. ,,'-'..

"'~" ~,
-;:.~,.<""".'-',
' ,H. . ''''.'.,
'.'"
.. --r

and revolutionaryforce, the creator of a new social

system.

The world is at a turning point today. "The changes

in current world developments are so deep-going and signi-
ficant that they require a reassessment and a comprehen-
sive analysis of all factors.,,9 These changes concern
above all a nuclear confrontation. Other changes stem
from the aggravation of rhe internal contradictions of
the exploitative system and basic antagonism between la-
bour and capital. MARX ON THE PROLETARIAT'S ECONOMIC STRUGGLE
IN CAPITALIST COUNTRIES
Today, the working class and mankind as a whole are
experiencing cardinal changes connected with the scienti- Vitaly VYGODSKY, D.Sc.(Econ.),
fic and technological revolution and its effects, acce- J
Valeria KUNINA, D;Sc.(Hist.)
leration of the socio-economic development of socialist
society, intensification of the world revolutionary pro- I
cess, a new stage of competition between the two systems,
global confrontation between scientific socialism and Marx and Engels always considered the class struggle
in its three interrelated. forms: theoretical, political
reactionary bourgeois ideology. The Soviet sociologists
are focussing attentionon new world developmentsand pro- and practicaleconomic (F. Engels, The Peasant War in
cesses under way in the international working-class move- Germany, Moscow, 1965, p. 23). Depending on the situation.
ment basing themselves on the assessments and conclusions taking place and concrete historical conditions they turn-
ed their attention to one or another form. Thus in the
made by the 27th CPSU Congress.
early 1840s they centred attention on the economic
NOTES struggle of the proletariat. Even then they had already
singled out strikes as an expression of genuine proleta-
1 The Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet rian class movement.
Union. A New Edition, Moscow, 1986, p. 77.
2 In 1842 Engels, in assessing a mass strike of Bri-
Ibid., pp. 23-24. tish workers, noted in his article "The Internal Crises"
3 Ib id., p. 27. that it testified to the mighty revolutionary potential
of the working class which had already become aware of
4 Mikhail Gorbachev, Political Report of the Central its strength (K. Marx and F. Engels, Collected Works,
Committee 'of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Vol. 2, Moscow, 1975, p. 370). In "The Conditionof the
to the 27th Party Congress, Moscow, 1986, pp. 61-62. Working Class in England" Engels explained the regularity
5 Ibid., p. 59. of strikes, indicating that they were generated by the
desire of the workers "to escape from this brutalising
6 The FPogramme of the Communist Party of the Soviet condition" (K. Marx and F. Engels, Collected Works,
Union..., p. 19. Vol. 4, Moscow, 1975, p. 501). He stressedthat strikes
7 La Pensee, 1983, No. 233. to some extent protected workers from degeneration be-
cause they achieved an increase, albeit temporary, in
8 Rinascita, Vol. 4, 1985. wages and reduced working hours. Summing up his consi-
9 Mikhail Gorbachev,op. cit., p. 5. derations, he came to the conclusion that strikes are in-
dispensable as a school of struggle in which workers dis-
play the utmost courage (Ibid., p. 512).

