Dear all,

I hope you found our discussion of Schivelbusch interesting and useful. As I mentioned in class, our upcoming schedule now has a slight alteration. Class next Thursday (2/20) is cancelled, as I will have to be out of town. To accomodate this we will simply shift our readings back a day: so for Thursday of this week (2/13), read the Marx that is posted, and for Tuesday (2/18), read James Carey’s essay on the telegraph.

For the Marx, bear in mind that this was written in 1867, so it uses some fairly archaic language that can occasionally be difficult to understand. However, try to pinpoint some of the main arguments or conclusions Marx is making overall. We are mostly focusing on the ways in which the new development of machinery and the factory system affected the lives of poor and working class people. As you’ll see, Marx is describing the first instances of a kind of bitter antagonism developing between humans and machines, especially when it comes to labor and the workplace. The link I have provided for the text is fairly long, so please remember that you are only required to read section 3A (on the employment of women and children) and section 4 (“The Factory”).

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to let me know. See you Thursday!