Class, Productive and Unproductive Labour - Journal of Alternative ...

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Class, Productive and Unproductive Labour: Divisions in the Global Working Class?is not tangible. Marx’s idea of a commodity, on the otherhand, is able to accommodate non-tangibles as commoditiesand is thus the more expansive of the two approaches.Smith’s narrower idea of what a commodity is leads to anarrower idea of what productive labour is, and the converseis true for Marx who’s only real criteria for whether anactivity falls under productive labour or not is that anacrtivity satisfies a human need or want, and valorizescapital. A distinguishing feature of Marx’s idea of productivelabour is that, owing to his view that productive labourcreates surplus value, it is specific to capitalism.In examining Marx’s view of productive labour, at thispoint it is useful to more closely examine the concept and itsrelationship to capitalism so as to avoid futuremisunderstandings about the types of labour that areproductive/unproductive. Savran and Tonak (1999:120)first use the concept of ‘productive in general’ to define thoseforms of labour that are productive irrespective of whetherthey take place in capitalist societies or non-capitalistsocieties. They see an understanding of labour that isproductive in general to be important to the understandingof labour that is productive of capital, suggesting that“because insufficient attention has been paid to a generaldefinition of productive labour under all socio-economicformations that all economic activities under capitalism itselfhave come to be instinctively regarded as productive (Ibid).”Savran and Tonak, set out the forms of economic activitywhich must be carried out in every society so as to “assurebiological and social reproduction of the members of societyand of the socio-economic formation itself (Ibid:121).” Theymake a distinction between five spheres of human activityincluding production, circulation, distribution, reproductionof the social order and social/personal consumption. Theinitial four concepts were developed by Marx (1973:88-100)in his Grundrisse, with the fifth being developed by Shaikh(1999:148) to distinguish between consumption which leadsdirectly to production, and consumption proper. Toestablish what labour is productive, the first step is toexamine each of these spheres and determine firstly if theyinvolve labour at all, secondly if they involve labour that is30
Dr. Timothy Kerswellproductive in general, and finally if they involve labour thatis productive of capital.Firstly, it is possible to eliminate personal and socialconsumption as this activity does not involve labour. AsSavran and Tonak observe, consumption “is an activitycommon to all living species and does not involve labourwhich is the differentia specifica of the human race(Ibid:121).”With regard to distribution of the product, Savran andTonak see this as the outcome of the relations of productionin any given society. It is important to note that distributionof the product is in no way specific to capitalism however, asfor instance in a slave society when a slave is fed by itsmaster, then the product is being distributed. As Savranand Tonak note, distribution of the product is “predicated onthe expenditure of labour on the part of the direct producersbut is not itself an act which involves labour (Ibid:121).” Asit does not involve labour, it is not productive in general, andtherefore cannot be productive of capital.When it comes to circulation as well as reproduction ofthe social order, the picture becomes more complicated.Circulation, which can be defined as the “sphere of thevarious metamorphoses between the commodity-form andthe money-form (Ibid)” is not specific to capitalist society.Despite this, this sphere takes on special importance withincapitalist society as production shifts more to commoditiesfor exchange rather than for use values immediatelyconsumed. What differentiates the circulation sphere fromthe previously discussed consumption and distributionspheres is that at least in some cases, labour is taking place(Ibid).An example of this in capitalist society can be seen in aretail sector worker (assists in turning commodities intomoney), or a purchasing manager (assists in turning moneyinto commodities). Labour is not necessarily performedhowever, nor is this sphere unique to capitalist societies andan example of this is in the form of a merchant who predatescapitalism and performs no labour. In similar fashion, thesphere involved with reproduction of the social order, can31
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