Abstract
The division of labour was a central concern throughout Marx’s writings from the earliest to the latest writings. It has also been the focus of opposition and abuse because of Marx’s supposedly unrealistic, and allegedly utopian, views. Subtleties in Marx’s texts have been ignored, thus allowing interpreters to think that Marx foresaw the abolition of all division of labour, rather than seeing him as making trenchant criticisms of capitalist forms of division of labour with plausible judgements about future cooperation. As in many cases, it is claimed that Marx can be seen as practical and plausible, with positive ideas for the future.
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- 1.
Many of the ideas in this chapter were first presented in Robert Ware, “Marx, the Division of Labor, and Human Nature,” Social Theory and Practice VIII, No. 1 (Spring 1982), pp. 43–71.
- 2.
Marx used both terms, “die moderne Industrie” and “die grosse Industrie,” virtually interchangeably, although the Collected Works (MECW) translates both as “modern industry.”
- 3.
The English translation is misleading in saying in the same sentence that “the communist revolution … does away with labour.”
- 4.
There is a misprint in this translation of this passage. Rather than “advantages” the text has “disadvantages,” but the German was “Vorteile,” and the French version, which was edited and improved by Marx personally, has “avantages.” It is translated correctly by Ben Fowkes in Marx, p. 458.
- 5.
Marx wrote of “manufacture” as the period of industry characterized by manufacturing and before modern large-scale industry.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
Michael Evans (1975, p. 159) says the “theme that a communist society will involve the abolition of the division of labour runs throughout Marx’s writings.” See David McLellan (1980, pp. 39 and 166 for the same idea). See also Shlomo Avineri (1971, p. 123). Donald Weiss says (1976, p. 112): “That Marx does speak in unqualified terms about the ‘abolition of the division of labor’ is beyond dispute.”
- 9.
On this see Cohen (1988, 2001, pp. 131–133) and Weiss (1976). They think that this was the abolition of the division of labour that Marx promoted, but no matter how commendable it is and no matter how compatible with Marx’s goals it may be, it is not the abolition of division of labour in either the society or the workplace. This is the view that was criticized by Llorente 2006.
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Ware, R.X. (2019). Marx on the Division of Labour. In: Marx on Emancipation and Socialist Goals. Marx, Engels, and Marxisms. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97716-4_5
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