2.09 The division of labour and political economy - another perspective

Question 1

Discuss Marx’s critique of political-economy, and the role of alienated labor in it.

Answer 1

Marx condemned capitalism as a system that alienates the masses. His reasoning was as follows: although workers produce things for the market, market forces, not workers, control things.

Question 2

Primitive Accumulation,

Answer 2

• Marx states that the process of enforcing capitalism is a violent act. the direct appropriation of natural resources or goods from communities that historically tend to hold them collectively e.g. enclosures

Question 3

labor theory of value,

Answer 3

the value of a commodity can be objectively measured by the average number of labor hours required to produce that commodity. smith & marx agree

Question 4

estranged labor/alienation,

Answer 4

the labour divide causes the labourer to be estranged from the product of their labour. Because the capitalist pays for labour they own the product

Question 5

witch hunts,

Answer 5

“witch hunts” were a way to alienate women from the means of reproduction

Question 6

enclosures

Answer 6

Parliamentary acts which “created” private property. People’s land taken. They must now make a wage to pay rent for what they once accessed freely. They are then forced to go to the cities to make a wage. This is how we were made to labour

Question 7

commons

Answer 7

cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society

Question 8

surplus value

Answer 8

Surplus value is defined by Marx as the difference between the value that living labor creates in production and value paid by the capitalist to the worker in the form of wages

Question 9

marx on labour & value

Answer 9

Agrees that Value is created through labour. - As men labour, the value of their relationships with each other and the natural world decreases
- Labour produces not only commodities, but produces the labourer as a commodity

Question 10

Adam Smith on labour and value

Answer 10

labour and value directly linked. But For smith, The harder you work, the more you get.

Question 11

use value, exchange value, labour value, price value

Answer 11

value of a commodities use. value of a commodity in relation to other commodities. exchange value determined by how much labour time has gone into producing it.