31
 as a commodity that made it possible to develop the the-
At the beginning, certain vital economic aspects of ory of surplus-value and to consider the relationship be-
tween labour and capital not as a material relationship
the labour-capital retationship had not yet been treated,
between "accumulated" and "direct", labour as was the case
which prevented a comprehensive assessment of the signi-
with bourgeois economists, but as a specifically social,
ficance of the economic struggle. In the 1840s Marx and
class relationship, incomprehensible outside the context
Engels, in their view of this question, still remained of the class struggle between the workers and the capi-
close to Adam Smith who maintained that raising wages talists.
under..capitalism was' senseless because it affected commo-
dity prices like simple interest (K. Marx, Economic and The main tenets of the surplus-value theory were for-
PhiZ080phic Manuscripts of 1844, Moscow, 1967, p. 29). mulated by Marx, while working on his 1857-1858 manu-
Although this tenet was accepted even then with certain script, the initial version of CapitaZ. This theory de-
reservations, nonetheless in "Wage Labour and Capital" fined surplus-value as the difference between the value
Marx still wrote: "The same general laws that regulate the created by living labour in the production process and the
price of commodities in general, of course, also regulate price of labour paid to the worker in the form of wages.
wages, the price of labour The cost of production of Describing in this connection the sphere of worker's sub-
simple labour, therefore, amounts to the cost of existence sistence means, Marx notes, firstly, that a relative,
and reproduction of the worker Wages so determined only quantitative and not qualitative restriction of the
are called the wage minimum" (K. Marx and F. Engels, CoZ- sphere of workers' consumption, which becomes qualitative
Zected Works, Vol. 9, Moscow, 1977, p. 209). only through quantity, imparts to them as consumers an
entirely different, more important significance of produc-
As Engels was to remark later, he also shared the
tion agents (K. Marx, Grundrisse der Kritik der PoZiti-
idea of the wage minimum at that time, Which is confirm-
schen Okonomie (Rohentwurf). 1857-1858, Berlin, 1974,
ed by his "contribution to the Critique of Political Eco- p. 194).
nomy" and "Condition of the Working Class in England".
The thesis of the economically substantiated wage minimum, Later Marx enlarged on this idea in Volume II of
naturally produced a reserved attitude to the potential CapitaZ demonstrating that consumption of the working
of economi~ struggle. class acts as an element of the process of reproduction;
secondly, elaborating on his considerations outlined in
A gradual departure from the wage minimum concept was "Reflections", he speaks of the physical, social and
predicated on Marx's new cycle of economic studies. other needs of the worker which are satisfied by his wag-
In 1851 in a short manuscript entitled "Reflection", es (Ibid., p. 195). He identifies as a substantial as-
he pointed out certain favourable opportunities, opening pect of civilisation that side of relations between la-
up as the result of wages paid in the form of money, in- bour and capital upon which rests "the historical regula-
dicating that with what it saves, after buying the vital rity of capital" and which is related to the worker's
necessities, the working class could buy books instead of growing needs together with the part that he takes in
meat and bread and pay for ftectures3 and meetings. The consumption of a higher order, as well as in spiritual
working class has greater possibilities of appropriating consumption: promotipn of his own interests, newspaper
such general forces of society as its intellectual forces subscription, lecture attendance, child education, deve-
(K. Marx, F. Engels, Gesamtausgabe (MEGA), Section I, loping appreciation, etc. (Ibid., pp. 197-198). Here,
Vol. 10, 1977, p. 509). As can be seen here, Marx has, as can be seen, Marx continues his critical revision of
in fact, already added the cost of satisfying a worker's the wage minimum concept. Debating with bourgeois econo-
intellectual needs to labour costs, i.e. he obviously re- mists,who urged the workers to save their money, Marx
jects its definition as the physical subsistence minimum. wrote that this was demanding that the workers keep to
the minimum in enjoying the good things of life (Ibid.,
However, it was only by completely switching over
'p. "197). .
from the labour-commodity concept to the study of labour 33
32

