Consciousness and Action among the Western Working Class

This book makes a comparative analysis of working-class consciousness in Britain, France, Italy and the United States and seeks to answer the question of whether the working class today is a potentially revolutionary force in the West. In France and Italy class conflict and working-class consciousness have reached a higher level of intensity than in Britain or the United States. Both Marxist and functionalist explanations for this are discussed, special attention being paid to the recent French Marxism of Althusser, Mallet and Touraine. Class consciousness is examined as a dynamic process by analyzing the 'explosion of consciousness' which often seems to occur in turbulent strike situations. The author concludes that class conflict is more complex than either group of theorists suggest. Working-class consciousness and the relationship between Labour and Capital are found to be dualistic and fundamentally unstable. Revolutionary potential is greatest in situations of an even economic and social development when the Capital – Labor contradiction may be reinforced by other social conflicts. This means that the Marxist claimed that the working class carries in itself the power to be a class for itself must be rejected. --- from book's back cover