Reserve army of labour is a concept in Karl Marx's critique of political economy. Political economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and government It refers basically to the unemployed in capitalist society. Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. It is synonymous with "industrial reserve army" or "relative surplus population", except that the relative surplus population also includes people unable to work. The use of the word "army" refers to the workers being conscripted and regimented in the workplace in a hierarchy, under the command or authority of the owners of capital. @@@ main@@@ - title Hierarchy@@@ keywords structure; sociology; information@@@ review@@@ -
Prior to the capitalist era in human history, structural unemployment on a mass scale rarely existed, other than that caused by natural disasters and wars. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Manifesto of the Communist Party ( often referred to as The Communist Manifesto, was first published on February 21, 1848, and is The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon was written by Karl Marx between December 1851 and March 1852 and originally published in 1852 in Die Revolution On the Jewish Question is a work by Karl Marx, written in 1843, and first published in Paris in 1844 under the German title The Grundrisse der Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie ( German, Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy) is a lengthy Manuscript by the The German Ideology (1845 was a book written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels around April or early May 1845. Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (also referred to as The Paris Manuscripts) are a series of notes written between April and August 1844 The " Theses on Feuerbach " are eleven short philosophical notes written by Karl Marx in 1845. Marx's theory of alienation ( Entfremdung in German) as expressed in the writings of young Karl Marx, refers to the separation of things that naturally Class consciousness, literally is consciousness of one's Social class. In Marxist theory Commodity Fetishism is a state of social relations said to arise in capitalist market based societies in which social relationships Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Cultural hegemony is a Concept coined by Marxist Philosopher Antonio Gramsci. The rate of exploitation is a concept in Marxian Political economy. Marx's theory of human nature occupies an important place in his critique of Capitalism, his conception of Communism, and his ' materialist conception of history An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics The proletariat (from Latin la ''proles'' "offspring" is a term used to identify a lower Social class; a member of such a class is proletarian Reification ( German: Verdinglichung, literally "thing-ification" (from Latin "Res" meaning "thing" or Versachlichung, literally Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Relations of production (German Produktionsverhältnisse) is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx in his theory of Historical materialism and in Note Marxian economics is not restricted to Marxist economics as it includes the economic thought of those inspired by Marx's works who do not identify with Labour power (in German Arbeitskraft, or labour force is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist Political economy The law of value is a concept in Karl Marx 's critique of Political economy. Means Of Production is a compilation of Aim 's early 12" and EP releases recorded between 1995 and 1998 In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of Historical materialism, a mode of production (in German Produktionsweise, meaning 'the Productive forces, "productive powers" or "forces of production" German ''Produktivkräfte'' is a central concept in Marxism and Historical materialism Surplus labour is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of Political economy. Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of Political economy, where its ultimate source is unpaid Surplus labor In 20th century discussions of Karl Marx 's Economics the transformation problem is the problem of finding a general rule to transform the "values" of commodities Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour under a Contract ( Employment Anarchism and Marxism are related political philosophies which emerged in the nineteenth century In Marxian economic discourse the capitalist mode of production refers to the socio-economic base of capitalist society which began to grow rapidly in Western Europe from the Class struggle is the active expression of Class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective The " dictatorship of the proletariat " or workers' state is a term employed by Marxists that refers to what they see as a temporary state between the Primitive Accumulation of capital is a concept introduced by Karl Marx in part 8 of the first volume of Das Kapital (in German ursprüngliche Akkumulation A proletarian revolution is a social and/or political Revolution in which the Working class attempts to overthrow the Bourgeoisie. International Socialism redirects here For the journal of the same name see International Socialism (journal Proletarian internationalism is a This is about the concept of world revolution in Marxist theory See also Marxian economics, Marxism Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms which cover work in Philosophy Historical materialism is the methodological approach to the study of society economics and history which was first articulated by Karl Marx ( 1818 - 1883 Dialectical materialism, according to many followers of Karl Marx 's thinking is the philosophical basis of Marxism. Analytical Marxism refers to a style of thinking about Marxism that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s Autonomism refers to a set of Left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. Marxist feminism is a sub-type of Feminist theory which focuses on the dismantling of Capitalism as a way to liberate women Marxist humanism is a branch of Marxism that primarily focuses on Marx's earlier writings, especially the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts Marxist geography is a Critical geography which utilises the theories and philosophy of Marxism to examine the spatial relations of Human geography Structural Marxism was an approach to Marxist philosophy based on Structuralism, primarily associated with the work of the French philosopher Louis Althusser Western Marxism is a term used to describe a wide variety of Marxist theoreticians based in Western and Central Europe (and more recently North Libertarian Marxism is a school of Marxism that describes itself as taking a less Authoritarian view of Marxist theory than conventional currents such as Stalinism Young Marx is one half of the concept in Marxology that Karl Marx ’s intellectual development can be broken into two broad categories the other being ‘ Mature Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895 was a German social scientist and philosopher, who Karl Kautsky ( October 16 1854 - October 17 1938) was a leading theoretician of Social democracy. Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (Георгий Валентинович Плеханов ( December 11, 1856 &ndash May 30, 1918; Rosa Luxemburg (Róża Luksemburg 5 March 1870 or 1871 15 January 1919 was a Polish-born Jewish German Marxist theorist, socialist Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij György Lukács (pronounced in IPA dyɶrdyə ˈlukɑtʃ) ( April 13, 1885 – June 4, 1971) was a Hungarian Guy Ernest Debord ( December 28, 1931 - November 30, 1994) was a Marxist theorist French writer Filmmaker, hypergraphist Antonio Gramsci ('ɡramʃi ( January 23, 1891 &ndash April 27, 1937) was an Italian Philosopher, Writer, Karl Korsch ( August 15, 1886 - October 21, 1961) was a German Marxist theorist Ernesto "Che" Guevara (June 14 Following the Cuban revolution,Guevara reviewed The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist Critical theory, Social research, and Philosophy. Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (21 June 1905 &ndash 15 April 1980 commonly known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (ʒɑ̃ pol saʁtʁə was a French Louis Pierre Althusser (Pronunciation altuˡseʁ ( October 16, 1918 – October 22, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. Various aspects of Marxist theory have been criticized These criticisms concern both the theory itself and its later interpretations and implementations Indeed, the word "employment" is linguistically a product of the capitalist era.
A permanent level of unemployment presupposes a working population which is to a large extent dependent on a wage or salary for a living, without having other means of livelihood, as well as the right of enterprises to hire and fire employees in accordance with commercial or economic conditions.
Marx argued that there are no substantive laws of population that hold good for all time; instead, each specific mode of production has its own specific demographic laws. In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of Historical materialism, a mode of production (in German Produktionsweise, meaning 'the If there was "overpopulation" in capitalist society, it was overpopulation in relation to the requirements of capital accumulation. Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. Most generally the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value the increase in wealth or the creation of wealth Consequently, demography could not simply just count people in various ways, it also had to study the social relations between them as well. Social relation can refer to a multitude of Social interactions regulated by Social norms between two or more people with each having a Social position
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Marx's discussion of the concept
Marx introduces the concept in chapter 25 of Das Kapital, stating that
"capitalistic accumulation itself. . . constantly produces, and produces in the direct ratio of its own energy and extent, a relatively redundant population of workers, i. e. , a population of greater extent than suffices for the average needs of the valorisation of capital, and therefore a surplus-population. The valorization of capital is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of Political economy. . . It is the absolute interest of every capitalist to press a given quantity of labour out of a smaller, rather than a greater number of labourers, if the cost is about the same. . . The more extended the scale of production, the stronger this motive. Its force increases with the accumulation of capital. "
His argument is that as capitalism develops, the organic composition of capital will increase, which means that the mass of constant capital grows faster than the mass of variable capital. The organic composition of capital (OCC is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of Political economy and used in Marxian economics as a theoretical Constant capital ( c) is a concept created by Karl Marx and used in Marxian Political economy. Constant capital ( c) is a concept created by Karl Marx and used in Marxian Political economy. In addition, capital will become more concentrated and centralized in fewer hands.
This being the absolute historical tendency, part of the working population will tend to become surplus to the requirements of capital accumulation over time. Most generally the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value the increase in wealth or the creation of wealth Paradoxically, the larger the wealth of society, the larger the industrial reserve army will become.
However, as Marx develops the argument further, it also becomes clear that, depending on the state of the economy, the reserve army of labour will either expand or contract, alternately being absorbed or expelled from the employed workforce. Thus,
"Taking them as a whole, the general movements of wages are exclusively regulated by the expansion and contraction of the industrial reserve army, and these again correspond to the periodic changes of the industrial cycle. A wage is a compensation workers receive in exchange for their labor. They are, therefore, not determined by the variations of the absolute number of the working population, but by the varying proportions in which the working-class is divided into active and reserve army, by the increase or diminution in the relative amount of the surplus-population, by the extent to which it is now absorbed, now set free. "
Marx concludes that: "Relative surplus-population is therefore the pivot upon which the law of demand and supply of labour works. "
Composition of the relative surplus population
Marx argues the relative surplus population always has three forms: the floating, the latent and the stagnant.
- The floating part refers to the temporarily unemployed ("conjunctural unemployment").
- The latent part consists of that segment of the population not yet fully integrated into capitalist production - for example, part of the rural population. It forms a pool or reservoir of potential workers for industries.
- The stagnant part consists of marginalised people with "extremely irregular employment". Its lowest stratum (excepting criminals, vagabonds and prostitutes) "dwells in the sphere of pauperism", including those still able to work, orphans and pauper children, and the "demoralised and ragged" or "unable to work".
