The working class has existed since the mid-18th century, with the Industrial Revolution in the UK. It consisted of a population of peasant origin uprooted geographically to the centers of production, with no control over the use of their time. The wages of this working class only enabled them to survive and reproduce. This class of workers is the victim of owners who have exploited them, alienated them from the fruits of their labor and dehumanized them. They are blamed for the loss of jobs: too expensive, not efficient enough, not mobile enough, and so on.
However, just because workers suffer, just because they are victims, doesn’t mean they are virtuous. The working class is complicit in the creation of class racism.
The last major popular protests took place in the 1960s, with demands for workers to participate in company decision-making and for workers to be better educated. Sociologist Norbert Elias describes how, by the end of the 1960s, the working class wanted to work less and earn more. During the Grenelle Agreements in France, workers were given more money and more time off. It was no longer a question of changing the system, the way society worked (participating in decision-making, managing one’s own social security, etc.) as before. They just got more.
Until 1976, Western countries had brought in immigrants or colonized people since there was so much work for the workers. Social democracy was a concept developed by Albert Thomas, which consisted in enabling citizens to achieve greater prosperity through national harmony. Less aggression towards each other and more wealth for everyone. In 1976, 72% of workers voted left-wing. By the mid-1970s, workers were beginning to own homes and cars. Workers organized themselves without discrimination: men, women, young, old, immigrants, nationals. There was a large, united working class.
Class racism emerged at the end of the 70s, with the relocation of factories to China and Mexico. When employment became scarce, from 1976 to 1986, workers realized that many would find themselves out of work. Social democracy could do nothing for them, could no longer safeguard their prosperity. The majority of workers turned to a form of class racism. It would be up to immigrants or formerly colonized people to lose their jobs, and so-called native-born males, the WASPs, to share the remaining jobs. There’s no solidarity when there’s less to share. By the 1990s, the majority of left-wing voters and politicians were urban dwellers, college-educated and doing intellectual work. This social-democratic left (like Clinton, Biden, Hollande, Obama) in turn developed a racism towards this working class considered deplorable because they are racist, want women at home, want money, put their self-interest first and vote right or far-right. In 2002, only 13% of working-class people voted for the left. The notion of national preference has invaded the working class. The owners have succeeded in dividing the working class. They fight each other instead of taking on the real culprits: the owners.
Albert Thomas, in the Roaring Twenties, founded the International Labor Organization (ILO) for national concord: more for everyone, hand in hand. He left the head of the organization in 1929, disillusioned because, during the economic crisis of 1929, the working class had opted for every man for himself, rejecting the Poles, the Jews, the Bolsheviks and so on. As soon as the economic situation is bad, if there are no proposals to change the system, the workers are no longer united. Albert Thomas was a reformist: he wanted to change the system. He was called a social traitor because he was against the approach of the revolutionary left which wanted to attack the bourgeoisie. Albert Thomas found this unnecessary because he claimed that the system would reproduce itself and create other bourgeois. Attacking the richest changes nothing. This is what George Orwell’s Animal Farm describes. The French Revolution cut off the heads of the aristocrats and France was ruled by 500 bourgeois families rather than the 500 aristocratic families before the Revolution. Raphäel Glucksmann was attacked because he assumed he was a reformist. Marine Tondelier is also a reformist.
Norbert Elias, in his 1965 book Logique de l’exclusion (The Logic of Exclusion ), explains that if we want to avoid the class racism that does so much harm, the demands and struggles of the left must absolutely prioritize changes in society: more democracy, more cooperatives, introducing basic incomes, managing one’s own social security, etc. Raising wages, reducing rents or cutting working hours only reinforces class racism. Elias also mentions the racism of newcomers who don’t want the new arrivals who follow. The latter closes the door. Many Africans in France, many Pakistanis in the UK for example, are opposed to immigration and vote right-wing.
What put an end to the first wave of class racism was the Second World War. For example, if China’s prosperity were in danger, a China that experienced famine 50 years ago, it would be a case of war. If Trump no longer wanted to import Chinese products, it would be a casus belli. To avoid falling back into the same kind of drama, the left needs to redefend societal change rather than quantitative demands (lowering the retirement age, raising the minimum wage, etc.)
Classes still exist. Some live off the work of others. Some own. Some work.
On a global scale, left-wing leaders must change the rules of the game, not just increase the crumbs offered to workers. They need to stand up for equality and solidarity, sharing prosperity and protecting the environment. The left has to inspire, not just be a barrier to the right.
An example of class racism took place the week before the 2024 US presidential elections. Trump’s camp called Puerto Ricans garbage. The very next day, Joe Biden called Trump voters garbage. This must stop.
Kamala Harris only campaigns on generalities or quantities: raise wages, change tax rates, lower rents, etc. But not to vote for her and let Trump win, in Putin’s footsteps, is to ensure that ideas of cooperation, democracy and social justice will never come to life.
The right will act for some workers, not all. If Trump is elected, it’s going to be better for some of them: keeping their jobs, getting a pay rise, etc. This will be against the general interest, especially on a global scale, and against democracy. Indeed, Trump is reinforcing class racism, which could lead to internal conflicts in the United States, but also with other countries. He’s turning people against each other. The fact that people don’t have the same rights leads to conflict. Donald Trump gets on stage with Elon Musk, and he goes after Puerto Ricans instead of the ultra-rich who make their money by exploiting workers. During the last presidency, he had part of the Republicans and all the Democrats opposing him. In four years, he eliminated the competition in his party. If elected, he would have more power than in his last term. He wants to favor one segment of the population: uneducated white Christian men. He explains that the problems come from Iran, China or Europe, from Latinos and leftists. It would be chaos, with everyone divided against each other. The consequences are twofold: the risk of war and the lack of joint action, especially with regard to the environment.
Javier Milei in Argentina campaigned by appealing to white men, saying he would exclude women, blacks and idlers. Putin attacks homosexuals, people of color and Muslims. Victor Orban attacks women, blacks, idlers, non-Christians, homosexuals and leftists.
That’s why the left must improve the situation for all, with greater democracy, equality and cooperation. Democracy must be defended by requesting a popular initiative referendum.
Racial Divisions Distract the Working Class from the Real Problem – Reimagine Appalachia: https://reimagineappalachia.org/racial-divisions-distract-the-working-class-from-the-real-problem/
Un monde ouvrier divisé – dieses: https://dieses.fr/un-monde-ouvrier-divise
Racisme de classe – Gérard Mauger – CAIRN: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-savoir-agir-2011-3-page-101?lang=fr
Social-démocratie, selon Adeline Blaszkiewicz-Maison – France Culture: https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/questions-du-soir-l-idee/social-democratie-selon-adeline-blaszkiewicz-maison-2678623
Working-Class Perspectives: https://workingclassstudies.wordpress.com/
Comunismo, Género y movimiento obrero: Un estado de la cuestión – scielo: https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-50492016000500002
Racismo y antirracismo en la formación de la clase obrera británica – Conversacion sobre historia: https://conversacionsobrehistoria.info/2022/02/28/racismo-y-antirracismo-en-la-formacion-de-la-clase-obrera-britanica-entrevista-a-satnam-virdee/
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