~-
 r ,----
I

I
cost of commodities established in the 1861-1863 manu-
The surplus-value theory explained the objective
tendency of the capital mode. of production towards over-
. script encourages, as Marx demonstrated, intensification
all intensification of working class exploitation, pr~- of working class exploitation, both through the growth of
marily by developing the productive~ forces. Using his relative surplus-value as a result of the growth of indi-
concept of alienated labour, Marx' pemonstrated that in vidual labour productivity at a given enterprise1 and
itself the exchange betwaen.labour aud capital objective- through appropriation by the capitalist of the individual
and social cost of labour as a commodity.
ly is of no benefit to the worker.
Indeed, a worker of the capitalist at whose enter-
The.minimum wage concept was only gradually discard-
prise an increase in individual labour productivity took
ed in the terminology used by Marx. The term "wage mini-
place has the right (be it understood, we mean in this
mum" still appears in his "Abstracts", a synopsis of. his
1857-1858 manuscript (Ibid., p. 965). It is interesting case the\right predic~ted on economic laws) to appropri-
ate at least a certain part of the difference between the
to note how he defends his ,usage of it: "Let us assume
for the time being necessary labour as such, i.e. let social co~t of commodities produced by him and their de-
creasing individual cost. This right is predicated on
us assume that the worker always gets only the necessary
the increased individual cost of labour of the given
wage minimum Besides it is practicallysure that,.
worker. His work creates per time unit greater value
for instance, however the standard of necessary labour
may differ at various epochs and in various countries, than average social labour and consequently in compari-
son with .the latter it appears as labour of a higher or-
(...) at any given epoch the standard is to be consider-
ed and acted up"n as a fixed one by capital" (Ibid., der, as simple labour raised to a degree. In other
p. 702). ~ .words, the cost of the given worker's manpower has in-
creased but the capitalist pays for it according to the
The terms "average wage minimum" and "average wages" average social cost and appropriates the total difference
appear for the first time on the 'pages of "The between th~se two values.
Notebook of Quotations" which was completed shortly after
In the 1861-1863 manuscript Marx also pointed put
work on the aforementioned manuscript ceased. The latter
certain concrete conditions, increasing the individual
term is 'also list-ed in the index fo "The Notebook of Quo-
tations" and in the draft outline of the chapter on ca- cost of labour which, in our opinion, are directly relat-
ed to the case under consideration. Writing about the
pital, which served as the starting point in Marx's work
on the 1861-1863 manuscript, the second draft version of said cost, Marx indicates that it can increase only'to
the extent to which the development of the capitalist
Capital. Marx points out in the forenamed outline:
"Average wages When we consider this problem we mode of production requires [a higher level of] education
of the workers whose more complex work necessitates
should proceed from the minimum" (Ibid., p. 970). Na-
turally, the term in question was used in the 1861-1863 higher individual development of this labour so that the
mass.pf the cost (labour) required for its creation is
manuscript too, it appeared in the title of one of the
increased (Ibid., Ch. 6, Berlin, 1982. p. 2186).
parts "Wage Minimum or Average Wages" (K. Marx, F. Engels,
Gesamtausgabe (MEGA), Section 'II, Vol. 3, Ch. 1, Berlin, In evaluating the cost of labour Marx demonstrated
1975, p. 37). that, the amount of so-called primary basic requirements
and ways of meeting them depend to a large extent on the
A decisive step in economic substantiation of the .
state of a society's culture They are a product of
working class struggle in capitalist society was made ex-
pressly in this manuscript as a result of Marx's analysis
history (Ibid., Ch. 1, p. 39). Consequently, determin-
ing the amount of wages as well as the cost of labour has
of the dual nature of commodity cost undertaken here for
the first time. absolutely nothing to do with the ultimate limit of phy-
sical necessity (Ibid.. p. 46) although the capitalists
The difference between the social and individual

34 35
 - --

really strive to reduce the cost and price of labour to

the minimum. Hence the economic need for unremitting es. resulting from the wage increase. by raising prices
struggle of the working class for higher wages and shorter on his goods. .

