I am looking for a collaborator in carrying out the research projects of
absolute value, the ownership of the person, the ownership of
labor-power,
the concept of human rights.
I am at present an associate professor at the Department of
Administration
and Philosophy, Northwest University, P. R. China. I used to be a
history
lecturer for ten years, that is from 1982 to 1992, at the same
university. I
completed my six-year study at the Queen's University of Belfast and was
awarded a degree of Ph.D. by the same university two years ago. I have
been
interested in political economy, history, philosophy, economics,
Marxism,
etc. I have published more than twenty academic papers in established
journals in China.
At this moment, I am working on the research project of absolute value.
The concept of absolute value was put forward for the first time in
human
history by David Ricardo in his book On the Principles of Political
Economy
and Taxation. However, no one has explained clearly what absolute value
is
and if there exists absolute value at all since the publication of the
book.
I believe that I have resolved the problem of how to measure correctly
the
quantity of abstract labour in my doctorate dissertation. On this
foundation, I believe, it is not difficult to pluck one of the diamonds
in
the crown of economics, that is, to explain clearly what absolute value
is
and if there exists absolute value at all.
The main task to carry out the project of absolute value is to infer and
prove that the absolute value embodied in the same commodities, say one
ton
of wheat, in the same market is the same, no matter how different the
methods or tools used by the producers and no matter how much time the
producers used in producing them. This fact ultimately leads to the fact
that the same commodities in the same market have the same price.
By explaining clearly what absolute value is and how absolute value is
expressed, we may have a much better understanding of the reasons why
the
distinction of average income between the different communities can be
compared and expressed by the same measurement (currency), such as
American
dollars or British sterling, etc.; why the real gross national product
of a
nation can increase much faster than the increase of the number in the
labour force in the sense of the number of working population; why there
has
been inflation; why wage inflation can slow as unemployment falls for
years;
whether it is wise to practise the policy of "welfare state"; whether it
is
necessary to increase the minimum wage according to the increase of
efficiency in productivity. In the new light of the theory of absolute
value, the relevant economists may put forward some better ideas to the
politicians who are deciding the economical policies of their
communities to
deal with the issues of social security, government investment, public
ownership of property, state-run enterprise, privatisation, interest
rates,
inflation, recession, international competition, unification of the
district
economy, unification of the global economy, etc., in the circumstances
that
both the domestic economical intercourse and international economical
intercourse have to be carried out through the medium of money. What is
more, the defects of the theory of labore-value postulated and developed
by
Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx could also be revealed
thoroughly in
the new light of the theory of absolute value.
I hope this project can be completed in one year and the output can be
published as a book in English ultimately.
However, my English is not good enough to make it published in English.
Therefore I am trying to find a collaborator who knows much about
traditional theories of labor-value and who is a native speaker of
English.
I am also trying to find a collaborator who is a native speaker of
English,
who knows much about theories of human rights and Marxism, who is a
native
speaker of English and who is interested in collaborating with me 1) in
developing my doctorate dissertation into a series of papers for
publication
and being the other author of them; 2) in developing my doctorate
dissertation into a book for publication and being the other author of
it;
3) in finding the proper journals and publishing house for the
publication
of them.
The title of my doctorate dissertation is The Ownership of the Person
and
the Concept of Human Rights. This paper claims that it is ownership of
the
person that is the most fundamentally economical system or institution
in
human society, but not the ownership of the means of production as
traditional Marxists argued. It is because that it is the dominant
ownership
of the person which a community has gained that determines the social
nature
of the community. For instance, the reason for us to classify the
ancient
Rome Empire as a slavery society is that the dominant ownership of the
person which the ancient Rome Empire had gained was slavery ownership of
the
person. Meanwhile, one can not distinguish a slavery society from a
civil
society from the aspect of the ownership of the means of production,
because
most of the means of production of both societies were possessed and
owned
by a handle of people.
I have been wishing to develop my doctorate dissertation into a series
of
papers and a book for publication in English for a long time. But, my
English is not up to that. Therefore I have to find a collaborator who
knows much about theories of human rights and who is a native speaker of
English.
Please contact me through email. My e-mail address is: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The scholars who are interested in collaborating with me can get the
whole
doctorate dissertation of mine through email if they tell me their email
addresses.
Please find the enclosed titles of my publications and the table of
contents
of my doctorate dissertation.