Marx then analyses the reserve army of labour in detail, using data on Britain where he lived. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927
Modern official social statistics however do not use these Marxian categories. Instead, the concepts of the "economically active population", the (employed and unemployed) "labour force", and the "jobless" are used. In Economics the people in the labor force are the suppliers of labor Important measurement criteria here are:
- whether somebody is actively looking for paid work ("unemployed")
- whether they are without paid work but would like to do paid work ("jobless")
- how many hours per week they actually do paid work.
People who are unable to work for one reason or another are normally not treated as "unemployed".
Controversy
Some writers have interpreted Marx's argument to mean that an absolute immiseration of the working class would occur as the broad historical trend. Thus, the workers would become more and more impoverished, and unemployment would constantly grow. This is of course not really credible in the light of the facts, because in various epochs and countries, workers' living standards have definitely improved rather than declined. In some periods, unemployment had been reduced to a very small amount.
Other writers (e. g. Ernest Mandel and Roman Rosdolsky) however argued that in truth Marx had no theory of an absolute immiseration of the working class; at most one could say that the rich-poor gap continues to grow, i. Ernest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter etc Roman Rosdolsky was an important Marxian scholar and political activist e. the wealthy get wealthier much more than ordinary workers improve their living standards. In part, the level of unemployment also seems to be based on the balance of power between social classes and state policy. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. Governments can allow unemployment to rise, but also implement job-creating policies, which makes unemployment levels partly a political result.
Another dispute concerns the notion of "overpopulation". Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. In Marx's own time, Malthus raised dire predictions that population growth enabled by capitalist wealth would exceed the food supply required to sustain that population. Thomas Robert Malthus FRS (13 February 1766 – 23 December 1834 was an English political economist and demographer who expressed views Population growth is the change in Population over time and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals in a population using "per unit time" for Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it As noted, for Marx, "overpopulation" was really more an ideologically loaded term or social construct, and Marxists have argued there is no real problem here, as enough food can be produced for all; if there is a problem, it lies in the way that food is produced and distributed. An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics Loaded A social construction or social construct is any phenomenon "invented" or "constructed" by participants in a particular Culture or Society Food is any substance usually composed primarily of Carbohydrates Fats water and/or Proteins that can be eaten or drunk by an
In the social welfare area, there are also perpetual disputes about the extent to which unemployment is voluntarily chosen by people, or involuntary, whether it is forced on people or whether it is their own choice. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, unemployment rose to 20-30% of the working population in many countries, and people generally believed it was involuntary. But if unemployment levels are relatively low, the argument that unemployment is a matter of choice is more often heard.
Finally, there are endless debates about the best way to measure unemployment, its costs and its effects, and to what extent a degree of unemployment is inevitable in any country with a developed labour market. Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning of the Market and dynamics for labour. According to the NAIRU, price stability in market-based societies necessarily requires a certain amount of unemployment. The term NAIRU is an Acronym for N on- A ccelerating '''I'''nflation R ate of '''U'''nemployment. If the level of unemployment is too low, it will stimulate price inflation. In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time
A global reserve army of labour?
Marx was writing in the mid-19th century, and obviously his discussion of unemployment is therefore in part out of date. However, his analysis may have a validity, if considered globally.
The ILO reports that the proportions of world unemployment are steadily increasing. The International Labour Organization
- Half of all workers in the world - some 1. 4 billion working poor - currently live in families that survive on less than US$2 a day per person. They work in the vast informal sector - from farms to fishing, from agriculture to urban alleyways - without benefits, social security or health care. Some 550 million working poor live on US$1 or less per day.
- Unemployment in terms of actual people out of work is at its highest point ever and continues to rise. In the last ten years, official unemployment has grown by more than 25 % and now stands at nearly 192 million worldwide, or about 6 % of the global workforce. Unemployed and under-employed together total about a billion people.
- Of these unemployed, the ILO estimates that 86 million, or about half the global total, are young people aged 15 to 24.
See also
References
- Karl Marx, Das Kapital, chapter 25
- Michel de Vroey, Involuntary Unemployment; The Elusive Quest for a Theory. Labour power (in German Arbeitskraft, or labour force is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist Political economy Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types Routledge, 2004.
- Göran Therborn, Why Some Peoples Are More Unemployed than Others. Verso, 1986.
- Roman Rosdolsky, The making of Marx's 'Capital'. Pluto, 1977.
- Tom Brass and Marcel Van Der Linden (eds. ), Free and Unfree Labour: The Debate Continues (International and Comparative Social History, 5). New York: Peter Lang AG, 1997.
- Ben Fine, Labour Market Theory: A Constructive Reassessment. Routledge, London, 1998.
- Frank Furedi, Population and Development: A Critical Introduction. St. Martin’s Press. 1997.
External links
ILO data on global unemployment
ILO global unemployment report
CPGB Draft Programme entry on the unemployed:
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