The Rise of Industrial Cities and the Labor Movement: A 19th-Century Overview
1. European Cities
Rural-urban migration fueled the growth of industrial cities. Working-class neighborhoods sprung up near factories, alongside new bourgeois extensions. The urban landscape transformed with piped water, sewage systems, and public lighting. Railways, banks, boulevards, theaters, and cafes became hallmarks of the modern city designed by the bourgeoisie. The anonymous urban mass began to take shape.
2. Bourgeois Life and Culture
The bourgeoisie, now in power, championed new habits and values. The big bourgeoisie (bankers, industrialists, officials) controlled power and urban planning. The urban middle classes (shop owners, administrators, professionals) aspired to the upper bourgeoisie’s “standard of living.” Private ownership, a key bourgeois aspiration, was displayed through houses, clothing, leisure, healthy living, and education. Illiteracy was considered a scourge.
3. Working Class Living Conditions
Workers depended on insufficient wages. Factories and mines employed the new urban working class, the foundation of the bourgeois economy. Working-class neighborhoods were improvised and close to factories. Housing was poor, and authorities neglected these areas. Workplaces were unsafe, leading to death, disability, and diseases like rickets and tuberculosis. The average workday exceeded twelve hours with few days off. Women and children worked for less pay. Basic expenses consumed workers’ income, marked by illness, alcoholism, prostitution, and ignorance. This situation fostered working-class values opposed to bourgeois ideals.
4. Origins of the Workers’ Movement
4.1. Configuration of the Labor Movement
Rural-urban migration and new industrial jobs changed the perception of wages. Abundant labor and lack of labor laws created unfavorable working conditions. Workers became aware of their exploitation and organized to resist. The labor movement sought better conditions, reduced hours, and higher wages. They also demanded voting rights, assembly rights, and freedom of expression, essential for worker dignity. Workers were perceived as a threat, controlled by police. The proletariat, as a revolutionary class, proposed new forms of social organization.
4.2. First Workers’ Associations
Early associations in Britain began as uncoordinated reactions and subsistence riots due to harsh working conditions. The Combination Laws prohibited worker partnerships until 1825. Trade unions aimed to defend workers’ interests. The first general strike occurred in 1834.
4.3. Luddism
The destruction of machines, seen as job destroyers, occurred in early industrialization. Britain imposed capital punishment for these attacks. “Ned Ludd” messages expressed worker resentment towards machines replacing skilled labor.
4.4. Chartism (1838-1848)
The first politically oriented labor action aimed for equal rights. The People’s Charter demanded universal male suffrage, secret ballots, and equal electoral districts. Though rejected by Parliament and repressed, it achieved limited work hours for women and children.
5. Social Theory and Doctrine
5.1. Utopian Socialism
Emerging in the 1830s, “socialism” addressed social inequality, aligning with Enlightenment and Romantic thought. Utopian socialism, originating outside the working class, included:
- Saint-Simon (1760-1825): Science as the basis of social change.
- Fourier (1772-1837): Work organization and phalansteries.
- Cabet (1788-1856): Voyage to Icaria.
- Owen (1771-1858): Worker colonies like New Harmony.
After the 1848 revolutions:
- Utopian socialism gave way to anarchism and socialism.
- Class consciousness led to independent unions and parties.
- International workers’ action emerged.
- Demands included universal suffrage and social legislation.
5.2. The Emergence of Marxism
In 1848, Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto (“Workers of the world, unite!”). Marxism aimed to transform society based on:
- Historical materialism: Economic structure shapes institutions and ideas.
- Surplus value: Employer appropriation of worker labor.
- Class struggle: The driving force of history.
- Dictatorship of the proletariat: State control of production as a transition to a classless society.
5.3. The Origins of Anarchism
Popular in Mediterranean and Eastern European countries, anarchism viewed the state as suppressing human freedom. Proudhon (1809-1865) questioned property. Bakunin advocated for eliminating the state, inheritance, and private property, emphasizing the peasantry’s role. Anarchism ranged from direct action to pacifism. Anarchists rejected political participation, focusing on unions.
6. Workers’ International Association
6.1. Creating the International
Founded in 1864, the First International united diverse worker partnerships. National federations across Europe facilitated its expansion. Congresses guided decision-making. Marxist proposals included worker emancipation through political struggle. Key resolutions included strikes, eight-hour workdays, and eliminating child labor. Clashes between Marxists and anarchists occurred.
6.2. The Paris Commune and Dissolution
The First International dissolved after the Paris Commune (1871), the first worker’s government, was crushed. Differing views on the Commune’s defeat led to the expulsion of anarchists. The Second International (1889) accepted the democratic system, focusing on union growth and eight-hour workdays. It dissolved due to disagreements over World War I.