With my best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Zhiyong Dong
--------
Dr. Zhiyong Dong
The Department of Administration and Philosophy
Northwest University
Xian, Shaanxi, 710069,
P. R. China
Tel: 86+(029)8303478
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PUBLICATIONS:
1. Dong Zhi-Yong, "Measurement of Concrete Labour and Concrete
Labour-power", Yunnan Social Sciences, pp. 8-15, No. 6, 1999, The Social
Academy of Yunnan Province, P. R. China.
2. Dong Zhi-Yong, "Absolute Abstract Labour-power and Relative Abstract
Labour-power", Jiangsu Social Sciences, pp. 134-140, No. 6, 1999, The
Scholar Union of the Social and Philosophical Sciences in Jiangsu
Province,
P. R. China.
3. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The British Policy towards Tibet during World War
II",
Studies of Anti-Japanese War, (Quarterly Journal), No. 1 of 1994, pp.
55-70,
Peking; Xinhuawenzhai,. (Monthly Journal), No. 7 of 1994, Peking.
4. Dong Zhi-Yong & Zhou Weizhou, "The Policies of World Powers towards
Tibet
round about the Liberation of Tibet", Journal of Tibetan College,
(Quarterly
Journal), No. 2 and No. 3 of 1994, pp. 67-75, 69-82, Xianyang, Shaanxi,
P.
R. China.
5. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Trade between Tibet and British India from 1912
to
1950", Studies of History of Chinese Borderland, (Quarterly Journal),
No. 4
of 1993, pp. 64-72, Peking.
6. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Issue of Import of Indian Tea into Tibet", China
Tibetology, (Quarterly Journal), No. 3 of 1993, pp. 69-82, Peking.
7. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Trade between Tibet and British India before
1912",
Studies of History of Chinese Borderland, (Quarterly Journal), pp.
85-92,
No. 2 of 1992, Peking.
8. Dong Zhi-Yong, "On the So-called British-Tibetan Trade Convention
1914",
Studies of Modern History, (Bimonthly Journal), pp. 123-152, No. 6 of
1992,
Peking.
9. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Illegal Occupation of British India over the
Chinese
Territory to the South of the McMahon Line", Reports on History of
Chinese
Borderland, (Quarterly Journal), pp. 1-16, No. of 1992,, and pp. 25-40,
No 2
of 1992, Peking.
10. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The British Policy towards Xinjiang before 1864",
Studies of the History of Northwest China, (Annual Journal), pp. 56-85,
No.
3 of 1989, Sanqin Publishing House, Xian, Shaanxi, P. R. China.
11. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Survey of the Southern Border of Xinjiang
Province
by Li Yuan-Bing and Ai-Ying between 1890-1892", Reports on History of
Chinese Borderland, (Quarterly Journal), No. 4 of 1989, Peking.
12. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The British-Russian Rivalry and Partition of Pamir",
Reports on History of Chinese Borderland, (Quarterly Journal), pp.
91-106,
No. 1 of 1987, Peking.
13. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The British Policy towards Xinjiang between 1864 and
1871", Studies of the History of Northwest China, (Annual Journal), pp.
68-86, No. 1 of 1986, Sanqin Publishing House, Xian, Shaanxi, P. R.
China.
14. Dong Zhi-Yong, "Riot against Christianity in Pingli County and the
Monument to the Suppression of the Riot", Wenbo (Bimonthly Journal), No.
5
of 1985, Xian, Shaanxi, P. R. China.
15. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Policy of World Powers towards the Sino-Russian
Negotiation over the Area of Yili between 1872 and 1881", Sino-foreign
Relations in Modern Time, pp. 108-135, People's Publishing House of
Sichuan,
Chengdu, Sichuan, P. R. China, 1985.
16. Dong Zhi-Yong, "On Gordon"s Visit to China in 1880", Materials of
the
History of Northwest China, (Semi-annual Journal), pp. 68-74, No. 1 of
1984,
Institute of the History of Northwest China, Northwest University, Xian,
Shaanxi, P. R. China.
17. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Policy of the Chinese Government towards the
Sino-Russian Negotiation over the Area of Yili between 1872 and 1881",
Materials of the History of Northwest China, (Semi-annual Journal), pp.
78-84, No. 2 of 1983, Institute of the History of Northwest China,
Northwest
University, Xian, Shaanxi, P. R. China.
18. Dong Zhi-Yong, "The Policy of the Chinese Government towards Russia
between 1895 and 1905~{!/~}, Materials of the History of Northwest
China,
(Semi-annual Journal), pp. 93-98, No. 2 of 1981, Institute of the
History of
Northwest China, Northwest University, Xian, Shaanxi, P. R. China.
