[Marxism] logistics
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Andy is correct about the importance of this article. It's a great use of a Marxist method to analyses parts of the capitalist economy as it has evolved over the recent decades. It also serves as a 'progressive' basis for what could be done under socialism and a planned economy. To respond to Andy's question. Even under Imperialism, the 'fusion of finance and manufacturing capital with finance dominant' the actual production of surplus value is still at the point of production regardless of what sector of Imperialism controls it or is dominant over it. Just something to keep in mind that in Allan's article, his description is really about the massive centralization of the circulation of commodities, efficiencies installed, profitability, etc etc...but if you look at the role that rail play in over 100 years ago, it is really hard to see the difference (in fact rail still is very important, Allan's article focuses on air freight, but most freight is still handled by ships and railroads, not by air). Air cargo is an expanding industry, and not only for amazon and the final retail delivery of products (which the article focuses on) but also on secondary processed materials like machine tools, specialized components for machinery, etc. Take Otis Elevator. It used to be that Otis would ship an elevator or set of elevators to a construction site in an office building by rail and truck or just truck. Now, with just-on-time delivery for construction sites with limited laydown space for building materials, they will ship it by plane on the evening before it needs to be installed. The cost for shipping by air is huge but can save because the contractors don't mind paying for it if it means they don't have to hold onto it in a warehouse which costs money. So air freight is increasing for even non-retail commodity distribution. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] logistics
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Joe Allen has a great article at Jacobin on logistics, focusing on the growth of UPS/FedEx et al. and on the massive warehousing and transportation hubs in Chicago, Louisville and Memphis. He correctly points to these developments as dramatically increasing labor's potential power (and thus replacing the lost power from manufacturing. This then requires socialists to have a bigger presence in that sector, to join the fight toward organizing and manifesting that power. A couple questions for list members: 1. Joe claims that retail, and even more so logistics (the nexus between manufacturing and retail) have overtaken manufacturing in importance in the capitalist production/circulation process. He argues that whereas manufacturers used to tell retailers what they would sell and for how much, but supposedly the power relationship has been reversed. Some anecdotal evidence for this follows, but I think this needs to be articulated in theoretical terms as well. That is, if retail/logistics is now supreme over manufacturing, that would seem to indicate that the problem of realization of surplus value is being dealt with increasingly in the sphere of circulation. So the question is: is that because capital has run up against the limits of solving its realization problems in the sphere of production? Is it in contrast because new forces of production have become available in retail/logistics, and those sectors are now pulling along manufacturing? 2. Joe mentions that Hong Kong is the #1 cargo airport in the world, having in recent years overtaken Memphis (FedEx's largest concentration). Hong Kong is also crucial for maritime traffic. Hopefully someone will do a comparative study of the various US/Europe/Asian logistics hubs and their competition as well as overlap. 3. German Amazon workers have struck several times in recent years; I don't think those in the US have yet. This is another reason to compare different continents' hubs, their bosses and their workers. Joe's article: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/02/logistics-industry-organizing-labor/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
