Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

Marx & Proudhon in the Digital Age

gjy680

provide the correct framework for the economy. The core of Proudhon’s claims regarding

development of machinery is that “in society the incessant appearance of machinery is the antithesis, the inverse formula, of the division of labour.” 8 This argument stems from the idea

that machinery represents synthesis of diverse forms of labour into a single action.

From this “equilibrium of capacities”, which tries to counter the negative effects of the division

of labour, Proudhon expects that machinery will continue to expand the scope of its changes to

society. By his reckoning, “with the introduction of machinery into economy, wings are given to

liberty”. This claim that machinery will inherently facilitate the increase of human liberty is

central to Proudhon’s understanding of machinery as marking a second economic period ,

superseding the division of labour with its increase in economic production.

The most obvious limitation of Proudhon’s understanding of mechanisation was that it did not

properly carry through to the realities of the industrial world. The division of labour remained as

present in the industrial world as it was before industrialisation. Indeed, divisions possibly

intensified as people had to move further up the hierarchy of needs in order to remain relevant

in the increasingly mechanised world.

Another limitation in Proudhon’s argument is that he frequently makes sweeping claims over the

course of history. This is one of Marx’s primary criticisms of Proudhon. This may well serve to

explain why society in the industrial age did not meet Proudhon’s expectations to be ‘freer’.

Perhaps, Proudhon was anticipating the longer-term course of machineryup to and including the

development of the computer.

8 Proudhon, The Philosophy of Poverty . Chapter 4.

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