Employment:
Animal Specimen Collector, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Zoology,
P. R. China ,Aug. 1973- Dec. 1976
OWNERSHIP OF THE PERSON
AND THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
by
Zhiyong Dong
A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
School of Philosophical and Anthropological Studies
College of Humanities
The Queen~{#?~} University of Belfast
November 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 1: LABOUR 3
Section 1: Current Definitions of Labour 3
Section 2: The Essence of Labour 5
Section 3: Multi-Moment Activities 12
Section 4: The Unity of Single-Moment Activity and Multi-Moment Activity
17
Section 5: The Difference between Labour and Other Multi-Moment
Activities
21
CHAPTER 2: LABOUR-POWER 29
Section 1: The Essence and Function of Labour-Power 29
Section 2: Individual Labour 31
1. Individual labour 32
2. Extended individual labour 32
Section 3: Individual labour-power 35
1. Individual labour-power 35
2. Extended individual labour-power 35
Section 4: Concrete Labour 36
Section 5: The Expression of the Quantity of Concrete Labour
and its Measurement 42
Section 6: Concrete Labour-Power 45
Section 7: Abstract Labour 47
Section 8: Absolute Abstract Labour and Absolute Abstract
Labour-Power 51
Section 9: Relative Abstract Labour and Relative Abstract
Labour-Power 56
Section 10: The Quantity of Abstract Labour and Measurement
of Abstract Labour-Power 62
CHAPTER 3:
COLLECTIVE LABOUR AND THE DIVISION OF LABOUR 73
Section 1: Collective Labour and the Division of Labour 73
Section 2: Two Processes of Division of Labour 77
CHAPTER 4: THE OWNERSHIP OF LABOUR-POWER 81
Section 1: Ownership 81
Section 2: The Distribution and Ownership of Products and Services
84
Section 3: The Ownership of Labour-Power 91
Section 4: Existent Forms of the Ownership of Labour-Power 95
1. Primitive ownership of labour-power 95
2. Self-ownership of labour-power 101
3. Slave-ownership of labour-power 102
4. Feudal ownership of labour-power 104
5. The civil ownership of labour-power 112
6. Individual ownership of labour-power 116
7. Partial social ownership of labour-power 117
CHAPTER 5: OWNERSHIP OF THE PERSON 121
Section 1: Ownership of the Living Body of Human Beings 121
1. Self-ownership of the living body of human beings 123
2. Slave ownership of the living body of human beings 124
3. Feudal ownership of the living body of human beings 125
4. Individual ownership of the living body of human beings 127
Section 2: Ownership of the Marriage Right 134
1. Self-ownership of the marriage right 137
2. Feudal ownership of the marriage right 141
3. Slave ownership of the marriage right 146
4. Individual ownership of the marriage right 148
Section 3: Ownership of the Person and Social Hierarchies 150
1. Primitive ownership of the person 153
2. Self-ownership of the person 154
3. Slave ownership of the person 155
4. Feudal ownership of the person 156
5. Civil ownership of the person 157
6. Individual ownership of the person 161
Section 4: The Relationship between Ownership of the Person
and the Social Nature of Society 164
CHAPTER 6: THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN RIGHTS 170
Section 1: The Nature of the Concept of Human Rights 170
Section 2: Historical Conditions for the Emergence of the Concept
of Human Rights 178
CONCLUSION 197
BIBLIOGRAPHY 198
Acknowledgements
I firstly must thank Professor Bernard Cullen, my supervisor. Without
his
continuous encouragement and support for more than eight years, this
thesis
could not have been completed at all. His close reading of several
drafts
saved me from many logical and linguistic mistakes.
Special thanks should be given to Mr John Laverty for his generous help
in
reading the draft of the whole thesis and correcting many linguistic
mistakes.
I owe very much to Dr Colin Harper of The University of Ulster, who
read
the draft of the first, fifth and sixth chapters and corrected some
linguistic mistakes I had made.
I should also thank Dr Ian Leask, who read the draft of the fourth
chapter
and corrected many linguistic mistakes.
Many thanks should be given to my friends Mr Alex Luke and Mrs Anne
Luke,
who corrected a number of linguistic mistakes I had made.
I gratefully acknowledge the assistance given by Ms Miriam Dudley, of
the
Law Library of the Queen~{#?~} University of Belfast, and Ms Hilja
McMahon, of
the Main Library of the Queen~{#?~} University of Belfast. They
patiently and
willingly helped me by acquiring many materials and books necessary for
the
writing of this thesis.
Of course, I am solely responsible for all defects remaining in the
final
version of the thesis.
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
