Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

Marx & Proudhon in the Digital Age

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related to the differing costs of reproduction and distribution for digital products. The core of

Thompson’s argument relies upon the claim that “the fundamental impact of the Internet is to

make distribution itself a cheap commodity or in the case of digital content, completely free”.

This freeing up of distribution pressures means that the central pressure upon the chain of

production is located in the acquisition of consumers, and not in distribution or supply. This

analysis, while coming from a business perspective, seems to ultimately end up exploring the

changing labour theories due to mechanisation.

5 - Conclusion

This investigation into the applicability of Proudhon’s and Marx’s theories in the digital age has

resulted in two conclusions.

First, while Proudhon’s arguments did not come to fruition during the industrial revolution, they

seem to be highly applicable to the age of computerisation. Concomitantly, Marx’s

counterarguments, while appropriate for an industrialised world, breakdown when the digitised

world blurs labour-divisions. A range of case studies provides the evidence to support this

contention. Thus, Proudhon’s ‘antithetical’ theory of the effect of machinery on society is only

now being realised with the invention of the internet. For us, now, this means that Marx’s

criticisms of Proudhon’s ideas are increasingly less relevant.

Second, it seems that Proudhon’s suggestions for society’s path in a mechanised world may be

better applied in a digital world. As previously mentioned, perhaps we should be referring to the

concepts of ‘Proudhonism’ as the digital era continues to evolve. To adapt Proudhon: “with the

introduction of computers into economy, wings are given to liberty.”

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