Marx's Concept of Exploitation with Reference to the Work of Wolff, Roemer, and Cohen
Jessica gouws
HET Essay 3
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Discuss Marx’s concept of exploitation with reference to the work of Wolff, Roemer and Cohen.
In the context of Marxian Economics exploitation refers to “the subjection of producers (the proletariat) to work for passive owners (bourgeoisie) for less compensation than is equivalent to the actual amount of work done”. (REF SOURCE 1) This essentially means that the producer puts in all the labour time and creates the goods only to have them sold by the capitalist at a profit. Thus the producer is not receiving the full compensation for work done. The exploitation done by the capitalist in the Marxist view is that means of production is passively owned by the capitalist to generate a profit. The marxist view of exploitation focuses on the “exploitation of an entire segment of class of society by another “ (REF SOURCE 1) . Karl Marx assumed in his works, Das Kapital, that there were purely competitive markets. He argued that with an increased sense of freedom in the market there came an increased power of capital and thus a higher level of exploitation.
This kind of exploitation is seen as being an inherent feature and key element of capitalism and free markets. In fact, in Das Kapital, Karl Marx typically assumed the existence of purely competitive markets. In general, it is argued that the greater the "freedom" of the market, the greater the power of capital, and the greater the scale of exploitation. The perceived problem is with the structural context in which free markets operate (detailed below). The proposed solution is the abolition of capitalism and its replacement by a better, non-exploitative, system of production and distribution (first socialism, and then, after a certain period of time, communism).
In the Marxist view, "normal" exploitation is based in three structural characteristics of capitalist society: 1. the ownership of the means of production by a small
HET Essay 3
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Discuss Marx’s concept of exploitation with reference to the work of Wolff, Roemer and Cohen.
In the context of Marxian Economics exploitation refers to “the subjection of producers (the proletariat) to work for passive owners (bourgeoisie) for less compensation than is equivalent to the actual amount of work done”. (REF SOURCE 1) This essentially means that the producer puts in all the labour time and creates the goods only to have them sold by the capitalist at a profit. Thus the producer is not receiving the full compensation for work done. The exploitation done by the capitalist in the Marxist view is that means of production is passively owned by the capitalist to generate a profit. The marxist view of exploitation focuses on the “exploitation of an entire segment of class of society by another “ (REF SOURCE 1) . Karl Marx assumed in his works, Das Kapital, that there were purely competitive markets. He argued that with an increased sense of freedom in the market there came an increased power of capital and thus a higher level of exploitation.
This kind of exploitation is seen as being an inherent feature and key element of capitalism and free markets. In fact, in Das Kapital, Karl Marx typically assumed the existence of purely competitive markets. In general, it is argued that the greater the "freedom" of the market, the greater the power of capital, and the greater the scale of exploitation. The perceived problem is with the structural context in which free markets operate (detailed below). The proposed solution is the abolition of capitalism and its replacement by a better, non-exploitative, system of production and distribution (first socialism, and then, after a certain period of time, communism).
In the Marxist view, "normal" exploitation is based in three structural characteristics of capitalist society: 1. the ownership of the means of production by a small