CMNS 353 Lecture 5: CMNS 353 LECTURE 5
18 Jan 2019
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CMNS 353 LECTURE 5
The Relations (RoP) and Forces of Production (RoP)
RoP – the relationships between people that form the basis of commodity production in a society
o E.g., capitalists, workers, shop-owners, farmers
o In capitalist production the exploitation of workers by capitalists is generally
taken to be primary
o Independent of human will
o A social structure of society
o Our ideas (sometimes including our ideas about technology) are based largely
upon where we sit in the RoP
FoP – the materials, objects, work, skill, land, and instruments involved in production
o Dramatically developed during the capitalist era, relatively undeveloped in feudal
society
o Commanded and set into motion by the capitalist
o Technology/artifacts in the FoP can also be political, in the sense that they may
grant power to capital and disadvantage workers
▪ FoP turned against the RoP (at least the workers in the RoP)
The success of coal (and failure of water) power in Scotland
• In the 1820s and 30s Scottish capitalists faced a choice between water and coal power
• Water, despite the popular narrative, was not less expensive of less efficient than coal
• Water power required close coordination between capitalists and with government to
divert streams and rivers and plan use, capitalists all wanting to benefit “in equal
proportion”
• Schemes mostly failed because capitalists failed to agree to collective planning,
coordination, and funding
• Capitalist property relations (RoP between capitalists) are inherently competitive (trying
to undercut one another)
• Capitalists predisposed to non-coordination, in this way
• Coal required no coordination and also meant that factories could be in the city (where
labor was cheaper and less rebellious)
So, what do we take from Malm’s essay on water and coal power in Scotland?
• Who are the most important characters in Malm (water schemes), Pinch and Bjiker (the
bicycle), Collins and Pinch (the Challenger)? What do they do?
• What’s different about the context Malm gives us from that of Collins and Pinch or Pinch
and Bjiker
