On 7/1/2012 1:16 PM, Jim Devine wrote:
>
> In any
> event, the meaning of "unproductive labor" is pretty clear in Marx.
> (Unproductive labor does not produce surplus-value directly.)

Kay Hunt thinks that there are two different definitions of productive 
labor running through Marx's writings. The one you identify and:

"throughout all of Marx’s writings on productive and unproductive labor 
there seems to be an implicit, subsidiary definition of unproductive 
labor as that labor which is necessary only because of the 
irrationalities (from a socialist, normative perspective) of the 
capitalist social structure."

http://www2.potsdam.edu/nuwermj/Productive_Unproductive_Labor.pdf

> The key
> question is that whether or not the concept is relevant in some way to
> understanding capitalism (as opposed to merely criticizing political
> economy). I don't think that the concept helps much at all (though I'm
> willing to be convinced otherwise).

If Hunt is correct that Marx’s writings are inconsistent, perhaps Marx 
too was not sure whether or not the concept is relevant.



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