4/80



5/80


Political Philosophies(Forms & Effect on the Society)

CHRONICLEIAS ACADEMYA CIVIL SERVICES CHRONICLE INITIATIVE

CAPITALISM

Industrial capitalism implies the investmentof capital in manufacturing industry, with asubordination of labour to such investment anda focus on the maximum extraction of profits as

returns on investment. It may be distinguishedfrom trading capitalism or finance capitalismwhich has commercial and financial transactionsrespectively as their focus.

Dictionary of Social Sciences explainedcapitalism as denoting an economic system inwhich the greater proportion of economic life,particularly ownership of and investment inproduction goods, is carried on under private(i.e. non-governmental) auspices through theprocess of economic competition with an avowed

incentive of profit.Wealth amassed by capitalism differs in

quality as well as quantity from thataccumulated in pre-capitalist societies. Wealthunder capitalism is typically accumulated ascommodities or objects produced for sale ratherthan for direct use by its owners.

Rise of capitalism is associated with threemain features: (1) the growth of the capitalistspirit i.e. the desire for profits, (2) theaccumulation of capital, and (3) the development

of capitalist techniques.

Capitalism: Birth to Bloom

In the middle ages, the form assumed bycommercial capitalism was entirely different. InEngland, and in Holland, the birth of capitalismcan be dated from the late 16th and early 17thcenturies. The capital amassed was available tofund the famous chartered companies (DutchEast India Company 1602; West India Company1621). It also provided the circulating capital for

merchants engaged in the ‘putting-out system’whereby they supplied raw materials to domestic

handicrafts workers and marketed the product.This stage of capitalism based upon richesamassed from commerce is known as commercialcapitalism. Early capitalism is the combinationof commercial and financial activities, of tradeand banking. Under the ‘putting-out’ system, or

Verlagssystem, (as it was called in Holland), awealthy merchant (capitalist) buys the rawmaterial, pays a variety of labourers to work itup into a finished product at home or in shops,and sells the finished product.

The whole industry became merchant-dominated and craftsmen became mere wageearners. It was also known as the domesticsystem as the work was done in the homes ofindividual workers instead of in the shop ofmaster craftsman. Capitalism did exist in ancient

world in the form of commerce as well as guildsystem and merchant dominated putting-outsystem in the medieval world.

One can also distinguish the periods of earlycapitalism, full capitalism (Hochkapitalismus)and late capitalism. In the period of earlycapitalism, which lasted from the 13th centuryto the middle of the 18th century, economicagents, i.e. the entrepreneurs and the workersoperated within the old feudal framework andretained all the features of their handicraftorigin and pre-capitalist mentality. The output

of factories and manufactories was still not verysignificant. In the period of full capitalism,which closed with the outbreak of the WorldWar, the scope of economic activity wasexpanded enormously, and scientific andtechnological application was also remarkablybroadened. The period of late capitalism can bebest characterized by describing the changeswhich capitalism has been undergoing since theWorld War I.

Evolution and Types Of Capitalism

Marxist historians have identified a series


6/80


of stages in the evolution of capitalism; merchantor commercial capitalism, agrarian capitalism,industrial capitalism and state capitalism. The

first stage, i.e. mercantile or commercialcapitalism provided the initial thrust and impetusfor capitalism in the sense that merchants startedbecoming entrepreneurs to cater to marketdemands by employing wages labourers as wellas by exploiting the existing craft guilds.Commercial Capitalism metamorphosed intoindustrial capitalism, which again, according toMarxist economists, gave way to socialism.

Commercial Capitalism and agrariancapitalism were, therefore, two forms ofcapitalism that overlapped with each other, thedifference between them being that one emergedout of commercial surplus while the other outof agricultural surplus. Agrarian capitalismsometimes metamorphosed fully into commercialcapitalism i.e. invested the entire surplusaccumulated from agriculture into commerceand sometimes transformed directly intoindustrial capitalism by investing in industrialdevelopment alone.

Sometimes capital was accumulated fromboth these sources, i.e. commerce’s andagriculture, and paved the path for the rise ofindustrial capitalism. Agrarian capitalism wasemphasized by Immanuel Wallerstein whoadopted a world-economy perspective, andconsidered its origin to be rooted in the agrariancapitalism.

According to Wallerstein, in worldeconomy, there existed certain zones—like theperiphery, the semi-periphery and the core. Thestrong states imposed unequal exchange uponthe weak states. Therefore, the strong states orthe core dominated the entire world economyin agrarian capitalism which was the essence ofa national economy where production isseparated from consumption, and is made asource of profit after being utilized in profit-making enterprises. Agricultural revolution,therefore, played a very significant role in thegrowth of capitalism by feeding a growingpopulation and by creating a surplus to meetthe demand for industrial raw materials.

A fourth form of Capitalism is —statecapitalism—defined by Lenin as a system under

which state takes over and exploits means ofproduction in the interest of the class whichcontrols the state; but the phrase, ‘state

capitalism’, is also used to describe any systemof state collectivization, without reference to itsuse for the benefit of any particular class. Thereis a fifth form in which there is an increasedelement of state intervention either in terms ofwelfare programmes of lessening the impact ofbusiness cycle. This is welfare capitalism orprotected capitalism. Precisely, capitalaccumulation out of the profits of merchants tobe invested in various economic activities waswhat is called commercial capitalism. It tools

different forms in different stages. For example,it existed in some of its elements in ancientEgypt and in ancient Rome. The ancient timeswere the age of capitalist accumulation, ratherthan capitalist production.

History of Capitalism

From 1100 on, real accumulation of wealthwere made, frequently in the first instance in theform of coin, which might later be invested inland, building, or ships, in some instances these

accumulations sprang from agricultural surplus.Under Commercial Capitalism capitalaccumulation took place out of the profits ofmerchants, quite independent of the employmentof workers for wages. This was the point whichdistinguished commercial capitalism from otherforms of capitalism. The ancient period,therefore, was the age more of commercialaccumulation rather than of commercialcapitalism.

Commercial Capitalism: Features, Evolutionand Results

According to Sombart, CommercialCapitalism or ‘early capitalism’ operated withinthe feudal framework. Main feudal features ofthis phase were as follows. Work was generallydone in the homes of the producers and notunder the factory shades of modern industries.Not full-scale machines, but simple tools wereused for manufacturing. And many a timesthese factors of production were owned by the

workers themselves. Since factors of productionwere limited, manufacturing was also on a


7/80


much smaller scale as compared to goodsproduced in factories. One man, i.e., themerchant entrepreneur, controlled the whole

process from start to finish. At the same timecertain capitalist features were also visible. e.g.Incentive of profit was the main driving forcebehind the entire process. With increasing desirefor profits, the demand for labour was risingtremendously with the result that the merchantcapitalists were hiring more and more workers.Financial advances were provided to theproducers by the capitalists. These could beequated to wages under industrial capitalism.The final product as well as the entire profit was

appropriated by the capitalists.

Evolution of Commercial Capitalism

Three major themes can be identified inevolution of Commercial Capitalism. The first isthe transfer of organization and control ofproduction from the imperial and aristocraticstrata of pre-capitalist states into the hands ofmercantile elements. Second theme deals withhow Feudal social relationships were replacedby market relationships based upon exchange

and this in turn steadily improved the wealthand social importance of the merchants againstthe aristocracy. Economic organization ofproduction and distribution through purchaseand sale dominated the entire scene. It resultedin the separation of a traditionally seamless webof rulership into two realms. One of theminvolved the exercise of the traditional politicaltasks of rulership, and the other realm waslimited to the production and distribution ofgoods and services. Third theme is related to the

presence of an ideological framework basedupon profit which contrasts sharply with thatof pre-capitalist formations.

Changes: Guilds – Putting Out - CommercialCapitalism

With the decomposition of the feudal orderformation of mercantile capitalism or commercialcapitalism took root. The system of manufactureat this time was widely through guilds, that is,economic and social association of merchants or

craftspeople in the same trade of craft to protectthe interests of its members. The guild system

declined from the 16th century because ofchanging trade and work conditions which ledto the emergence of the putting-out system

which developed in the woollen industry.Although the scale of production wasinsignificant, the organization was basicallycapitalist.

One can date the capitalist era as beginningin the 16th century. However, historians andeconomists have referred to this early stage asmercantile or commercial capitalism. Significantprogress in the field of trade and commercialcapitalism led to immense accumulation ofcapital and is referred to as the CommercialRevolution.

