Conditions of Work and employment series no. 41 TRAVAIL For information on the Conditions of Work and Employment Branch, please contact: Phone: (+41 22) 799 67 54 Fax: (+41 22) 799 84 51 [email protected] International Labour. Labour power (in German: Arbeitskraft; in French: force de travail) is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist political economy. Marx distinguished between the capacity to do work, labour power, from. Labour power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Labour power (in German: Arbeitskraft; in French: force de travail) is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalistpolitical economy. Marx distinguished between the capacity to do work, labour power, from the physical act of working, labour. Work becomes just work, workers become an abstract labour force, and the control over work becomes mainly a management prerogative. Definition. But thereby a definite quantity of human muscle, nerve. Neoclassical economists sometimes refer to this as . Marx took over this distinction from Hegel's. Elements of the Philosophy of Right and gave it a new significance. In some ways, this concept is similar to that of . However most likely Marx himself would have considered the concept of human capital a reification, the purpose of which was to convince the worker that he was really a capitalist. The evidence for this interpretation is the following quote from Capital Vol. Labour- power is indeed his property (ever self- renewing, reproductive), not his capital. It is the only commodity which he can and must sell continually in order to live, and which acts as capital (variable) only in the hands of the buyer, the capitalist. The fact that a man is continually compelled to sell his labour- power, i. In that sense a slave is also a capitalist, although he is sold by another once and for all as a commodity; for it is in the nature of this commodity, a labouring slave, that its buyer does not only make it work anew every day, but also provides it with the means of subsistence that enable it to work ever anew. Chapter 2. 0 section 1. A worker tries to sell his or her labour- power to an employer, in exchange for a wage or salary. If successful (the only alternative being unemployment), this exchange involves submitting to the authority of the capitalist for a specific period of time. During that time, the worker does actual labour, producing goods and services. The capitalist can then sell these and obtain surplus value; since the wages paid to the workers are lower than the value of the goods or services they produce for the capitalist. In principle a group of workers can also sell their labour- power as an independent contracting party. Some labour contracts are very complex, involving a number of different intermediaries. Normally, the worker is legally the owner of his labour power, and can sell it freely according to his own wishes. However, most often the trade in labour power is regulated by legislation, and the sale may not be truly . Various gradations of freedom and unfreedom are possible, and free wage labour can combine with slave labour or semi- slavery. The concept of labour power as a commodity was first explicitly stated by Friedrich Engels in The Principles of Communism (1. Marx Wage Labour And Capital Pdf995
In a regime of big industry or of free competition . Hence, the price of labor is also equal to the cost of production of labor. But, the costs of production of labor consist of precisely the quantity of means of subsistence necessary to enable the worker to continue working, and to prevent the working class from dying out. The worker will therefore get no more for his labor than is necessary for this purpose; the price of labor, or the wage, will, in other words, be the lowest, the minimum, required for the maintenance of life. Because they own it within themselves, they cannot permanently sell it to someone else; in that case, they would be a slave, and a slave does not own himself. Yet, although workers can hire out themselves, they cannot . Once labour has been expended, it is gone, and the only remaining issue is who benefits from the results, and by how much. Labour power can become a marketable object, sold for a specific period, only if the owners are constituted in law as legal subjects who are free to sell it, and can enter into labour contracts. Once actualised and consumed through working, the capacity to work is exhausted, and must be replenished and restored. In general, Marx argues that in capitalism the value of labour power (as distinct from fluctuating market prices for work effort) is equal to its normal or average (re- )production cost, i. This involves goods and services representing a quantity of labour equal to necessary labour or the necessary product. It represents an average cost of living, an average living standard. The general concept of the . If, for example, the state imposes a tax on consumer goods and services (an indirect tax or consumption tax such as value- added tax or goods and services tax, then what the worker can buy with his wage- money is reduced. Or, if price inflation increases, then again the worker can buy less with his wage money. The point is that this can occur quite independently of how much a worker is actually paid. Therefore, the standard of living of a worker can rise or fall quite independently of how much he is paid. The value of labour power is thus a historical norm, which is the outcome of a combination of factors: productivity; the supply and demand for labour; the assertion of human needs; the costs of acquiring skills; state laws stipulating minimum or maximum wages, the balance of power between social classes, etc. Buying labour power usually becomes a commercially interesting proposition only if it can yield more value than it costs to buy, i. However, in Marx's theory, the value- creating function of labour power is not its only function; it also importantly conserves and transfers capital value. If labour is withdrawn from the workplace for any reason, typically the value of capital assets deteriorates; it takes a continual stream of work effort to maintain and preserve their value. When materials are used to make new products, part of the value of materials is also transferred to the new products. Consequently, labour power may be hired not . Marx regards such labour as . The larger the stock of assets which is neither an input nor an output to real production, and the wealthier society's elite becomes, the more labour is devoted only to maintaining the mass of capital assets rather than increasing its value. Labour power and wages. That price may contingently be higher or lower than the value of labour power, depending on market forces of supply and demand, on skill monopolies, legal rules, the ability of negotiate, etc. Normally, unless government action prevents it, high unemployment will lower wages, and full employment will raise wages, in accordance with the laws of supply and demand. But wages can also be reduced through high price inflation and consumer taxes. Therefore, a distinction must always be drawn between nominal gross wages' and real wages adjusted for tax and price inflation, and indirect tax imposts must be considered. The labour- costs of an employer are not the same as the real buying power a worker acquires through working. An employer usually also has to pay taxes & levies to the government in respect of workers hired, which may include social security contributions or superannuation benefits. In addition there are often also administrative costs. So, in the United States for example, out of the total expenditure on labour by employers, the workers get about 6. Employers may be able to claim back part of the surcharge on labour by means of various tax credits, or because the tax on business income is lowered. There is typically a constant conflict over the level of wages between employers and employees, since employers seek to limit or reduce wage- costs, while workers seek to increase their wages, or at least maintain them. How the level of wages develops depends on the demand for labour, the level of unemployment, and the ability of workers and employers to organise and take action with regard to pay claims. Marx regarded wages as the . The compensation of workers in capitalist society could take all kinds of different forms, but there was always both a paid and unpaid component of labour performed. It was the most efficient form of exploitation of labour power. Consumption of labour power. First, labour power must be put to work in the production process. The employment contract is only a condition for uniting labour power with the means of production. From that point on, Marx argues, labour power at work is transformed into capital, specifically variable capital which accomplishes the valorisation process. Functioning as variable capital, living labour creates both use values and new value, conserves the value of constant capital assets, and transfers part of the value of materials and equipment used to the new products. The result aimed for is the valorisation of invested capital, i. The most difficult aspect to measure is the intensity of work, though some argue the incidence of work accidents are a reliable yardstick. If workers are laid off by an organization, but the organization continues to produce the same amount of output or services as before, or even more, with the same technology, we can often conclude that the intensity of work must have increased. Reproduction of labour power. But the capitalist may safely leave its fulfilment to the labourer's instincts of self- preservation and of propagation. All the capitalist cares for, is to reduce the labourer's individual consumption as far as possible to what is strictly necessary.. Elites and governments have always sought to actively intervene or mediate in the process of the reproduction of labour power, through family legislation, laws regulating sexual conduct, medical provisions, education policies, and housing policies. Such interventions always carry an economic cost, but that cost can be socialized or forced upon workers themselves, especially women. In these areas of civil society, there has been a constant battle between conservatives, social reformists and radicals. Marxist- Feminists have argued that in reality, household (domestic) labour by housewives which forms, maintains and restores the capacity to work is a large .
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