Question

Karl Marx saw the new industrialized factory as different from the workplaces that had existed previously. In particular, he noted three trends in these new factories: deskilling, powerlessness, and degradation of workers. 1. Describe each of these three trends seen by Marx (deskilling, powerlessness, and degradation of workers). 2. Which of these three is most prevalent in the workplace today? Please describe your answer.

Answer 1

I will answer only Q1 as per HOMEWORKLIB POLICY. Kindly respect HOMEWORKLIB RULES.

1) Deskilling is a process by which skilled labor in the industry is removed by introducing  technologies which are getting operated with the help of semiskilled or unskilled workers This leads to saving of cost as investment is less in human capital. Deskilling is done with the intention of separating workers from the production mechanism through the use of machines.

Marx felt that laborers were alieniated in terms of feeling powerless or isolation. Marx refers to alienation in the Capitalist way of production.He says the commodities produced by workers with the help of their labor is not their own work but is owned by another and is produced for another..Here alienation of product that is produced with the help of work is mentioned

Degradation of work is taking away the skill of workers and their self respect . Eg deskilling the craft and clerical workers.