Labor in Society :: Psychology Marx Capitalism Essays

Labor in Society The vision of hustling bodies performing their simple tasks in seemingly infinite repetition as part of a project too large to be understood from the particular action pervades our world to the extent that it becomes hard to imagine life without it. Indeed, the vision offers a larger narrative into which all of our experiences can fit, as if we were always just minor contributors to grand projects, where the only question is whether or not the projects are good. Marx considers this division of labor as it presents itself in society, in the form of social roles and subgroup responsibilities, as opposed to a seemingly similar order in capitalist factory organization. As a part of his wider critique of capitalism, Marx makes a distinction between the division of labor in society and in production, then uses the distinction to make capitalism appear merely contingent and vulnerable to substantial criticism. Marx delineates between the division of labor in society and in manufacture. He argues that many (or most) societies are structured with different roles for different people, â€Å"caused by differences of sex and age, a division that is consequently based on a purely physiological function† (Cap 392). This is because â€Å"different communities find different means of production †¦ which †¦ calls forth the mutual exchange of products† (Cap 393). An example might be that young men hunt and other groups perform other duties, and the community will share these goods. On the other hand, Marx claims that the division of labor in manufacture is purely a construct of capitalism. First, there is no reason that it would result from natural differences, such as physiology. Furthermore, the division â€Å"within the workshop implies the undisputed authority of the capitalist over men† (Cap 395), whereas, in the social division of labor, the work ers â€Å"acknowledge no other authority but that of competition† (Cap 395). The division of labor in manufacture is only a particular organization within the natural division of different industries. While social roles may be normal, Marx holds firmly that capitalism is not natural, neutral, or inevitable. For the division in the factory, Marx would count all of Smith’s arguments about the rationality of this mode as increases in efficiency, and thus (usually) of ‘relative surplus value’.