In the paper and textile industry, one of themain reasons for European success was themechanization of the productive process by theadoption of the water mill. The most spectacularconsequences of the supremacy acquired byEurope in the technical field were the geographicexplorations and the subsequent economic,political and military expansion of Europe.Discovery in Mexico and Peru led to rich deposits

of gold and especially silver. In 1503 preciousmetals also arrived from the Antilles. Preciousmetals became more abundant; prices rosebecause demand for goods had risen becausethe abundance of precious metals had madepeople richer and production could not expandproportionately. As a result, the rise in demandresulted in a rise in price.

The period 1500 to 1620 was the ‘PriceRevolution’. Between 1500 and 1620, the averagelevel of prices in the various European countries

increased by 300 to 400 per cent. The net resultwas that the merchant and banking bourgeoisiegathered strength. With banking and merchantbourgeoisies having acquiring immense fortunesand national states having mastered the meansof conquest and domination, the conditionswere ready in the 16th century for the futuredevelopment of capitalism.

Transformation of the European tradeoccurred as a result of the overseas expansionand the influx of bullion. Most significant

changes were: growth in international trade,ending of regionalism, trans-oceanic trade,


8/80


growth of markets, and new kinds of commercialorganizations.

Banking was very limited in the MiddleAges due to moral disapproval and was carriedon mostly by the Jew. Usury was commonamong the Jews since the 11th century becausethey were the real moneylenders. The prohibitionsagainst usury issued by the church could meannothing to them since they were not Christians.By the 15th century, however, the bankingbusiness had spread to southern Germany andFrance. The first important Bank was the Bankof Sweden (1657). The most important one the

Bank of England was founded in 1694.Formation of regulated companies, i.e. an

association of merchants grouped together fora common venture, was another feature of theCommercial Revolution. A standard system ofmoney was adopted by every important state tobe used for all transaction within its borders.The creation of national currencies was thereforereally an important achievement of theCommercial Revolution.

In the 16th century, the flow of spices from

the East and the bullion from the West wereimportant. But gradually new overseas productsbecame staples of consumption in Europe andgrew in commercial importance—indigo fromthe East, porcelain from China, cocoa fromAmerica, tea and coffee from the Far East andthe Near East, etc. till the end of the 17thcentury, capitalism can be called commercialcapitalism, as it was capital dominated bycommercial activity.

MercantilismMercantilism, a term coined by Adam

Smith, played an important role in the evolutionof Commercial Capitalism. Maurice Dobb refersto it as ‘a system of state regulated exploitationthrough trade—essential the economic policy inage of primitive accumulation. Mercantilismcan be said to be a state controlled economicpolicy which aimed at regulating the trade andcommerce of the nation, as well as its factoriesand manufacturers with the primary purpose of

ultimately to concentrate and wield politicalpower.

It had certain common characteristicfeatures like bullionism, paternalism, imperialism,economic nationalism, etc. Bullionism meant

that the prosperity of a nation was determinedby the quantity of precious metals within itsborders, became an essential element ofmercantilism. Mercantilism is closely interlinkedwith Commercial Capitalism as growth of thelatter attracted the attention of the state andalthough the activities of the merchants weresometimes obstructed and hampered by thepolicy of mercantilism and therefore themerchants were forced to oppose mercantilistpolicies on those occasions. On the whole the

merchants were positively benefited by the statepolicies like creating markets by acquiringcolonies and thereby expanding exports bybuilding fleets, by providing protection againstforeign goods by raising the tariff, by maintainingbanks, by giving subsidies, etc.

Feudalism To Capitalism

Two main points of views are available forexplaining the demolition of feudal model ofproduction. One view believes that the exchange

relations or external trade demolished it. Anotherview postulates that inner contradictions likeexploitation of the peasant by the nobility andunproductive use of economic surplus likeexpenditure on war and luxury were responsiblefor the break-down of feudalism.

Dobb raised a point regarding the emergenceof capitalism: supersession of serfdom bycontractual relations, relation or rise of peasantproperty. This was the result of the innercontradictions in the feudal relation between

the nobility and the peasantry. The very miseryof the peasantry created the danger ofdepopulation of manors. The effects of thenobility’s expenditure on unproductive activitieslike were equally disastrous. Overexploitation oflabour, unproductive use of economic surplusand exhaustion of power and opportunities toincrease lord’s revenue made the feudal modeincreasingly untenable. Dobb attached producersreleased from feudal constraints and engaged inthe petty mode of production. Le Roy Ladurie

stressed the importance of the demographicmodel implying that the long-term trends of the


9/80


feudal economy conformed to the Malthusiansequence of population growth outstrippingfood supply and then demographic decline due

to calamities like famine; starvation, etc.Abundance of labour in the 16th century, dueto population growth gave a boost to feudalism.Conversely, feudalism received a blow in the17th century with a sharp fall in population.This was, in the view of Ladurie, the decisiverole of the demographic factor in shaping thenature and sequence of transition.

According to Brenner, the two fundamentalproblems regarding the transition related to:(i) the decline versus persistence of serfdom andits effects, and (ii) the emergence andpredominance of secure small peasant propertyversus the rise to landlord-large tenant farmerrelations on the land. In the 14th and 15centuries the perpetual class conflict betweenthe second and third social groups resulted inthe triumph of the peasantry and serfdom cameto an end. In England, however, since themonarchy was dependent on the gentry fortaxes, it could not protect the peasantry againstthe oppression of the gentry and the feudal

lords. As a result, the peasantry was ultimatelyagain suppressed by feudalism, leading to thedeprivation of land which was subsequentlyenclosed by the landlords. The successfulenclosure movement in England laid thefoundation of agrarian capitalism in the 16thcentury and this facilitated the process of earlyindustrialization. In France, however, themonarchy was directly dependent upon thepeasants for taxes. So the landlords could notenclose the lands successfully as the peasants

resisted the move. As a result, agrarian capitalismcould not develop in France. It was all the moredelayed in Eastern Europe where monarchywas extremely weak, feudal were powerful andconsequently feudalism continued in its strongestform.

Anderson stressed the importance of townand international trade to the process of capitalistdevelopment. His theory is also known as ‘electricMarxism.’ The putting-out system was muchmore elaborately developed and manufactories

were created when merchant capital wasinvested in industrial mode of production. The

change of investment from commercial toindustrial production was accentuated by theshift in the economic centre from the

Mediterranean to the Atlantic. The metam-orphosis of commercial capital into industrialcapital was completed basically by two primaryfactors—the deployment of commercial capitalincreasingly into industries, thereby trans-forming it into industrial capital and a significantincrease in the number of factories andmanufactories. Commercial Capitalism, asmentioned earlier, took different form in differentcountries.

Another effect of commercial capitalismwas a rise in demand for consumer and capitalgoods—textiles, wine, weapons, equipment ofvarious kinds, etc. and also for commercial andtransport services for the transportation offinished goods as well as raw materials fromone place to another. The slave trade resultedin transportation of black population to America.Rise in demand resulted in increased production.The ‘Price Revolution’ was therefore an inevitableconsequence of Commercial Capitalism.Commercial Capitalism resulted in the growth

of markets that again had a very importantoutcome—the rise of towns. From the nucleusof small trading centres, they slowly andgradually evolved into flourishing, prosperoustowns will all characteristics of urban civilization.The Price Revolution, on the other hand, led tothe rise of the bourgeoisie class. Nobles, whocould not cope, became heavily in debt.Merchants, Businessmen, traders, Lawyers, i.e.the bourgeoisie, made fortunes and therebyemerged as a powerful force in society.

It was in the phase of industrialcapitalization that capitalism is said to haveachieved its classical form. Capitalism grewover a long period of time. Consequently,historians differ as to the point in time wherethe phenomenon may be reasonably said toexist. A capitalist system implies, in the firstplace, that property is predominantly in privatehands and the allocation of goods, services, andfactors of production (land, labour and capital)is made mainly through market mechanisms

with capitalist responding to profit signals,workers to wage incentives, and consumers to


10/80


prices. Most striking characteristic of capitalistperformance has been a sustained (although notcontinuous) upward thrust in productivity and

real income per head, which was achieved bya combination of innovation and accumulation.The development of capitalism entailed arevolution in economic relations, institutions,and attitudes; on occasions it involved violenceon the part of proponents and opponents alike;and it gave birth to new social classes. Theexpanding market economies of medievalEurope, with various institutional accom-paniments (such as the development) of cities,merchant houses, and guilds) were the

foundation on which later capitalism developed.Somewhere in the late Middle Age the economiccentre of Europe shifted from the Mediterraneanlittoral of Northern Europe. Modern capitalismfirst became stabilized between the sixteenthand eighteenth centuries. But a decisive leapcame forward in the nineteenth century, first inEngland, with the merging of a capitalisteconomy with the immense technological powerreleased by the industrial Revolution.

