Class, Productive and Unproductive Labour - Journal of Alternative ...
Class, Productive and Unproductive Labour - Journal of Alternative ... Class, Productive and Unproductive Labour - Journal of Alternative ...
Class, Productive and Unproductive Labour: Divisions in the Global Working Class?itself while the commodity is produced and its value realizedon the marketplace (Ibid).This raises a question about who the bourgeoisie is, andwhat material circumstances exist that this status might beobtained. A narrow definition of the bourgeoisie sees themas only the class which owns literal means of production,such as factories, or capital employed in finance throughstocks and bonds and that the proletariat is anyone wholacks the former. Despite the persistence of this view, I amproposing that it be subject to criticism. In Marx’s time it isrelatively easy to see how one could consider a polarizationthesis whereby there were two distinct classes confrontingeach other, one with all the money and the other with all thelabour power. Marx did not and could not have accountedfor some factors such as wages that run far beyond asubsistence level, enabling the accumulation of capital in theform of assets, land and superannuation as well as access tocredit.The problem with such a simple binary class analysis isthat it masks the material differences between workers indifferent places, instead treating them as a homogenousmass with the same economic circumstances and the samepolitical goals. There is a tendency of thought withinorthodox Marxism that every individual country has abourgeoisie and a proletariat, and that the proletariatconstitutes the majority of every country’s population. Anexample of this approach is to be found in Buhle (2001:53)who contends that as 80% of the US labour force are ‘nonsupervisoryemployees’ that as a result the majority ofAmericans are ‘working class’. When the interconnectednessof the global economy is considered, the logical outgrowth ofsuch thinking is that there is a global bourgeoisie and aglobal proletariat, confronting one another as Marx hadimagined.The result of such thinking is that there is littleappreciation of the differing material conditions of workersaround the world, as well as their differing politicalformations. There is a persistent assertion of the identity ofinterest of workers throughout the world, however it appears22
Dr. Timothy Kerswellthat this assertion lacks a structural base. It is not untilthis assumption is questioned that it becomes possible toinquire into the nature of the relationship between workersin the global North and the global South.The potential for globalized resistance to capitalism isoften assumed as early as when Marx (2011) wrote that“Labour in a white skin cannot emancipate itself where it isbranded in a black skin.” Few have dared to question whythis might not be the case. While Marx expresses a noblesentiment, the vast differences that exist between workers inthe global North and those in the global South tend tocontradict the notion that workers on either side of thisstructural divide share common interests or aspirations.By contrast, there are arguments which stress adistinction between productive and unproductive labour as adefining feature of class. Poulantzas (1975:210) arguedfirstly that not all waged workers form part of the workingclass, just because all members of the working classaccording to Marx are waged workers. According toPoulantzas, the distinction that determines whether or notwaged workers are part of the working class is whether theyare involved in productive labour in its Marxist sense. Formost Marxists, productive labour has nothing to do with theutility or content of the product, but simply that the labourin question produces surplus value.It is on the basis of the productive/unproductivedistinction that Poulantzas excludes many forms of wagedwork from the working class. For instance, Poulantzas says“labour…contributing to the realization of surplus value, isnot productive labour; wage earners in commerce,advertising, marketing, banking and insurance do notproduce surplus value and do not form part of the workingclass (Ibid).” More broadly, Poulantzas disqualifies allservices labour in general suggesting that such labour doesnot produce surplus value. It is the argument of Poulantzasthat services involve the exchange between revenue orincome and labour power. In the case of services,Poulantzas argues that labour power is being purchased inorder to consume it directly, rather than to consume it in a23
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<strong>Class</strong>, <strong>Productive</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Unproductive</strong> <strong>Labour</strong>: Divisions in the Global Working <strong>Class</strong>?itself while the commodity is produced <strong>and</strong> its value realizedon the marketplace (Ibid).This raises a question about who the bourgeoisie is, <strong>and</strong>what material circumstances exist that this status might beobtained. A narrow definition <strong>of</strong> the bourgeoisie sees themas only the class which owns literal means <strong>of</strong> production,such as factories, or capital employed in finance throughstocks <strong>and</strong> bonds <strong>and</strong> that the proletariat is anyone wholacks the former. Despite the persistence <strong>of</strong> this view, I amproposing that it be subject to criticism. In Marx’s time it isrelatively easy to see how one could consider a polarizationthesis whereby there were two distinct classes confrontingeach other, one with all the money <strong>and</strong> the other with all thelabour power. Marx did not <strong>and</strong> could not have accountedfor some factors such as wages that run far beyond asubsistence level, enabling the accumulation <strong>of</strong> capital in theform <strong>of</strong> assets, l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> superannuation as well as access tocredit.The problem with such a simple binary class analysis isthat it masks the material differences between workers indifferent places, instead treating them as a homogenousmass with the same economic circumstances <strong>and</strong> the samepolitical goals. There is a tendency <strong>of</strong> thought withinorthodox Marxism that every individual country has abourgeoisie <strong>and</strong> a proletariat, <strong>and</strong> that the proletariatconstitutes the majority <strong>of</strong> every country’s population. Anexample <strong>of</strong> this approach is to be found in Buhle (2001:53)who contends that as 80% <strong>of</strong> the US labour force are ‘nonsupervisoryemployees’ that as a result the majority <strong>of</strong>Americans are ‘working class’. When the interconnectedness<strong>of</strong> the global economy is considered, the logical outgrowth <strong>of</strong>such thinking is that there is a global bourgeoisie <strong>and</strong> aglobal proletariat, confronting one another as Marx hadimagined.The result <strong>of</strong> such thinking is that there is littleappreciation <strong>of</strong> the differing material conditions <strong>of</strong> workersaround the world, as well as their differing politicalformations. There is a persistent assertion <strong>of</strong> the identity <strong>of</strong>interest <strong>of</strong> workers throughout the world, however it appears22
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