New Criticals


What happens to the worker in the face of mechanization and industrialization? What effects of the machine are had on the worker? Most dramatically for capitalism, the integration of machinery and the development of industrial capitalism first introduced as viable the labor of children and women. By dispensing muscular power, the capitalist could employ women and children, as well as “workers of slight muscular strength [4], or [workers] whose bodily development is incomplete.” [5] Machines open up the possibility of total employment; they eradicate any previous prohibitions on who can, or is capable of, work. [6] The capitalist never “discriminate” again; all were welcome from then on. [7]