* From: "michael a. lebowitz"
-clip-
Gil stressed that his position has evolved since our
exchanges years ago. I think I've caught glimpses of that but confess I
haven't kept up with the discussions and, for that matter, journals for the
most part. However, I think our essential differences have not changed. We
have a very important agreement-- one that unites us in contrast to many who
consider this question. Neither of us thinks
that Marx's discussion in Vol. I, ch. 1-6 provides a logical basis
for the conclusion that capitalist exploitation requires the buying
and selling of labour-power. (I've expressed this by stressing that
the separation of producers from the means of production is a
necessary but not sufficient condition--- precisely because producers could
rent means production rather than sell labour-power.)
^^^
CB: I'm trying to follow the logic here. If the separation of the producers
from the means of production is a _necessary_ condition for exploitation,
then it _is_ required for exploitation.
Yes, for capitalist exploitation. I mean by that exploitation as a capitalist (as opposed, eg, to as a money-owner or land-owner).
If this "separation of the producers
from the means of production" is equivalent to "buying and selling of labor
power",then the latter _is_ required for exploitation.
But the point is that it is not equivalent. Take a historical example--- enclosures. Peasants lost their prescriptive right to the soil; ie., they were separated from that critical means of production. What were the options for them as producers? They (a) could (assuming the lord of the land was willing) rent or lease land from that owner and, if their plots were large enough, employ peasants as wage-labourers. Or (b), where their lord wished to exploit as a capitalist, they could sell their labour-power to him (or to someone else). Separation is the necessary but not sufficient condition for the buying and selling of labour.
That the buying and
selling of labor power is not a _sufficient_ condition for exploitation does
not prevent it from being a necessary condition for exploitation, in logical
terms.
see above
( Recently in receipt of my copy of _Beyond Capital_)
Ah, you may be the one who boosted the Amazon standing from 857,000 to 823,000! :-)
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Currently based in Venezuela. Can be reached at
Residencias Anauco Suites
Departamento 601
Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1
Caracas, Venezuela
(58-212) 573-4111
fax: (58-212) 573-7724
