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Foreign labor and German industrial capitalism 1871–1978: the evolution of a migratory system
Author(s) -
RHOADES ROBERT E.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1978.5.3.02a00080
Subject(s) - german , capitalism , status quo , economics , german reunification , socioeconomic status , foreign exchange , political science , economy , economic history , sociology , market economy , history , law , demography , monetary economics , population , archaeology , politics
This article traces the historical development of Germany's use of foreign labor since the founding of the Reich in 1871. Contrary to official proclamations that intra‐European migration is a mutually beneficial exchange of regional resources, this study demonstrates — historically and ethnographically — that labor migration functions to feed growth in the European “core” while stimulating socioeconomic decay or maintenance of the status quo in the “periphery.” The social scientific “equilibrium model” of regional interaction is thus seriously questioned.