hours.
Marx considered all the aspects of this problem from
In the 1861-1863 manuscript Marx also proved the the point of view of the working class struggle in his
economic possibility of struggling for higher wages and 1865 report "Wage. Price and Profit". In it he' summaris-
shorter hours. As mentioned earlier. he exposed the es- ed his analysis. contained in the 1861-1863 manuscript,
sence of the bourgeois concept of the "wage minimum" which of labour as a commodity. He gave a clear-cut definition
considered labour cost as a certain invariable value which of the two elements constituting the cost of this commo-
did not depend on the stage of historic development. The dity: "the purely physical" element. equalling the sub-
very definition of this cost as a fixed value. even in sistence minimum for the reproduction and preservation of
the camouflaged form of a wage minimum. was essential for the work force and representing its lowest limit'; and
determining surplus-value as a surplus Qf value
created by "the historic and social" element determined by the cul-
the worker over and above the cost of his labour. A fix-. tural level. traditional standards of living. conditions
ed wage minimum was also necessary to demonstrate that of the working class in a given country at a given histo-
raising it did not lead to an increase in the cost of com- rical period as well as by its social gains and other so-
modities but only decreased the rate of profit received cial factors. A capitalist. constantly striving for ma-
by the capitalists. ximum profits. also tri~s to lower the cost of labour
(wages as its price) to the physical minimum.
Establishing this fact was Ricardo's major scientific
achievement but only Marx substantiated it theoretically. The same situation is true as regards the length of
By developing the theory of average profit and production the work-day. "Its ultimate limit is given by the phy-
price he demonstrated that the exceptions. which Ricardo sica,l force of the labouring man" (K. Marx and F. Engels.
cited from the relationship he himself established. are Selected Works. Vol. 2. Moscow. 1969. p. 71). It is the
misleading because they concern production prices only. physical limit of the work-day that the capitalist tries
taking no account of the cost of commodities. Marx also to realise. Its social limit is determined in the same
way as the social level of the cost of labour. The real
demonstrated (K. Marx. Theories of Surplus-Value. Moscow.,
1978. p. 333) that raising wages by changing the rate of level of wages and the real duration of the work-day-are
surplus-value only causes compensative deviations in pro- established in the course of the constant struggle be-
duction prices and commodity cost; these deviations re- tween the working class and the class of capitalists.
present the regular functioning of the' capitalist price- Marx summed it up stating:' "The matter resolveS' itself
forming mechanism. into a question of the respective powers of the comba-
tants" (Ibid.. p. 73).
Therefore it was theoretically proven that there was
no substantiation to the prejudice. widespread in bour- Consequently this struggle is nece~sary. But it is
geois science. that an increase in wages led to higher also possible as a consequence of the objective differ-
commodity prices. This dogma originated in Adam Smith's ence. existing between the physical and social elements
theory which considered wages as one of the contributing of labour cost. 'The aforementioned elements can be in-
elem~nts to commodity cost. Following Smith and Ricardo. terpreted as qualitative aspects of the dual nature of
"this blunder;'Marx noted. "has survived as an important labour cost. whereas the dif~ereices between its indivi-
dog~ ':In<\.11'subsequent political economy" (Ibid.... 'dual and social costs considered above represent its, quan-
p., 334). This erroneous concept produced the erroneous titative as~ects.
conclusion that labour" s struggle for higher wages was
.Let us return to the 1861-1863 manuscript. Of great
hopeless because the capitalist would compensate his loss-
importance for substantiating the urgency of the working
class struggle for better economic conditions and bargain-
36
37.
ing terms in selling its labour to the class of capital-
ists was the theory, elaborated here for the first time,
on the formal and real subordination of labour to capital
which is in correspondence with absolute and relative
surplus' value. Though formal subordination of labour to
capital, "its placement under the control of capital"
(K. Marx, F. Engels, Gesamtausgabe, MEGA, Sec. II,
Vol. 3~ Ch. 1, p. 83) occurs historically prior to real
ers by themselves cannot wring out from the predatory
claws of capital the free time necessary to their physi-
cal existence (Ibid., Ch. 6, p. 2091).
.
In this connection Marx analyses the struggle of
the working class which led to the adoption of laws, fix-
ing the limit of the work-day not only in England but
also on the European continent: in France, Prussia and
Austria. .

subordinatio~ implying the establishment of a specifical-

ly capitalist mode of production, its development on its Though factory laws were often shelved, Marx none-
own basis, it is preserved fully at the stage of develop- theless drew attention to the extremely favourable influ-
ed capitalism too, the same as its product--absolute sur- ence which--as demonstrated by statistical data--the said
plus-value. Consequently, 'the antagonism stems from th~ process (reduction of working hours) exerted on improve-
very existence of surplus labour under capitalism. ment of physical, moral and intellectual conditions of
the working class in England (Ibid., p. 1910). 'In 1864
Citing a great number of examples Marx exposed the he gave special stress to this factor in his draft of the
intrinsic capitalist tendency towards the limitless in-
Inaugural Address of the Working Men's International As-
crease of surplus labour and drew a horrifying picture sociation.
of capitalist exploitation. Exhaustive work leads to
reduced normal functioning of the labour force~ to de- Working class,..resistance imposes certain limitations
strqying its cost and, consequently, to disrupting normal on the growth of absolute surplus-value through prolong-
conditions for its sale. ing the work-day. The class of capitalists tries to '

overcome these limitations by developing pro~uctive for-.

