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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

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
Dr. Timothy KerswellThe orthodox definition of the production boundary isthat entailed in the 1993 United Nations System of NationalAccounts (SNA) (United Nations Statistics Division, 1993).The SNA defines the production boundary as(a) The production of all individual or collective goods orservices that are supplied to units other than theirproducers, or intended to be so supplied, including theproduction of goods or services used up in the process ofproducing such goods or services;(b) the own-account production of all goods that are retainedby their producers for their own final consumption or grosscapitalformation;(c) the own-account production of housing services byowner-occupiers and of domestic and personal servicesproduced by employing paid domestic staff.It is not my intention to become involved in a discussionabout the various international metrics with whichproductivity is measured. My reasoning behind citing theUN SNA is that it is indicative of a particular view of what isproductive labour. In comparison with views to be lateranalyzed, this view of productive labour is a broad view as itsuggests that every socially necessary activity aside frompersonal consumption adds value to an economy (Studenski,1958:12). A view of production which includes all goodsproduced and services provided for a party other than theproducer, implies that every good or service which incurs atransaction is productive. All such contributions thereforeexpand the total social wealth. By contrast to this, classicalpolitical economy had always maintained a distinctionbetween activity that was productive and non-productive,and this position was one that represented “the mainstreamof economic thought for almost a century (Kendrick,1970:20).”The initial shift away from this view and towards the viewthat all socially necessary activities are productive activitiescoincides with the rise of neoclassical economics (Bach,25
Page 1 and 2: Journal of Alternative Perspectives
Page 3 and 4: Dr. Timothy Kerswellresponse to the
Page 5 and 6: Dr. Timothy Kerswellorder to define
Page 7: Dr. Timothy Kerswellthat this asser
Page 11 and 12: Dr. Timothy KerswellThe first polit
Page 13 and 14: Dr. Timothy Kerswellexchanging comm
Page 15 and 16: Dr. Timothy Kerswellproductive in g
Page 17 and 18: Dr. Timothy Kerswellcapitalisticall
Page 19 and 20: Dr. Timothy Kerswellin the process
Page 21 and 22: Dr. Timothy KerswellIn summary, Tab
Page 23 and 24: Dr. Timothy Kerswellwith larger sec
Page 25 and 26: Dr. Timothy Kerswellwhether it is c
Page 27 and 28: Dr. Timothy Kerswellsecond hand sur
Page 29 and 30: Dr. Timothy KerswellThe reason why
Page 31 and 32: Dr. Timothy Kerswellpolitical allia
Page 33: Dr. Timothy KerswellOlin Wright, Er

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?