Capitalism is a term denoting a mode of

production in which capital in its various formsis the principal means of production. The term‘capital’ (capital, from the Latin word caput of‘head) first emerged in the twelfth and thirteenthcenturies, denoting stocks of merchandise, sumsof money, and money carrying interest. Ineveryday speech now, the word ‘capital’ isgenerally used to describe an asset owned by anindividual as wealth. Capital might then denotea sum of money to be invested in order to securea rate of return, or it might denote the investment

itself: Capital is an asset which generates anincome flow for its owner. The Marxist conceptof capital first, capital is something which in itsgenerality is quite specific to capitalism. Whilecapital predates capitalism, in capitalist societythe production of capital predominates, anddominates every other sort of production. Capitalcannot be understood apart from capitalistrelation of production. Indeed, capital is not athing at all, but a social relation which appearsin the form of a thing. Although capital is

undoubtedly about making money, the assetswhich ‘make’ money embody a particular

relation between those who have money andthose who do not, such that not only is money‘made’ but also the private property relations

which engender such a process are themselvescontinually reproduced.

It is the private ownership of capital in thehands of a class—the class of capitalists to theexclusion of the mass of the population—whichis a central feature of capitalism as a mode ofproduction. Only Marxists have consistentlysought to integrate in a single theoreticalconstruction the economic, social, political andcultural dimension of the capitalist phenomenon.Neither Max Weber nor Joseph Schumpeter, norFriedrich von Hayek, all of whom attempted toconstruct on-Marxist frameworks to understandcapitalism, succeeded in supplying a satisfactoryframework. Weber’s intellectual enterprise wasessentially one of comparative history, designedto uncover the roots of the unique Westerndevelopment of what he called ‘modernrationally’, which was intrinsic to the capitalistsystem. Schumpeter remained essentially aneconomist and his most durable contributionshave remained in economics, for example, his

theory of the economic role of entrepreneurship.Hayek made some highly astute observationsabout the relation of capitalism to various otherphenomena in modern society, such asdemocracy and the rule of law, but he never setout to construct a comprehensive theoryembracing all these relationships. The term‘capitalism’ is more recent than ‘capitalist. AdamSmith, commonly regarded as the classicaltheorist, did not use the term at all. Capitalismcan be said to be characterized by, production

for sale rather than own use by numerousproducers. A market where labour power too isa commodity and is bought and sold, the modeof exchange being money wages for a period oftime (time rate) or for a specified task (piecerate). The existence of a market for labourcontracts with its absence in either slavery orserfdom. The predominance is not universalmediation of exchange by the use of money.This aspect accentuates the importance of banksand other financial intermediary institution.

Capitalism or the managerial agent controls theproduction (labour) process, choice of techniques,


11/80


the output mix, the work environment, and thearrangement for selling the output control bythe capitalist or the manager of financial

decisions. It is the power of the capitalistentrepreneur to incur debts or float shares ormortgage capital assets to raise finance.

There is a competition between capitals.This increasing competition forces the capitalistto adopt new techniques and practices whichwill cut costs, and accumulate to make possiblethe purchase of improved machinery. Thiscompetition strengthens the tendency towardsconcentration of capital in large firms. It is toneutralize competition that monopolies andcartels emerge. A major driving force of capitalistindustrialization is the strong propensity to riskcapital on new techniques that hold promise ofimproved profits, in strong contract to thedefensive wariness of the pre-capitalist approachto technology. Some scholars regard theapplication of science to industry as thedistinguishing characteristic of modern industry.Nor were such efforts limited to men of scientifictraining. Indeed one of the most remarkablefeatures of technical advance in the eighteenth

and early nineteenth centuries was the largeproportion of major inventions made byingenious tinkerers, self-taught mechanics andengineers. The most significant improvementsin technology involve the use of machinery andmechanical power to transform tasks that hadbeen done far more slowly and laboriously byhuman or animal power. During the eighteenthcentury, a notable increase in the use ofwaterpower occurred in industries such as grainmilling, textiles, and metallurgy. It involved the

substitution of coal for wood and charcoal asfuel, and the introduction of the steam enginefor use in mining, manufacturing andtransportation. The use of coal and coke in thesmelting process greatly reduced the cost ofmetals and multiplied their uses, whereas theapplication of chemical science created a host ofnew, ‘artificial’ or synthetic materials.

Though the term ‘industrialization’ is absentfrom the work of Marx and Engels, the conceptis clearly present. Marx distinguishes ‘Modern

Industry’ or ‘The Factory System’ or “TheMachinery System’ from earlier forms of

capitalist production, co-operation and‘Manufacture’. Modern industry is distinguishedfrom manufacture by the central role of

machinery. Marx distinguishes two stages in thedevelopment of the machinery system. In thefirst stage, ‘simple co-operation, ‘ there is onlya ‘conglomeration in the factory of similar andsimultaneously acting machines’ using a singlepower source’. In the second stage, a ‘complexsystem of machinery’, the product goes throughconnected series of detailed processes carriedout by an interlinked chain of machines. DavidLandes placed technology at the centre of theIndustry Revolution. Industrialization has come

to be used as a synonym for sustained economicgrowth. Expansion of total output alone,however, is not a sufficient criterion ofindustrialization since if population is risingmore rapidly than output, it is compatible withdeclining real incomes per head. A countrywhich retains a large, even predominant,agricultural sector may be described asindustrialized if real incomes rise and technologychanges. The expression revolution industriellewas first used in the 1820s by French writers

who, wishing to emphasize the importance ofthe mechanization of the French cotton industrythen taking place in Normandy and the Nord,compared it with the great political revolutionof 1789. It acquired general currency only afterthe publication in 1884 of Arnold Toynbee’sLectures on the Industrial Revolution in England:Popular Addresses, Notes and Other Fragments.Toynbee dated the British Industries Revolutionfrom 1760. Professor J.U. Nef stressed theessential continuity of history and traced its

beginning to 1540-1660, with the new capitalisticindustries of Elizabethan England.

In the model put forward by Adam Smith(1723-90) in An Enquiry into the Nature andCauses of the Wealth of Nations, Book 1, thedevelopment of a society’s wealth-equated withthe development of the productivity of labour—is a function of the degree of the division oflabour. Specialization of productive tasks—classically achieved through the separation ofagriculture and manufacturing, and their

assignment to country and town respectively.The division of labour in industrial production


12/80


made possible an unprecedented growth inoutput and productivity. Smith’s famousprinciples that the division of labour is limitedby the extent of the market—literally, the sizeof the area and population linked up via traderelation. For Adam Smith the development oftrade and the division of labour unfailinglybrought about economic development. Thegrowth of commerce and the growth of libertymutually determine each other. Smith and hisfellow ‘political economists’ traced the advanceof capitalism to the onset of conditions thatliberated purportedly inherent human qualitiesand to the beneficent operation, in market

transactions, of an ‘invisible hand’ that broughtthe common good out of the conflicting self-interest of all individuals. Commerce could beseen as a key to prosperity, but only itsunhindered pursuit would secure the maximumprosperity.

To Marx, capitalism was powerful anddynamic, a superior form of production thatpromoted economic growth far above anythingpossible in feudalism. He attributed itsappearance not to the release of natural,unchanging human predisposition but to specificeconomic, political, and legal measures. In Marx’sinterpretation of the emergence of capitalismtwo broad perspectives are offered. He firstemphasizes the corrosive effect upon the feudalsystem of mercantile activity, the growth of aworld market and new expanding cities. Thesecond variant, evident especially in Capital,centres on the ‘producer’ and the processwhereby the producer (agricultural or in thecrafts sector) becomes merchant and capitalist.Marx regards the latter as ‘the reallyrevolutionary path’ to capitalism since thistransforms the organization and techniques ofproduction. The primitive (or original)accumulation of capital is a concept developedin Marx’s Capital and Grundisse to designatethe process which generates the preconditionsof the ongoing accumulation of capital. InMarx’s word, ‘primitive accumulation is nothingelse that the historical process of divorcing theproducer from the means of production’. A

property-less class of wage-labourers, theproletariat, becomes confronted by a class of

capitalists who monopolize the means ofproduction.

