The overturning of this exploiter/exploited dynamic will result, according to Marx and Engels, in a powerful majority i.e. communism.
The Labour Process
As with The Communist Manifesto, Marx’s later, and arguably most notable work, Das Kapital or Capital (1867) assesses how the means of production result in class disparity and exploitation. While The Communist Manifesto is primarily concerned with delineating the trajectory towards socialism, Capital provides a detailed critique of the political economy. In this economic critique, Marx demonstrates exactly how the worker is exploited through his labour theory of value. Below we have detailed out some of the core principles behind this theory, such as labour value itself, as well as the concepts of surplus and alienation.
Labour theory of value
The labour theory of value means that a product’s economic value is determined by the amount of labour needed to produce that product. Though labour theory of value is often associated with the work of Karl Marx, it had previously been referenced in the work of economists such as Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations (1776) and David Ricardo in Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817). Marx’s labour theory of value furthers the theories of Smith and Ricardo by explaining how the labourer is exploited under capitalism. This exploitation occurs through the capitalist’s desire to create surplus value.
Surplus value
Surplus value is the difference between what it costs the manufacturer to make the commodity versus how much it is sold for. As the capitalist owns the means of production (and the worker through a paid wage), the capitalist owns the product and reaps all the surplus value (i.e. profits). This surplus value is created through the unpaid time of the labourer.
Engels had previously written of surplus labour power in The Condition of the Working Classes in England (1844). In Capital, Marx uses the example of the spinner to demonstrate how surplus value is created by extension of the working day and exploitation of the labourer. Marx argues that a spinner must daily produce a value to cover their wages (e.g. three shillings); this is achievable with six hours’ work. The worker in this time adds value to the cotton as ‘during the spinning process, the cotton absorbs six hours’ labor. The same quantity of labor is also embodied in a piece of gold of the value of three shillings. Consequently by the mere labor of spinning, a value of three shillings is added to the cotton.’ (2012 [1867]). The labourer, through the hours spent working and their skills, has added value to the raw materials. However, as previously mentioned, the capitalist desires profits and therefore, must derive this from unpaid labour. Though the labourer after six hours has worked enough to cover their wages (the amount to feed, clothe and shelter him for that day) and has added value to the raw materials, the capitalist extends the working day in order to obtain surplus value. Marx writes that ‘[t]he fact that half a day’s labor is necessary to keep the laborer alive during 24 hours does not in any way prevent him from working a whole day’ (2012 [1867]). This is how the worker is exploited under capitalism: the worker has already covered their wages and yet must continue to work unpaid for the capitalist.
Alienation
Central to the impact of capitalism on the worker is the feeling of alienation due to estranged labour. This alienation is part of the oppression faced by the worker under capitalism. In The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts (1844), Marx outlines four types of alienation for the worker under capitalism:
- Alienation from their product
The labourer does not own their own product; it is the capitalist who owns and profits from the result of the worker’s labour. Marx writes that the product, therefore, exists as ‘something alien’ to the worker and that ‘the life which he has conferred on the object confronts him as something hostile and alien’ (2012, [1844]) As the worker puts part of their life (energy, effort, time) into the object, when the object ceases to be theirs it creates feelings of alienation.
- Alienation from the activity of labour
Not only does the product not belong to the worker, but the worker’s own life is determined by the activity of labour. Marx writes that ‘the worker’s own physical and mental energy, his personal life’ is ‘turned against him [and] neither depends on nor belongs to him’ (2012, [1844]). Labour thus turns the worker into a machine, forcing them to carry out repetitive and mechanical labour which provides no psychological or creative satisfaction.
This type of alienation relates closely to alienation from the activity of production. Marx further explains how the alienation experienced under capitalist production estranges the worker from their own humanity and their sense of identity. Marx argues that estranged labour makes the predominant activity in the worker’s life ‘a mere means to his existence’ (2012, [1844]). The labourer’s life is determined by the need to work for survival.
- Alienation from other workers
Alienated from their product, activity of labour and himself, the worker now becomes alienated from other workers. The nature of industrial capitalism creates a competitive environment in which workers are pitted against one another.
Criticism of Marxism
Though written in the nineteenth-century, the criticisms of Alfred Marshall in Principles of Economics still resonate with some Marxist critics today. Marshall wrote that: