MarxismLecture 5 – Exploitation John Fillingjf582@cam.ac.uk

Marx’s critique of capitalism1. AlienationØSeparation of things which ought not to be separatedØDomination of the producer by her product

2. Exploitation

3. Domination

Overview 1. Marx against morality

2. Exploitation in general

3. Four theories of capitalist exploitationa) The fraud paradigmb) The coercion paradigmc) The distribution paradigmd) The vulnerability paradigm

4. Summing-up

Moral relativism?‘To speak of natural justice here isnonsense. The justice of transactionswhich go on between agents ofproduction rests on the fact that thesetransactions arise out of the productionrelations as their natural consequences.The juristic forms in which theseeconomic transactions appear … [are]mere forms, [so cannot] determine thiscontent. They only express it. Thiscontent is just [gerecht] whenever itcorresponds to the mode of production,is adequate to it. It is unjust [ungerecht]whenever it contradicts it. Slavery, onthe basis of the capitalist mode ofproduction, is unjust; so is cheating onthe quality of commodities.’

– Marx, Capital, vol. 3, ch. 21, pp. 460-61

Allen Wood on Moral v. nonmoral goods

Can moral and nonmoral goods

conflict?

Can nonmoralgoods be more

fundamental than moral

goods?

Can nonmoralgoods override moral goods?

KANT Yes No No

J. S. MILL No Yes No

MARX Yes Yes Yes

Overview 1. Marx against morality

2. Exploitation in general

3. Four theories of capitalist exploitationa) The fraud paradigmb) The coercion paradigmc) The distribution paradigmd) The vulnerability paradigm

4. Summing-up

Exploitation in generalThree distinctions

1. Pejorative v. non-pejorative2. Narrow (exploiting a weakness) v. broad (exploiting a person)

3. Economic v. non-economic

Provisional definitionØNecessary condition = unequal exchangeØ Sufficient conditions = unequal exchange + ???

Labour v. labour powera) The exchange value of the commodity ‘labour power’ itself b) The exchange value of commodities produced by labour

Exploitation not unjust?‘On the one hand the dailysustenance of labour-power costsonly half a day’s labour, while onthe other hand the very samelabour-power … can work …during a whole day, andconsequently the value which [it]creates is double what thecapitalist pays for … ; thiscircumstance is a piece of goodluck for the buyer, but by nomeans an injustice [Unrecht]towards the seller.’

– Marx, Capital, vol. 1, ch. 7, p. 301

Exploitation in capitalism

ØAbsolute surplus value (lengthen work time)

ØRelative surplus value (increase productivity)

NL = 12

NL = 7 SL = 5

SL = 5

NL

Surplus labour

SL

Necessary labour

Overview 1. Marx against morality

2. Exploitation in general

3. Four theories of capitalist exploitationa) The fraud paradigmb) The coercion paradigmc) The distribution paradigmd) The vulnerability paradigm

4. Summing-up

‘The whole produce of labour’

‘The labourer must … live, thoughthe exorbitant claims of capitalallow him only a baresubsistence.… The capitalist mustgive the labourers this sum, … buthe will never give, and never hasgiven, more … I take it for granted… that the whole produce oflabour ought to belong to thelabourer … [J]ustice [means]allow[ing] labour to possess andenjoy the whole of its produce.’

– Thomas Hodgskin, Labour Defended Against the Claims of Capital (1825)

‘Equivalent for equivalent’

‘The sphere of circulation orcommodity exchange, within whoseboundaries the sale and purchase oflabour-power goes on, is in fact a veryEden of the innate rights of man. It isthe exclusive realm of Freedom,Equality, Property and Bentham.Freedom, because both buyer andseller of a commodity … aredetermined only by their own free will.… Equality, because … theyexchange equivalent for equivalent.Property, because each disposes onlyof what is his own. And Bentham,because each looks only to his ownadvantage.’

– Marx, Capital, vol. 1, ch. 6, p. 280

Exploitation in generalThree distinctions

1. Pejorative v. non-pejorative2. Narrow (exploiting a weakness) v. broad (exploiting a person)

3. Economic v. non-economic

Provisional definitionØNecessary condition = unequal exchangeØ Sufficient conditions = unequal exchange + ???