Many of Marx’s contemporaries saw capitalas the result of abstinence and saving, as theoriginal source for accumulation. Marx’s pointis that primitive accumulation is not anaccumulation in this sense at all. Abstinence canonly lead to accumulation if capitalist relationsof production, or the polarization between aclass of capitalists and a class of wage-laboures,are already in existence. Marx argued that sincepre-capitalist relations of production arepredominantly agricultural, the peasantry

having possession of the principal means ofproduction, land, capitalism can only be createdby dispossessing the peasantry of the land.Accordingly, the origins of capitalism are to befound in the transformation of relations ofproduction on the land. For Marx the first andforemost effect of the ‘agricultural revolution’ inEngland was to expropriate the peasant fromthe soil and establish capitalist agriculture.Enclosures converted property characterized byshared rights into private property.

For Marx, merchants could foster primitiveaccumulation by usury, crushing artisan guilds,expanding markets, providing employment orby investing profits. While Marx emphasizeddomestic cause of proletarianization, he focusesprimarily on international commerce inaccounting for the genesis of the industrialcapitalist. This interpretation stresses theforcefulness, often genocidal, and the unevennessof primitive accumulation. The theory of ‘proto-industrialization’ (henceforth PI) actually started

with Franklin Mendel’s,’ 1969 dissertation atthe University of Wisconsin, ‘Industrializationand Population Pressure in Eighteenth-CenturyFlanders.’ This was study of the relatively rapidpopulation growth experienced in the internalregion of Flanders, where a peasant populationcombined agriculture with part-time linenmanufacture.

PI had distinctive pattern of development.It generally originated in pastoral regions anddeclining or large-scale agricultural areas.

Scholarship on PI emphasizes interconnectionsamong widening markets, rising populations


13/80


(especially rural) seeking wage-earningemployment, and the search for cheap labourby entrepreneurs. PI is credited with creating

the key changes in the generation of supple-mentary handicraft incomes which will lead toan expansion of population. Accordingly,handicrafts generated the labour supply of theIndustrial Revolution. PI will soon begin toencounter diminishing returns as dispersedindustry creates difficulties in the collection ofoutput and the control of quality. PI createdpressures leading to the factory system and tonew technology. PI also is supposed to have ledto the accumulation of capital. PI will lead to

accumulation of technical knowledge bymerchants as a result of their experience withinter-regional and international trade. PI alsoleads to agricultural surplus and reduces theprice of food.

Capitalism was from the beginning,Wallenstein argues, a matter of the world-economy and not of nation sates. One with acommon political system and one without. Thesehe called, respectively, world-empires and world-economies. North more elements, Wallerstein

placed Eastern Europe (but not Russia) andSpanish America at the ‘periphery’, while theMediterranean littoral (Spain and the NorthernItalian city-states) became a ‘semi-periphery’.The core areas had mass market industries,international and local commerce in the handsof an indigenous bourgeoisie, and, relativelyadvanced and complex forms of agriculture.The peripheral areas were mono-culture, withthe cash crops produced on large estates bycoerced labour. The semi-peripheral areas were

in the process of de-industrializing. In the corestates relatively strong state systems emerged.By contrast, the critical feature of the peripherywas the absence of a strong state. The semi-periphery was, once again, in between in itspolity.

Wallerstein's identified three stages in thedevelopment of the world-economy. The firstwas one of agricultural capitalism, from thesixteenth to the eighteenth century. In this stageEngland first ousted the Netherlands from her

commercial primacy and then successfullyresisted France’s attempt to catch up. It was

only in the third stage from the mid-eighteenthcentury, that capitalism became primarilyindustrial (rather than agricultural or mercantile).

“Industrial revolution’ was not merely economic,but social, intellectual and political too.Agriculture’s contribution in this respect hasbeen broadly assessed on four counts, namelywhether it created a food surplus for the non-rural population; whether it helped to widenhome and foreign markets; whether it generatedcapital for industrial investment; and whetherit supplied a labour force for industrialemployment.

Effect on society

The pre-capitalist social system that of theancient regime was one of ‘estates.’ An estatewas a stratum in which all the three majorbenefits—privilege, power, and prestige—werelargely determined at birth and, also were fixedas legal inequalities. The modern bourgeoisiegrew out of the Third Estate first demands ofthis new class was legal equality of all-or at leastof those above a certain minimal level of wealth.Max Weber placed the contrast between estates

and classes at the core of his theory of socialstratification and Marx made this a key criterionin his analysis of what constituted a class. WhenMarx used the concept of class in politicalanalysis, he held that a class must have a certaindegree of cohesion and sense of common purpose,as well as common relationship to the means ofproduction. Feudal estates were too internallystratified to possess this attribute. One verysignificant change with capitalist industria-lization has been the enormous expansion of the

middle strata. The basic cause of this developmentwas undoubtedly technological. An ever-smallerportion of the labour force was required for theactual tasks of material production, allowingthe diversion of ever larger numbers of workersinto administrative activities. There was also avast expansion of the state bureaucracies.

Effective control over economic resourcesrather than legal ownership of them is thedefining criterion for the top capitalist class.Thus Nicos Poulantzas, in Classes in

Contemporary Capitalism begins by definingthe bourgeoisie not in terms of a legal category


14/80


of property ownership but in terms of ‘economicownership’ (that is, real economic control of themeans of production and of the products) and

‘possession’ (that is, the capacity to put themeans of production into operation. In TheProtestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,Marx Weber makes it clear that a capitalistenterprise and the pursuit of gain are not at allthe same thing, it called for a new type ofeconomic agent, the capitalist entrepreneur.One of Weber’s insights that has remainedwidely accepted is that the capitalist entrepreneuris a very distinctive type of human being. Weberwas fascinated by that, he thought to begin with

what was a puzzling paradox. In many cases,men—and a few women—evinced a drivetowards the accumulation of wealth but at thesame time showed a ‘ferocious asceticism,’ asingular absence of interest in the worldlypleasures that such wealth could buy. Manyentrepreneurs actually pursued a lifestyle thatwas ‘decidedly frugal’.

For Weber, capitalism was originallysparked by religious fervor. Without that fervorthe organization of labour that made capitalism

so different from what had gone before wouldnot have been possible. In India, Hinduism wasassociated with great wealth in history, but itstenets about the afterlife prevented the samesort of energy that built up under Protestantism,and capitalism properly never developed. ForMax Weber, ‘rational restlessness’ was thepsychological make-up of Europe, the oppositeof what he found in the main religions of Asia:rational acceptance of social order byConfucianism and its irrational antithesis in

Taoism; mystical acceptance of social order byHinduism; the worldly retreat in Buddhism.Weber located rational restlessness especially inPuritanism. Such persons are ‘enterprising’because they are liberated from strong communalties, which enable them to seek new opportunitieswithout the constraints of collective tradition,customs and taboos. This clearly involves acertain ‘ego ideal’, a strong discipline, traits thatWeber called ‘inner-worldly asceticism. JosephSchumpeter stressed the central role of the

capitalist entrepreneur, rather than the stock ofcapital, as the incarnation of technical progress.

First, capitalist themselves are not the motivatingforce of capitalism, but instead entrepreneurswho invent new techniques or machinery by

means of which goods are produced morecheaply. In any urban environment, peoplewould have ideas for innovation, but who hadthose ideas, when and where they had them,and what they did with them were unpre-dictable. The second element of Schumpeter’soutlook was, that profit, as generated byentrepreneurs, was temporary.

R.H. Tawney in 1921 argued that capitalismhad created The Aquisitive Society. He thoughtthat capitalism misjudged human nature,elevating production and the making of profit,which ought to be a means to certain ends, intoends in them. In particular, it sabotages ‘theinstinct for service and solidarity’ that is thebasis for traditional civil society. He thoughtthat in the long run capitalism was incompatiblewith culture. Soviet experiment in applicationof the socialist model underwent various phasesin accordance with the demand of the time.There were contradictions from within andoutside which eventually led to its disintegration.

At the same time, the same model was applieddifferently even in the countries under theSoviet influence, which gradually gave way tothe dominant capitalist system. Yet, it would beimmature to argue that this model was acomplete failure as it was this model whichforced the so called capitalist economies of theWestern Europe to integrate welfare economicprinciples and strengthen social distributionnetworks albeit with a limited role for the state.On the other hand, the criticisms of the capitalist

economic system and visions of alternativemodels have continued to drive the thinkers andactivists alike.

LIBERALISM

In the early modern age of the Westernworld (beginning roughly in the early 1500s andrunning for about 200 years), a number ofchanges occurred that led to new ideologies:The European discovery of the Americas, therise of Protestantism, the beginnings of the free-

market economy, and the early stages of thescientific revolution fundamentally altered


15/80


Europe. People began developing different waysof thinking to take account of these changes.

Perhaps the most important of the newideas is liberalism (also known as classicalliberalism). This type of liberalism, which beganin England in the 1600s, differs from Americanliberalism. Classical liberalism developed whenthinkers as John Locke (in his Second Treatise ofGovernment in 1690) rethought the relationshipbetween the individual and society, as welltheorized about the rights and responsibilities ofthe individual. These ideas formed the foundationfor many political systems still operating today.

Liberalism in Action

During the French Revolution (1789–1799),the monarchy and much of the church weredestroyed, as were traditional laws and habitsin different parts of the country. Therevolutionaries exalted reason, to the point ofliterally creating a temple to it (the revolutionariesrenamed the Church of Notre Dame in Paris“the Temple of Reason”) in 1793. But as a resultof the revolution, France plunged into years of

civil war and violence. Only the emergence ofNapoleon—an authoritarian ruler—broughtstability back to the country.

Liberal Beliefs

Liberalism emphasizes:

• Individualism: The individual takes priorityover society.

• Freedom: Individuals have the right to makechoices for themselves. This freedom is not

absolute, and some behaviours, such asmurder, are prohibited. Freedom of religionis a particularly important freedom to comeout of liberalism because so many govern-ments at the time were very closely tied toa particular religious creed.

• Equality: No person is morally or politicallysuperior to others. Hierarchies are rejected.

• Rationalism: Humans are capable of thinkinglogically and rationally. Logic and reasonhelp us solve problems.

• Progress: Traditions should not be keptunless they have value. New ideas are helpful

because they can lead to progress in thesciences, the economy, and society.

• The free market: Liberalism and capitalismgo hand in hand. Liberals like the free marketbecause it more easily creates wealth, asopposed to traditional economies, whichoften have extensive regulations and limitson which occupations of people can hold.

These basic characteristics of liberalismhave led liberals to argue in favour of a limitedgovernment, which draws its power from thepeople. In practice, this has meant favouring ademocratic government.

Mill’s Good Government

In his books On Liberty (1859) andConsiderations of Representative Government(1861), English philosopher J. S. Mill arguedthat good governments should be unrestrictingenough to allow people—both men and women-to pursue their own interests and achieve theirown potential as they see fit. Fosteringindividuality would, in turn, benefit society asa whole, because fewer people would feel

restricted or marginalized. Mill also believedthat representative democracy was the bestform of government because it allowed peopleto express their individuality and provided themthe opportunity to take a more active role in thepolitical process. The more active the people are,Mill thought, the more satisfied they are withtheir government.

Classical liberalism has profoundlyinfluenced the modern world, so much so thatwe do not even realize how controversial its

ideas were in early modern Europe. Back then,liberal ideas were considered dangerous andinflammatory by traditional Europeangovernments, and liberals were frequentlypersecuted. Even after liberalism took hold inEngland, the rest of Europe was hostile to liberalideas for another century (and even longer insome cases).

Example: For centuries, Eastern Europesuffered greatly from authoritarian rule, in whichone person or a small group holds all the

political power and oppresses everybody else.As recently as 1989, open discussion of liberal


16/80


ideas (such as the free market) or publiclycomplaining that the communist governmentsdid not speak for the people could get a person

arrested. The writer Vaclav Havel, for example,was jailed by the Czechoslovakian government.But after the 1989 end of the communistgovernment in Czechoslovakia, Havel served asthe newly democratic government’s firstPresident.

The Controversial Case of John Locke

In the seventeenth century, liberals werenot held in high esteem, as evidenced by the lifeof John Locke. Locke was forced to flee into exileto avoid arrest by the British monarchy. Hereturned to England only after the Stuartmonarchs were overthrown in 1688 and agovernment friendlier to liberalism took power.But even then, Locke refused to acknowledgethat he had written Second Treatise ofGovernment, his main political text, because ofits controversial nature. Other liberals, inEngland and elsewhere, were arrested or evenkilled by traditional governments.

CONSERVATISM

Conservatism (also known as classicalconservatism) began as a reaction against theliberal ideas taking hold of Europe during theFrench Revolution in the late eighteenth century.This type of conservatism differs from Americanconservatism. Edmund Burke, a British memberof Parliament, observed the early stages of theFrench Revolution with great distress andpredicted the violence and terror that wouldensue. His book, Reflections on the Revolution

in France(1790), is one of the founding texts ofclassical conservatism.

Burke and other conservatives attackedliberalism for many reasons. They argued thatliberalism destroyed tradition. In its rush tooverturn the old and bring in the new, liberalismand capitalism ruthlessly attacked traditionalinstitutions and beliefs.

Conservative Beliefs

Conservatism emphasizes:

• Stability: Stability is a precious thing, and

change must be made gradually in order topreserve it. Undermining stability is verydangerous because societies can easily fallinto chaos and violence. Classical liberalsfrequently called for revolution, which opensthe door to great turbulence, according tothe classical conservative view.

• Concreteness: Liberalism is too abstract. Itfocuses on freedom and equality, not on theconcrete way people live every day.

• Human fallibility: Liberalism overestimateshuman beings. Humans are frequentlyignorant, prejudiced, and irrational. By

ignoring these defects, liberalism becomesunrealistic.

• Unique circumstances: There is no universalanswer to the problems of society; the circum-stances are unique in each country.

Classical Conservatism and Democracy

Many early conservatives favouredauthoritarian government. In the aftermath ofthe Napoleonic Wars (roughly 1792–1815), for

example, most European governments activelyworked to stop the spread of liberalism anddemocracy. Nevertheless, conservatives werenot necessarily hostile to democracy. Generallythese conservatives argued that some sort ofmonarchy was necessary, but some were moreopen to popular government. Burke, inparticular, thought that limited democracy wasa good form of government for England, as longas it maintained the customs.

Classical Conservatism Today

For the most part, classical conservatismhas faded. Most people who label themselvesconservatives are more like Americanconservatives than classical ones. But there arestill some classical conservatives. Many of themin Europe have ties to old noble families, andsome advocate monarchism. Classicalconservatives can also be found in other partsof the world.

The chart below compares classical liberal

views with classical conservative views on severalissues.


17/80


COMMUNISM

Socialist Movement

With the emergence of a social and economicsystem of capitalism, the means of productionsuch as factories and the things produced byfactories were owned and controlled by a fewpeople. The vast majority of the people whoworked in the factories had no rights. Theirconditions of work and living were miserable.

They were frequently without jobs. The workersgradually began to organize themselves intotrade unions to protect their common rightsthough for a long time there were laws againstworkers combining themselves into unions. Thegovernments were also forced to pass lawsagainst some of the worse features of capitalism.For example Laws to protect workers fromunsafe conditions of work were passed in manycountries. Some progress was also made inregulating hours of work.

Some workers had begun to think thatmachines were the cause of their misery. In

England, there was a movement to machinesled the Luddites so named after their leader NedLudd. However, they soon realized that thedestruction of machines would not put an endto their misery. In England, a new politicalmovement started which aimed at winningpolitical rights for workers.

Early Socialists

The greatest challenge to capitalism camefrom the ideas of socialism and the movementsbased on those ideas. The idea grew thatcapitalism itself is evil and that it needs to bereplaced by a different kind and economicsystem in which the means of production wouldbe owned by the society as a whole and not bya few individuals.Many philosophers andreformers in the past had expressed theirrevulsion against inequalities in society and infavour of a system in which everyone would beequal. However these ideas had remained asmere dreams. The French Revolution of 1789

with its promise of equality had given a newimpetus to these ideas. But the French Revolution,

CLASSICAL LIBERALISM VERSUS CLASSICAL CONSERVATISM

Issue Liberalism Conservatism

Tradition Only valuable if it serves a Repository of acquired wisdom; collectionpurpose; we should not be of best knowledge from many years of practice.afraid to overturn tradition.

Freedom Essential for human flourishing; Excessive freedom is bad; lets people ignorepeople are free to do as they societal responsibilities and overlookplease as long as they do not social customs.hurt others.

Reason Relies on reason; the great Thinks reason is fallible and prone to error;

success of the scientific human beings cannot discover the best wayrevolution can be repeated in to govern through thinking.human affairs if we use reason. Instead, we must base our judgments and

decisions on experience.

Free Valuable because it unleashes Dangerous because it breaksMarket tremendous economic growth down traditional economic roles.

and efficiency, enriching society. The profit motive corrodes customarymores and reduces all relationshipsto cash transactions.