Marx particularly mentions artificial reduction of
ces, increasing labour productivity thereby giving the
the cost of labour by worsening the quality and quantity capitalist an opportunity to turn a part of previously
of the worker's means of livelihood. Withal, he remarks necessary labour into surplus labour, i.e. increasere-
that he did not go into this and similar cases, involving lative surplus-value. Furthermore the worker's basic
reduction in the cost of labour (for example, through em- means of livelihood may even be expande~ though their to-
ployment of minors or'reduction in training costs). "Thus tal cost decreases. Marx notes that a likely improvement
we," writes Marx, "provide capital with an opportunity of in living conditions of the worker does not change any-
fair play, considering as non-existent its greatest abo- thing in the nature and law of relative surplus-value,
minations" (Ibid.,' p. 41). The underlying principled ap- it does not change anything because as a result of in-
proach which Marx used throughout-his economic studies is
creasing labour productivity capital appropriates an ever
that the explanation of capitalist exploitation stems greater part of the work-day. The above demonstrates
from the very essence of production relations in bourge- the sheer absurdity of attempts to refute this law by se-
ois society.
lected statistical data, allegedly proving that the work-
Thus, as Marx demonstrated, capitalist society is di- er's material situation in a given place has improved
rectly interested in excessive exploitation of the work- from higher labour productivity (Ibid., Ch. 1, p. 226).
ing class and only its organised resistance can prevent The basic features of working class' conditions
capital from realising its exorbitant demands. It is im- in bourgeois society, formulated in this important state-
possible to curb these demands by scattered worker ef- ment, have nothing in common with the mediocre schema of
forts, it requires the resistance of the entire working the steady automatic process of worsening labour condi-
class. Marx wrote that, if they as a class do not act on tions under capitalism, which his critics from time to
the state and through the state on the capital, the work- time ascribe to Marx. The real meaning of the Marxian

38 39
concept is in the fact that under capitalism

between more or less spending for a livlihood"

the worker
always works only for his living; the difference is only
(Ibid.,
p. 103) while the spending is limited by the amount of
r - and his co"partne,," -~nd "rednee, that part of the gross
product which is raised to pay wages"; as a result "quan-
tity and number of the classes which live on worker's
surp1,us labour are increased". Thirdly, "since the con-
necessary labour. ditions of labour confront the individual worker in an
ever more gigantic form and increasingly as social forc-
In the 1861-1863 manuscript Marx thoroughly analysed
es, the chance of his taking possession of them himself
for the first time the three consecutive stages for rais-
as is the case in small-scale industry, disappears"
ing labour productivity under the capitalist mode of pro-
(K. Marx, Theories of Surpl-us-Value, Part 3, Moscow,
duction: cooperation, division of labour and machinery
1978, pp. 352-353).
which at the same time represent &tages in the develop-
ment of real subordination of labour to capital and in- Marx here condensed his conclusions from analysing
tensified capitalist exploitation. working class conditions under capitalism, having espe-
cially underlined the qualitative aspect of the problem
Marx traced in detail the effect of machine produc-
related to the sum total of working class conditions in
tion on the situation of the working class, he identifi-
capitalist society.
ed the tendency of replacing qualified labour with simple
labour, towards longer working hours, in particular, by In the 1863-1865 manuscript, the third draft version
"speeding up labour", intensifying it, creating nervous of Capital, Marx continued to study how formal and real
and physical strain. Marx notes that the fight for subordination of labour to capital influenced the condi-
shorter hours, which culminated' in a legally established tions of workers. He demonstrated that along with the
10-hour work-day brought about a wave of improvements intensification of exploitation there is a social growth
aimed at intensifying labour. The revolution in indust- of the working class. Even under the conditions of for-
rial production, indicated Marx, was the result compelled mal subordination "capitali'st relationship seems to be ...
by the legally permitted limit of exploitation (Ibid., , a step up to a still higher social stage" (AY'khiv MaY'kBa
pp. 1907-1908). Consequently, profits of British factory i Engel-sa, Vol. II(VII), Moscow, 1933, p. 116. K. Marx.
owners did not diminish. However, increasing labour in- Erstes Buch. Del'Produktionsprozess des Kapitals. Seehstes
tensity has its objective limitations, dictating further Kapital. Resultate'des unmittelbaren Produktionsprozesses.
reduction of the work-day. (Unveroffentliches Manuskript zum I. Band des "Kapital")).
Marx substantiated this important tenet in the following
Replacement of living labour, a relative reduction way.
of the number of workers, accompanied by absolute growth
and formation of a redundant labour force are the object- First of all, as regards individual workers wage
ive results of capitalist use of machines. There is al- fl~ctuations with respect to the cost of labour are in
so a converse tendency towards steadily drawing in new principle possible and indeed take place. It creates,
workers and increasing exploitation. Therefore, empha- as Marx indicated, "a vast arena (within narrow limits)
sised Marx, permanent fluctuations in the worker's exis- for worker's individuality, encourages development of the
tence are typical of capitalism (Ibid., p. 2057). labour force and provides him with a certain opportunity
to advance into higher spheres of labour by virtue of
Marx formulates the three-fold influence of the pro- special energy talent , 'etc." (K. Marx, F. Engel s, Gesam-
cess of capitalist accumulation on the condition ,of the tauBgabe (MEGA), Sec. II, Vol. 3, Ch. 1" pp. 112, 114).
working class. Firstly, "the perpetuation of the mea)1s Marx notes in this connection that the economic task of
of product~on as property alien. to him, as capital, per- trade 'unions consists ex~ressly in preventing the price
petuates his condition as wage worker. Secondly, "accu- of labour (wages) from falling below the level of its
mulation of capital... worsens his condition, relative- cost. '
lY,2 by augmenting the relative wealth of the capitalist
40 41

