Productive and Unproductive Labour

Abstract

We have seen in the last chapter that the positions of neo-Ricardians and Fundamentalists on value theory are strongly opposed and that each in its own way fails to take full account of the hierarchical, articulated structure of economic spheres with production determinant. The same characteristics are found in the debate on the nature of productive and unproductive labour, but for the following reason this debate has been conducted with an even greater intensity and has been more at the centre of political debate. The importance of the distinction between the two categories of labour lies in the increasing significance in modern capitalism of those workers who might be classified as unproductive (e.g. state and commerical as opposed to industrial employees). Unproductive employees are not only distinct in the economic functions they perform for capital, but they are increasingly drawn into and hence hold a distinct position in economic, political and ideological class struggle. It is the movement towards an understanding of their role in these struggles and in capitalist society as a whole that makes the clarification of the concept of unproductive labour so potentially fruitful.