18/80


while it put an end to the autocratic rule of theFrench King, it did not did not usher in an eraof equality in economic, social and political life.

The-wide gap between the aims of the FrenchRevolution and the actual conditions in Franceafter the revolution created serious discontentamong the people. It led to an attempt tooverthrow the existing government in Francewith a view to building a society based onsocialist ideas. This attempt, known as BabeufsConspiracy, is an an important event in thehistory of socialism.

Babeuf Conspiracy

The Conspiracy, as the name indicates,was the work of Babeuf. He was born in 1760and had participated in the French Revolution.He organized a secret society called the Societyof the Equals. Babeuf, in a manifesto, haddeclared, “Nature gave everyone an equal rightto the enjoyment of all goods…..In a true society,there is no room for either rich or poor”. He saidthat it was necessary to make another revolutionwhich would do away “with the terriblecontrasts between rich and poor, masters and

servants. The time has come to set up therepublic of equals, whose welcoming doors willbe open to all mankind.” The society plannedan uprising but the government came to knowof the plan and in May 1796, a large numberof leaders, including Babeuf were arrested.Babeuf was executed in 1797. Though Babeuf’sattempt at overthrowing the government hadfailed, his ideas exercised an important influenceon the growth of socialist movement.

Utopian SocialistsThere was another group of socialists in the

early history of socialism which included:

1. Saint-Simon (1760-1825)

2. Charles Fourier (1772-1837)

3. Robert Owen (1771-1858)

They viewed property in relation to itsusefulness to society. They recognized the evilsof capitalism and proposed the establishment of

a new and better system of society in its place.Saint-Simon coined the slogan, ‘from each

according to his capacity, to each according tohis work‘. They visualized a society free fromexploitation of any kind and one in which all

would contribute their best and would share thefruits of their labour. However, the methodsthey advocated for the establishment of such asociety were impracticable and ineffective. Hencethey came to be called utopian socialists.

Communist League

Many groups and organisations were alsoformed to spread socialist ideas and organiseworkers. One of these was the League of the Justwhich had members in many countries ofEurope. Its slogan was ‘All men are brothers’.Thus internationalism was one of its importantfeatures. In 1847, its name was changed to theCommunist League and it declared as its aim,“the downfall of the bourgeoisie, the rule of theproletariat, the overthrow of the old society ofmiddle class, based on class distinction, and theestablishment of a new society without classesand without private property.” Its journalcarried the slogan, “Proletarians of all lands,unite!” It instructed Karl Marx and Friedrich

Engels to draft a manifesto.

Marxian Socialism

The Communist Manifesto first appearedin German in February 1848. The influence ofthis document in the history of the socialistmovement is without a rival. It was the workof Karl Marx (1818-83) and his lifelong associateFriedrich Engels (1820-M). Both Marx and Engelswere born in Germany, but spent much of theirlife outside Germany, mostly in England.Through their work in the socialist movementand through their numerous writings, they gavea new direction to socialist ideology andmovement. Their philosophy is known asMarxism and it has influenced almost everyfield of knowledge. Their view of socialism iscalled scientific socialism.

The Communist Manifesto stated that theaim of workers all over the world was theoverthrow of capitalism and the establishmentof socialism. “In place of the old bourgeoissociety, with its classes and class differences”,


19/80


it said “appears an association in which the freedevelopment of each is the condition for the freedevelopment of all”. It pointed out that socialism

was not merely desirable, but also inevitable.Capitalism, it said, does not serve the needs ofman and, like other social and economic systemsin history, it would be replaced by a system,better suited to human needs. Marx analysedthe working of capitalism in his famous work DasKapital (Capital) and pointed out thecharacteristics that would lead to its destruction.According to him,

1. Workers produce more ‘value’ than they getin the form of wages, the difference being

appropriated by the capitalists in the formof profits.

2. This constitutes the basis of conflict incapitalist society. Profits can be increased atthe cost of workers’ wages and, therefore,the interests of workers and capitalists areirreconcilable.

3. Economic crises were inevitable undercapitalism because of the discrepancybetween the purchasing power of workers

and total production. These crises would beresolved only if the private ownership of themeans of production is abolished and theprofit motive eliminated from the system ofproduction. With this, production would becarried on for social good rather than forprofits for a few

4. The exploiting classes would disappear anda classless society would emerge in whichthere would be no difference between whatwas good for the individual and for society

as a whole.

Marx and Engels believed that this wouldbe accomplished by the working class whichwas the most revolutionary class in capitalistsociety. They advocated that the emancipationof the working class would emancipate thewhole human race from all traces of socialinjustice.

Around the time the Communist Manifestowas published, revolutions broke out in almost

every country in Europe. These revolts aimed atthe overthrow of autocratic governments,

establishment of democracy and also, in countriessuch as Italy and Germany, at nationalunification. One of the major forces in these

revolutions were the workers who had beeninspired by ideas of socialism. The CommunistLeague participated in these revolutions in manycountries. However, all these revolutions weresuppressed.

Writings of Karl Marx showed that capitalistmode of production generates four types ofalienation: alienation of man in the workplace;alienation of man from his product; alienationof man from his species life; and, alienation ofman from man. For human beings, work is ameans of self-expression and development ofone’s potential. However, in capitalism workceases to fulfil this requirement. The industrialunit divides the work of production into smallfragments; it compartmentalizes jobs such thateach individual repeatedly performs the samedifferentiated and narrowly specialized task.Under these circumstances, work becomes aroutine, if not a drudgery. The instrumentalrationality that governs the workplace alsoextends to the social space.

Effect of Communism (Socialist Movement) onSociety:

Soviet Union constituted a unique culture,talked in terms of the "Soviet people", andproclaimed the birth of a new community,recognizable as a Soviet nationalism. Despitethe fact, that it was carried out in the name ofinternationalism and denouncing nationalism,which meant no more than suppressing certainnon-socialist ideological brands of nationalism.

Sayer provides a perspective on the broaderimplications of the economic analyses by KarlMarx of capitalism and the social analysis byMax Weber of the same phenomenon. Sayer’sessay indicates how industrial capitalism andcapitalism generally (in the way Braudel dealswith it), has generated “modernity” and apreoccupation with “modernity”; industrialcapitalism cannot be associated purely witheconomic transitions and its limited socialconsequences, even over the long term. It is partof much broader developments.


20/80


Sayer points out that Marx did notassociated capitalism with specifically economicfeatures. Rather, Marx thought of it as a stage

of development. Asserting the importance ofwage labour and general “commoditization” ascrucial features of capitalism, Marx stressed,though, that what was most significant to suchcapitalism was that it affects almost all socialrelations. Once the process is set in motion, it“revolutionizes both the material productionprocesses and the social relation on which itrests”.

Craft workers are brought into a singleworkshop and subordinated to a single capitalist,enabling greater labour discipline. Productionalso is co-operative, in the sense that there nowappears a detailed division of labour in theworkshop and in society; and it is competitive.During this phase, such processes are “more orless accidental.” But, during the next phase,that of Modern Industry, these processes “arethe rule,” and there is a transformation to theextent to which labour is subordinate to capital.“Things” (or “commodities”) become crucial toall relationships; all “use value” is an aspect of

“exchange value”.Later writers, Sayer points out, such as

Max Weber, Michel Foucault or Norbert Elias,have disputed the factors on which this broadsocio-economic and cultural transformationrests. If, for Marx, it is the product of a complexeconomic process, for Weber it is the consequenceof a cultural process which does not excludeeconomic implications, but was fundamental toit. For Michel Foucault, it is the change in thediscursive paradigm of society that is crucial to

capitalism and modernity, while, for Norbert,Elias, it is the very personal discipline ofindividuals in society.

Class Struggle

In Middle Ages, three most basic socialgroups were: those who fought as mountedknights (the landed nobility), those who prayedand 'looked after' the spiritual welfare of society(the clergy) and those who laboured in fieldsand shops (the peasantry and village artisans).After the revival of towns there emerged afourth social group, the distance traders and

merchants. The central axis of the medievaleconomy was the relationship between thelanded aristocracy and the peasantry, as much

rooted in the specific relations of production asmodern class relationships are. The landedaristocracy derived its income from theownership of land, on which it did not performany economic function.