Labour v. labour powera) The exchange value of the commodity ‘labour power’ itselfb) The exchange value of commodities produced by labour

Overview 1. Marx against morality

2. Exploitation in general

3. Four theories of capitalist exploitationa) The fraud paradigmb) The coercion paradigmc) The distribution paradigmd) The vulnerability paradigm

4. Summing-up

Coercion

‘The profits of capitalists, then, according to Marx's theory, are generated by surplus, unpaid and forced labor, the product of which the producers do not control. This is exploitation as Marx uses the term.’

– Holmstrom, ‘Exploitation’, p. 358

The coercion paradigmDefinitionØA exploits B iff A extracts an unreciprocated transfer from B

through B’s performing forced labour

Objections1. Coercion paradigm is insufficient

ØForced unreciprocated transfer without exploitation Øe.g. intergenerational investment, intragenerational

welfare2. Coercion is unnecessary

ØConsensual exploitation Ø i.e. unreciprocated transfer without force

Insufficient

‘according to the [coercion-based] definition, there will beexploitation in any society inwhich investment takes placefor a greater future produce …and in any society in whichthose unable to work, or to workproductively, are subsidized bythe labor of others.’

– Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, p. 253

Unnecessary

‘A flow of value ... constitutesexploitation … regardless … ofwhether or not that situationprecisely forces the worker tosell his labour to the capitalist.’

– Cohen, History, Labour and Freedom, p. 234

Overview 1. Marx against morality

2. Exploitation in general

3. Four theories of capitalist exploitationa) The fraud paradigmb) The coercion paradigmc) The distribution paradigmd) The vulnerability paradigm

4. Summing-up

Distribution

‘A flow of value ... constitutesexploitation only if the contractit fulfils arises out of an unfairbargaining situation, andregardless, moreover, ofwhether or not that situationprecisely forces the worker tosell his labour to the capitalist. …[T]he crucial question forexploitation concerns the justiceof the distribution of the meansof production.’

– Cohen, History, Labour and Freedom, p. 234

The distribution paradigmDefinitionØA exploits B iff A extracts an unreciprocated transfer from B

against a background of unjust distribution

Objections1. Exploitation is derivative/irrelevant, (mal)distribution is

fundamentalØShould focus on stocks, not flows

2. Maldistribution is unnecessaryØExploitation without unjust background distribution

Irrelevant

Exploitation : Ø ‘irrelevant’ Ø a ‘circuitous route’Ø ‘an unnecessary detour’Ø a ‘misconceived’ theoryØ ‘does not provide a proper

model or account of Marxian moral sentiments’

– Roemer, ‘Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation?’, pp. 32, 39, 53, 62

Irrelevant

‘I believe capitalism is unjust ...because of sharply unequalownership of the means ofproduction ... [but] this inequality isnot necessarily coextensive withthe transfer of surplus value fromworkers to capitalists, andtherefore it is inappropriate toground an equality-based moralityon the technical measure ofexploitation.’

– Roemer, ‘Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation?’, p. 33

Overview 1. Marx against morality

2. Exploitation in general

3. Four theories of capitalist exploitationa) The fraud paradigmb) The coercion paradigmc) The distribution paradigmd) The vulernability paradigm

4. Summing-up

The vulnerability paradigm

DefinitionØA exploits B iff A extracts an unreciprocated transfer from B by

instrumentalizing (i.e. “treating as a means”) B’s economic vulnerability, which is a form of domination

Objections1. Exploitation ≠ domination

a) Exploitation = non-dispositional + punctualØ Actively taking advantage of any vulnerability

b) Domination = dispositional + durativeØ Being able to take advantage of systemic vulnerability

The vulnerability paradigm

DefinitionØA exploits B iff A extracts an unreciprocated transfer from B by

instrumentalizing (i.e. “treating as a means”) B’s economic vulnerability, which is a form of domination

Objections1. Exploitation ≠ domination2. Exploitation is derivative, domination is fundamental

ØShould focus on … a) domination (reproducing systematic vulnerability)b) exploitation (taking advantage of some vulnerability)NOT

Vulernability + domination

‘exploitation is a form ofdomination, that is, dominationfor self-enrichment … the self-enriching instrumentalization ofanother’s vulnerability ’– Vrousalis, ‘Exploitation, Vulnerability, and

