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

Class, Productive and Unproductive Labour: Divisions in the Global Working Class?process that produces surplus value.A position which holds that all persons earning a wageform part of the working class is open to perverseconclusions, and in this sense, Poulantzas’ work remainsvalid. For instance, in 2006, football players in the EnglishPremier League, were found to earn an average yearly salaryof 676,000 pounds per year before bonuses (Harris, 2006).While this is an extreme example, the point that it illustratesis that the wage relation alone is insufficient to determinesomeone’s class position. It seems unreasonable to not takeaccount for the fact that wages which go beyond subsistenceconsumption and allow for the accumulation of large sumsof money would have some impact on the class character ofthe recipient of those wages.Contrary to the position of Poulantzas however, there aresome forms of what are termed “services” which actuallyproduce commodities which are enduring in nature, such asintellectual property. This does not discount the fact thatthe majority of occupations classified under the servicessector are those which do not produce surplus value. Amore accurate way of characterizing the division betweenproductive and unproductive labour is by establishing adividing line between labour that is both productive ofcapital and productive of surplus value as the definingfeature of whether a labourer constitutes part of the workingclass. An approach that attempts to invalidate the differencebetween productive and unproductive work fails to grasp thereality that in general, unproductive work is only possiblebecause of the material base created by productive work.3. Productive and Unproductive LabourWhat labour counts as creating value, is a seeminglyinnocuous but central element which is still the subject of agreat deal of debate. The following section will reviewcompeting perspectives on the question of the productionboundary and draw links between these differing views andthe logical consequences these have for analyses in politicaleconomy, and also for global labour strategy.24