The clergy derived their special place asfirst estate through their self-proclaimed role asmediator between God and humanity, and byvirtue of this role enjoyed a number of privileges,chief among them the exemption of taxation forthemselves and the Church as an institution.There was transition to a modern class societywhich had no place for privilege based on birth,status and legal shackles

The challenge to the feudal social structurescame from the class struggles of the peasantryand the bourgeoisie, and the Nation-State as apolitical formation. In the new nation statesthere was a natural alliance between thebourgeoisie and the monarchies. They opposedtolls, tariffs and other petty regulations thatrestricted trade and other commercial activity.The towns and the bourgeoisie became majorforces in the transition from feudal societies tomodern class societies organized as nation states.The estate system was modified, and notcompletely undermined, once the economicrelationships that sustained them were eroded.

These two new classes- a bourgeoisie spreadout into the commercial, financial and industrialsectors; and a proletariat in agriculture andindustry, initiated a transformation of the socialspectrum by the 18th century. However, the18th century continued to be the age of thedominance of the landed aristocracy, thoughthis aristocracy itself was now rooted in theemerging capitalism.

The emergence and development of modernclass society parallels the birth of the nations-state and emergence of the nation as anorganizing principle. In fact the political formgiven to the modern society was that of anation. The French Revolution in democratizingthe concept of the nation to guarantee thefundamental rights of all people also legitimizedthe link between the two. The transition to


21/80


citizenship from being subjects of kings andqueens was inseparably linked to equality beforelaw as well as private property and a unified

market.

During the course of the 19th century thepress, the educational system, the religiousmovements, and the inter-imperialist rivalriescontributed to the strengthening of nationalidentities and the growth of self-consciousnationalist movements. In Italy, Germany andCentral Europe, they represented powerfulforces, and incorporated the class interests ofthe lesser gentry and the emerging middle class.Yet, it is worthwhile remembering that nationalidentity did not really diminish class affiliations.

The struggle for vote, equal wages for equalwork, inheritance rights and variousmanifestations of patriarchy contributed toawareness of gender issues. This is a view thatdoes not remain uncontested. Perceptions apart,classes remain a basic reality of contemporarysociety, and class solidarities still retainconsiderable significance. The reality of all wagelabour under capitalism today is that it is stillnecessarily exploitative and organized in theinterest of Capital. Class relations may havebecome mystified or hidden under the force ofmedia, and more sophisticated forms ofproduction and consumption, but therelationship between Capital and labour retainsits essential contradiction in the post-industrialcapitalist social order.

Communism Today

With the fall of communist regimes in

Russia and Eastern Europe, communism hasbeen in retreat for most of the 1990s and 2000s.There are, for example, fewer communistmovements around the world than during theCold War. But there are still several majorcommunist regimes, including the governmentsof North Korea and Cuba.

Democratic socialism: A peaceful anddemocratic approach to achieving socialism. Asan ideology, democratic socialism alsoemphasizes a classless society in which all

members jointly share the means and output ofproduction. But unlike communism, democratic

socialism attempts to achieve its goals peacefullyvia the democratic processes. Democraticsocialists reject the need for immediate transition

to socialism in favour of a gradualist approach,achieved by working within a democraticgovernment. Economic inequalities should beremedied through a welfare state, a system thatprovides aid to the poor and help to theunemployed.

Democratic Socialism Today

Democratic socialism has been quitesuccessful in western Europe and Scandinavia.Many governments there have extensive welfaresystems that have remained largely intact evenwhen democratic socialists are voted out ofoffice. Democratic socialist parties exist in manydemocracies around the world. Germany’s SocialDemocratic Party and Britain’s Labour Partyare contemporary examples of successful politicalparties heavily influenced by democraticsocialism.

DEMOCRACY

20th century saw an unparalleled extensionof democracy in terms of both its inclusivenessas well as its spatial expansion. Beginning withthe extension of the suffrage to women in theolder western democracies, and ending with thedismantling of apartheid in South Africa,democracy in the 20th century surely becamemore inclusive. 21st century is witnessing thesame expansion both vertically and horizontally.Horizontal expansion evident in the fact thatnew areas as in Arab States and North Africaare experimenting with one of the most

revolutionary and addictive political thoughti.e. Democracy. At the same time verticalexpansion can be noticed in increasing emphasison inclusion of local communities in governancemodel across the States. In India same is visiblein enhanced efforts to empower the 3rd tier ofdemocracy i.e. PRIs and ULBs. (Panchayati RajInstitutions and Urban Local Bodies).

An understanding of modern democracy isnot possible without an account of the socialand political ideas, as well as of the patterns of

material development in the economic andproductive spheres of the societies in which


22/80


modern democracy took birth. But describingeach and every change at the same time willlead to problem like lack of coherence and

repetitions of ideas and changes. Students mustnote that changes that led to emergence ofindustrialization, capitalism, communism,nationalism, colonialism and de-colonialism werenot compartmentalized but rather were actingsimultaneously and effectively on society andmodern man. Now a brief history and analysisof the philosophy of Democracy follows and itis suggested to students to follow the abovementioned advice of referring cross cuttingthemes while understanding History of World

in modern times.Democracy in the city-state of Athens is

considered to be the most stable, enduring andmodel form of democracy in Greece in ancienttimes. But this had its own exclusivistweaknesses.

Modern Democracies Flourished in West

Britain is regarded as the first moderndemocracy because after Civil War (1640-1649),

royal absolutism was brought to an end, andpowers were transferred from the Crown to thetwo Houses of Parliament. Though, universaladult suffrage was only fully achieved in 1948,when plural voting was abolished in favour ofthe principle of one-person one-vote.

More radical tradition of democracy inFrance was inaugurated by the FrenchRevolution of 1789, with its stirring call ofLiberty-Equality Fraternity. In the United Statesof America, too, the advance of democracy in

the aftermath of the Civil War was restricted towhite men, and the enfranchisement of women,as also of indigenous and black people was notachieved until the twentieth century.

Nationalism and democracy are two ideasthat fundamentally differentiate modern statefrom earlier states. Modern state differs from thepre-modern state in, how it exercises vast,centralized and bureaucratic power, and alsohow it legitimizes its rule through the doctrineof the sovereignty of the people. It thus mobilizes

support for the state, especially throughnationalism, which is a form of imposing a

uniform culture over a political territory.

It mobilizes support through the modern

political party, which is an invention of thenineteenth century; and modern politics couldbe conducted through either the multi-partysystem called pluralist or the single-party system,often called totalitarian or dictatorial. Butcitizen’s function in modern politics by theexercise of rights which they possess at birthand which cannot be denied to them subse-quently; they thus organize themselves into alltypes of groups independent of the state. Thisis often called democratic; but it is moreimportant to realize that modern citizens arecapable of being more active politically thanever before, whether the state be democratic ornot; and that complements the state’s capacityto mobilize them to action on a scale unknownin history. These two tendencies combine toproduce modern politics, the active citizen andthe mobilizing bureaucratic state.

Init ia l De mocracies: Libe rty Rather Than Equality

Beginning of democratic theory isdistinguished by a strong emphasis on theconcept of liberty, rather than the concept ofequality with which it later came to be identified.The idea that God spoke directly to individuals,without the mediation of priests, also madepossible and legitimate the questioning ofpolitical authority. In modern world, strugglefor democracy everywhere and throughouthistory, has been a struggle against politicalinequality based on, and often justified by,inequalities of birth and wealth.

Industrial capitalism created new socialclasses which questioned the stranglehold of theolder elites, whose power was based entirely inthe ownership of land, and demanded a sharein political power. Gradually, the middle andworking classes also became more vocal andassertive in claiming rights of politicalparticipation.

Centrality of the state naturally resulted ingreater pressures for controlling the state and

sharing in the power and the resources that itcommanded. In Western societies, capitalist


23/80


industrialization is widely believed to have beena powerful impetus to democratization. Patternsof economic development effected significant

changes in the nature of class forces and classdivisions, and both these interacted with thestate and political institutions to redefine societyand politics.

However, outside of the west, social theoristshave many different explanations for the variedroutes through which democratization occurs.The 'real world of democracy', as said by C.B.MacPherson, has been populated by manyvariants of democracy: from bourgeoisdemocracy to socialist and even communistversions, each of which has insisted that its formof democracy is the truest and most genuine.For societies which attach greater significanceto the community that to the individual, thedemocratic part of liberal-democracy (such asfree elections and freedom of speech) is moreuniversalizable than its liberal component.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is the premierphilosopher of democracy, with his faith in thedirect participation of the citizens in the makingof laws. John Stuart Mill expressed his fear ofthe tyranny of the majority. Karl Marx’s attitudeto democracy was somewhat ambivalent. Evenas he viewed bourgeois democracy as inherentlyflawed, on account of its class character, Marxnevertheless endorsed the battle for democracyas an important stepping-stone on the journeyof the proletariat towards revolutionary change.