Social Domination’, pp. 131-32

Reproducing vulnerability

‘The production of surplus-value, or themaking of profits, is the absolute law of[the capitalist] mode of production.Labour-power can be sold only to theextent that it preserves and maintainsthe means of production as capital,reproduces its own value as capital, andprovides a source of additional capitalin the shape of unpaid labour. Theconditions of its sale, whether more orless favourable to the worker, includetherefore the necessity of its constant re-sale … Wages … imply by their verynature that the worker will alwaysprovide a certain quantity of unpaidlabour. … [A]t the best of times anincrease in wages means only aquantitative reduction in the amount ofunpaid labour the worker has to supply.This reduction can never go so far as tothreaten the system itself.’

– Marx, Capital, vol. 1, ch. 25, pp. 769-70

Reproducing vulnerability

‘The production of surplus-value, or themaking of profits, is the absolute law of[the capitalist] mode of production.Labour-power can be sold only to theextent that it preserves and maintainsthe means of production as capital,reproduces its own value as capital, andprovides a source of additional capitalin the shape of unpaid labour. Theconditions of its sale, whether more orless favourable to the worker, includetherefore the necessity of its constant re-sale … Wages … imply by their verynature that the worker will alwaysprovide a certain quantity of unpaidlabour. … [A]t the best of times anincrease in wages means only aquantitative reduction in the amount ofunpaid labour the worker has to supply.This reduction can never go so far as tothreaten the system itself.’

– Marx, Capital, vol. 1, ch. 25, pp. 769-70

Reproducing vulnerability

‘The production of surplus-value, or themaking of profits, is the absolute law of[the capitalist] mode of production.Labour-power can be sold only to theextent that it preserves and maintainsthe means of production as capital,reproduces its own value as capital, andprovides a source of additional capitalin the shape of unpaid labour. Theconditions of its sale, whether more orless favourable to the worker, includetherefore the necessity of its constant re-sale … Wages … imply by their verynature that the worker will alwaysprovide a certain quantity of unpaidlabour. … [A]t the best of times anincrease in wages means only aquantitative reduction in the amount ofunpaid labour the worker has to supply.This reduction can never go so far as tothreaten the system itself.’

– Marx, Capital, vol. 1, ch. 25, pp. 769-70

Overview 1. Marx against morality

2. Exploitation in general

3. Four theories of capitalist exploitationa) The fraud paradigmb) The coercion paradigmc) The distribution paradigmd) The instrumentalization paradigm

4. Summing-up

Marx’s critique of capitalism1. AlienationØSeparation of things which ought not to be separatedØDomination of the producer by her product

2. Exploitation ØUnreciprocated flow that is …

a) … normatively fundamental(grounded in fraud, force, maldistribution, or instrumentalisation)

b) … normatively derivative (because primacy lies with maldistribution, or domination)

3. Domination

EITHER

OR

Looking ahead

Week Chapters in Capital

Pages in Penguin edn.

Week 2: History Part 8 (chs. 26-33) 873-943 (= 70pp.)

Week 3: Ideology Chs. 1-2 125-188 (= 63pp.)

Week 4: Alienation Chs. 3-7 188-307 (= 119pp.)

Week 5: Exploitation Chs. 8-12 307-429 (= 122pp.)

Week 6: Domination Chs. 13-15 429-643 (= 214pp.)

Week 7: Liberalism

Week 8: Feminism

References ¡ Allen Wood, Karl Marx (Routledge, 2nd edn. 2004), chs. 9, 10 and 16

¡ Norman Geras, ‘The Controversy about Marx and Justice’, New Left Review 150 (1986): 47-85

¡ Nancy Holmstrom, ‘Exploitation’, Canadian Journal of Philosophy 7, 2 (1977): 353-69

¡ John Roemer, ‘Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation?’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 14, 1 (1985): 30-65

¡ G. A. Cohen, ‘The Labour Theory of Value and the Concept of Exploitation’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 8, 4(1979): 338-60; reprinted in his History, Labour and Freedom (OUP, 1988)

¡ Nicholas Vrousalis, ‘Exploitation, Vulnerability, and Social Domination’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 41, 2 (2013): 131-57