Under capitalism, according to Marx, labour-power becomes a commodity – it is sold and bought on the market. A worker tries to sell his or her labour-power to an employer, in exchange for a wage or salary. ... Normally, the worker is legally the owner of his labour power, and can sell it freely according to his own wishes.
What is labor-power according to Marx?
LABOR-POWER (Marx) : the abstraction of human labor into something that can be exchanged for money . ... Also, the capitalist seeks to achieve the highest possible rate of surplus-value, which “depends, in the first place, on the degree of exploitation of labour-power” (747).
How does commodification of labor-power occur?
Labour power means the capacity or ability to do work. It is the commodification of labour power that makes capitalist accumulation possible as in essence the capitalist purchases the labour power for less than the value of the product produced by the labour power and appropriates the difference.
What is the value of Labour power?
The value of labour-power is the value of the means of subsistence necessary for the maintenance of the labourer . The value of labour-power is determined, as in the case of every other commodity, by the labour-time necessary for the production, and consequently also the reproduction, of this special article.
Why is labour-power such a special commodity?
The possessor of money does find on the market such a special commodity in capacity for labour or labour-power. ... He must constantly look upon his labour-power as his own property, his own commodity, and this he can only do by placing it at the disposal of the buyer temporarily, for a definite period of time.
What is the indeterminacy of Labour power?
Labour power, what the employer hires and the worker exchanges, is indeterminate because the precise amount of effort to be extracted cannot be ‘fixed’ before the engagement of workers, machinery and products for purposeful (profitable within capitalism) action in the labour pro- cess.
What is correct labor or labour?
These two words are alternate spellings with the same meaning. Labor is the preferred American spelling , whereas labour is the preferred British spelling. They both mean the noun and verb form of work. They can also both refer to a woman giving birth.
What is the difference between Labour and Labour power Marx?
Marx distinguished between the capacity to do work, labour power, from the physical act of working, labour. Labour power exists in any kind of society, but on what terms it is traded or combined with means of production to produce goods and services has historically varied greatly.
How does Karl Marx see labor?
Labor Theory of Value. ... Marx argued that the theory could explain the value of all commodities, including the commodity that workers sell to capitalists for a wage . Marx called this commodity “labor power.” Labor power is the worker’s capacity to produce goods and services.
What is the reproduction of Labour power?
Reproduction of labor power
Reproduction can also refer to the worker’s daily reproduction of his or her own labor power. This consists of the tasks of everyday existence— food preparation, laundry, and so forth —that maintain the worker and his or her ability to work.
What should not be commodified?
Commodification is often criticised on the grounds that some things ought not to be treated as commodities—for example water, education , data, information, knowledge, human life, and animal life.
Why is commodification bad?
In a critical perspective, commodification is associated with the negative effects of globalisation , causing the dispersion of local value and authenticity while a local culture is aligned to a global economy.
What is the difference between Labour and Labour power?
As I’ve come to understand, labour-power is one’s capacity to work, quantitatively measured by time. Labour is, on the other hand, is the physical act of working itself .
Which is a primary power of labor?
The power factor in labor refers to the ability of the uterine muscle to contract . The uterus is an involuntary muscle. It has to not only start contracting, but it must establish a pattern of contractions. Every time the uterus contracts it pushes the baby towards the cervix.
How is use value determined?
Use-value as an aspect of the commodity coincides with the physical palpable existence of the commodity . Wheat, for example, is a distinct use-value differing from the use-values of cotton, glass, paper, etc. A use-value has value only in use, and is realized only in the process of consumption.
What is Karl Marx’s theory?
Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory originated by Karl Marx, which focuses on the struggle between capitalists and the working class. ... He believed that this conflict would ultimately lead to a revolution in which the working class would overthrow the capitalist class and seize control of the economy.