Democracy and Feudalism

Even as ideas of the French Revolution-

liberty, equality and fraternity, popularsovereignty and nation as constituted of theentire people, led to the birth of modern politicsand modern public opinion, representativeinstitutions throughout Europe continued toexclude people as representatives. Democracycontinued to be interpreted in the light of theinterests of the propertied classes. The House ofLords in Parliament represented by the richestfour hundred families in Britain continued thetradition of the 'estate' of the nobility, even afterthe composition of the House of Commonschanged in favour of the 'commoners' througha series of Reform Acts of Parliament.

These political institutional arrangementshampered constitutionalism and handicappedthe class struggles for greater political democracy.

Destruction of Feudalism (which was oneof the biggest danger to Democratic Spirit) wasa slow process. The first artisans destroyedmachinery which they saw as destroying theirlivelihood and way of life, subsequently evolvinginto the first trade-unionists. The emergence ofa factory proletariat finally led to the dichotomyof capital and labour as the primarycontradiction in the modern class society. Withthe emergence of capital as the dominant elementin economic production, the bourgeoisie becamethe representative of status quo, and the classstruggles of the working class the moving forcesof history. As Marx pointed out, a class hadbeen created whose emancipation could resultin the end of class exploitation itself. The birthof modern politics, as expressed through theideals of the French Revolution and the followingrevolutions of 1830 and 1848 meant primarilythat no privilege could any more remainunquestioned. The forces of democracyunleashed by these revolutions ended all

legitimacy of estates.

Challenges to Democracy in ContemporaryTimes

In the 'realist' account of Joseph Schumpeterwho said that the classical, 18th century definitionof democracy (as an institutional arrangementfor arriving at political decisions by making thepeople decide issues through the election oflegislators to carry out their will) was flawedbecause the people were ignorant, irrational

and apathetic, and therefore the principle ofpopular sovereignty was meaningless. Amongthe important challenges to democracy at thebeginning of the 21st century, the followingmay be identified:

1. Development or rather 'Lack of Develo-pment'.

2. Disrespect for Diversity by DemocraticNeutrality.

3. Gender and Democracy in Patriarchal State.

4. Globalization and Loss of DemocraticCredentials.


24/80


Democracy is potentially a powerfulweapon against poverty and deprivation. Butslow pace of development in many countries,

including India is often attributed to adoptionof Democracy. The neutrality of democratictheory becomes a problem, as it prevents specialconsideration from being given to those citizenswhose formal equality is undermined by thedisadvantage and prejudices that they aresubject to by virtue of their cultural identity.Communitarian critics of liberalism have arguedthat individuals are not the autonomous pre-social creatures that liberal theory makes themout to be. Rather, they are formed and constituted

by the traditions and communities in whichthey are formed and constituted by the traditionsand communities in which they are located.

Feminists argue that the customary divisionbetween the private and the public realm tendsto relegate women to the private spherecharacterized by subordination to patriarchalpower and lack of freedom, while democracy isrestricted to the essentially male-oriented publicsphere. Globalization, as we know, increasesthe intensity of transnational flows of trade,

finance, capital, technology, information andculture. Thus, it makes it difficult for democraticgovernments-particularly in the countries of theSouth-to control their own affairs internally andin a self-contained way.

The new institutions of global governance,such as the International Monetary Fund or theWorld Trade Organization, perform regulatoryfunctions but themselves are organised in waysthat are not democratic or accountable. On thecontrary, they reflect and reinforce the

asymmetries of global power relations.Despite the shortcomings, the fact that all

manner of political regimes have sought toappropriate the label 'democracy' to legitimizethemselves, clearly shows that it carries a positivenormative connotation. And democracy is hereto stay for long. Recent Arab spring clearlyshows the desire and temptation of humannature towards democratic principles.

Democracy goes far beyond the formal,constitutional, and ideological restriction of thatlabel to one type of regime, whether it be liberal,counter-revolutionary, or communist. However,

limited, coerced, "unfair", or "distorted" theelectoral process, no regime could do in pastand can do in present without it.

Effect of Democracy on Society

Throughout history, democracy has beencalled many things. Merriam-Webster defines"democracy" as "government by the people; aform of government in which the supremepower is vested in the people and exerciseddirectly by them or by their elected agents undera free electoral system." Former AmericanPresident Abraham Lincoln called democracy,"... the government of the people, by the peopleand for the people." However, former UnitedKingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchillsaid, "The strongest argument against democracyis a five minute discussion with the averagevoter." Regardless of how we praise and criticizedemocracy, it is evident that democracy hasplayed a major card in the shaping of modernsociety. We will explore why and how democracyhas accomplished this.

Before one can know the impact democracy

has had on the world, one must take a look atits history. While its birth can't exactly bepinpointed, historians do know that ancientcivilizations employed forms of democracy. Theworld's first republic, Vaishali, is part of a groupof ancient republics known as the Maha Janapadas. Vaishali and the other Maha Janapadas developed and used democraticsystems named Sangha, Gana and Panchayat.Sangha, meaning "community", was more of areligious brotherhood rather than a completedemocratic system; however, the elements are

in place. Decisions in the sangha were enactedby everyone. Each individual in the sangha hadequal decisive power and emphasis was put onparticipation in the sangha. The gana systemwas slightly more organized. "Gana" could referto many things, such as tribes, troops, class, etc.but is commonly used to refer to a governingbody. The various ganas would have chiefsmaking the important decisions if the publiccould not agree on a topic. Out of the threeancient forms of democracy, Panchayat is the

closest to modern day democracy. Panchayat isstill utilized in some parts of the world today.


25/80


In Panchayat, elders are elected by the villagecouncil. These elders would mediate argumentsamongst the people. Throughout the ages, other

nations had similar democratic elements in theirgovernment. For example, the Roman Empirewas known as the Roman Republic before itsgovernment system changed from a republic tothe quasi-monarch such as in the time of JuliusCaesar. During this period, officials were electedby the citizens. Citizens were divided intodifferent castes with various powers, but allcitizens were allowed to vote. Even in the daysof the American Indian, democracy in variousstages can be found. The Iroquois Indian used

a very loose form of democracy to govern thepeople. Certain males were born into a leadershipcaste. Only the members of this caste couldbecome leaders. Furthermore, only women ofthe same caste could remove the leaders.Understanding democracy's evolution through-out history is key to understanding the impactit has had on the world. These are just a fewpoints in the history of democracy. As we cansee with the preceding examples, democracyhas had an extremely long and rich history,

weaving in and out of various cultures.This evolution of democracy has allowed

the world to grow towards a world where fearand oppression is eliminated. One way this isoccurring is by democratic countries' promotionof education. Education and democracy gohand in hand. Democratic countries tend toallow more freedoms, such as freedom ofinformation. With information being readilyavailable, it is much easier for education tothrive, as opposed to an authoritarian

government that would restrict information.Democracy also promotes freedom from thegovernment, as a leader that is deemed unfitcan be easily eliminated from office. This canresult in more educated and intelligent leadersthat fit the bill properly.

Democracy is not without its criticisms,however. When Churchill stated, "the strongestargument against democracy is a five minutediscussion with the average voter," he may havebeen referring to the difficulty of understanding

a democratic government and how it functions.If the average voter is not thoroughly educated

in the system, they may not know theramifications of the decisions they vote or notvote on. Classic philosopher Plato addressed

this concern in his writings. He believed that asystem where the citizens were ruled by onlythe intelligent would benefit society more. Afinance capitalist in Australia was cited saying,"It's a strange system. I mean, after all, whyshould a kid of eighteen have the same value ofvote as I do". Perhaps one of the biggest criticismsof democracy is that it is value-neutral. This canhave a profound effect on society. Robert Kaplanin his essay "Was Democracy Just a Moment"points out that both Hitler and Mussolini arose

to power through democracy. Kaplan'sargument there isn't that democracy is the causeof dictators rising to power, but that democracyexposes a society's health. It is amazing to seethe various systems and their effects on society.There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to governpeople. In the end, it all boils down to what aperson values the most. Some may value freedomof information, others may value stability. Eitherway, the effect will be profound and will toucheveryone.

Brief comparison of Societal effect of Communism and Democracy

Communism, a well known form ofsocialism, is a government system revolving

World History Part 2 by chronicle ias.pdf

Documents

Transcript of World History Part 2 by chronicle ias.pdf