CAPITALISMcapitalism exhibited no such pressure constantly
to revolutionize the technical means of produc-
tion. Modern capitalism’s dependence on human
labor as a commodity, however, demands that this
cost of production be kept as low as possible. First,
technological development can lower the cost of
labor as a commodity by vastly increasing the
production of mass consumer goods. The subse-
quent reduction in the cost of items like food and
clothing translates into reductions in the cost of
wages to sustain laborers and their families. An-
other means to this end is automation, the crea-
tion of technology that can replace or enhance
human labor. Such technological development al-
so permits capitalists to circumvent the natural
limits of the human body to labor and the tenden-
cy of laborers to organize and demand higher
wages, especially important spurs to technological
development in capitalist societies characterized
by a shortage of labor. However, under such con-
ditions the capitalist’s demand for profitability
may limit the internal expansion of technology as a
means of increasing production (i.e., capital-inten-
sive production) in favor of an outward expansion
that draws upon new sources of labor. This expan-
sion of capitalism can take two basic forms. On the
one hand, there is a drive toward proletarianization,
or the inclusion of more and more of society’s
population segments that have previously escaped
the labor market. On the other hand, there is a
tendency to reach outside of the society itself
toward other societies, thus incorporating ever
larger regions of the world into the sphere of
capitalism.
In the early development of capitalist socie-
ties, peasants are freed from feudal relations and
slaves are freed from slave relations to add to the
available pool of labor. This transformation is
rarely a smooth one. The great revolutions in
Western Europe and the U.S. Civil War forced
these precapitalist classes to surrender their work-
ers to the capitalist labor market. Another major
source of labor for capitalist expansion has been
independent laborers or persons who ‘‘work for
themselves.’’ Farmers who own their own land and
equipment and work without hired labor are a
good example of the type of self-employed pro-
ducer that sociologists commonly refer to as sim-
ple commodity producers. There are other occu-
pations in this general classification, of course.
Highly skilled laborers have at times been able to
retain independence from capitalist labor mar-
kets. However, capitalism has displayed a powerful
capacity to bring these laborers into the sphere of
capitalist, wage labor relations. For example, car-
penters, mechanics, butchers, even doctors and
lawyers increasingly find themselves working for
wages or a salary in a capitalist firm rather than
working for themselves. From time to time, the
number of self-employed appears actually to rise
in certain capitalist societies (Bechhofer and Elli-
ott 1985). This is usually the result of the introduc-
tion of some new technology or new service. Some-
times persons who strongly wish to be their ‘‘own
bosses’’ are able to take advantage of specific
market conditions or are willing to sacrifice poten-
tial income to achieve this status. But clearly, if
capitalist societies are examined over the course of
the last 200 to 300 years, the tendency is strongly
toward increased absorption of persons into the
capitalist labor market.
In recent times, labor markets in nations like
the United States have found another major source
of labor power in women. The traditional role of
homemaker impeded the inclusion of women in
the labor market. That role of women within the
home has changed somewhat, but the role played
by women in expanding the pool of labor available
to capital has increased tremendously. According
to Christensen (1987), for example, in 1960 30
percent of American mothers were employed; in
1986, 62 percent were employed. Ethnic minori-
ties have often performed a similar function in
expanding the size of the labor market. Succeed-
ing waves of immigrants have frequently played an
initially marginal role in the labor market, only to
be gradually absorbed into more routine participa-
tion as time passes.
Capitalism’s inherent expansionary tenden-
cies also push the capitalist society to reach beyond
the borders of the nation. This expansion occurs
as capitalism seeks markets for its products but
also in the search for raw materials and cheaper
labor to produce goods for the home market.
Eventually, capitalism may simply seek profitable
investment outlets outside the nation of origin.
Sociology has analyzed capitalism’s transnational
expansion with two general but conflicting theo-
retical approaches. Modernization theory views
this expansion in a positive way, seeing it as a
means by which undeveloped societies are en-
abled to begin the process of development that the