-
 - --..--

Special attention should be given to the tenet. ac-

cording to which when we deal with the cost of labou~ it together with the capitalist mode of production, there is
implies not the physical minimum of subsistence means,. an increase in accumulated wealth opposing the worker~ as
but that this cost comp.rises "the ~onscieIitio:us and'well- wealth dominating him, as capita~, the world of wealth ex-
known basis (demands) of trade unions whose importance pands, opposing the worker as a world alien to him and
dominating him. In contrast to this, there is the same
for the English working ~lass can hardly be exaggerated".
Marx quotes J.T. Dunning. a British trade-unionist. who increase in dire poverty and dependence. Withal. there
wrote the following in defence of the workers: "The work- is an increase in the mass of these living means of capi-
ers unite in order to be. to some extent. on a par with tal production, the working proletariat (Ibid., p. 170).
the capitalist when concluding a bargain concerning the Here we see a further approximation to the classic
sale of their labour. It is the rationale (the logical formulation of the universal law of capitalist accumula-
ground) of the trade unions" (Ibid., p. 236). Marx fur- tion giwen in Volume I of Capital. The above formulation
ther elaborated these tenets in 1865 in "Wage, Price and while preserving the qualitative aspects of the problem
Profit" . .
which we!e formulated for the first time, as was mention-
Capitalist relations, as Marx demonstrated, are pre- ed, in Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts and espe-
dicated on the total indifference of the worker to the cially in the 1861-1863 manuscript rests also on important
nature of his work: "The worker is basically predisposed quantitative relationship which was already clarified by
Marx at this stage of his research.
and ready for any change in his labour and activity...,
if it promises higher wages." Those circumstances make We mentioned 'earlier that, prior to the publication
free labour more intensive, steadier, more lively and of Volume I of C;apital. Marx read his report "Wage, Price
creative than slave labour, to say nothing of the fact and Profit" in June 1865 at;.two meetings of the 1st In-
that they make it capable of undertaking altogether dif- ternational, in which he first publicly outlined the ba-
ferent historic action (Ibid., pp. 114. 118). sis of his theory of surplus-value with respect to the
Capital's appropriation of science as the overall working class struggle.
spiritual product of social deve~opment which Marx de- First of all, Marx clarifies certain general aspects
scribed in detail is a significant' factor in the enslave- related to working class exploitation. Although wages
ment of the worker, in exhausting his labour while trans- function as the price of labour3 on the surface of pheno-
ferring to real subordination of labour. Applying science mena, they are actually merely the price of manpower
and the natural forces in large-scale social production which is less than the price of labour, the price of the
is a major instrument in exploiting labour, and this con- product it creates. Marx demonstrates the importance of'
siderably influences the fact that labour conditions act identifying the category of surplus-value in pure form.
as social forces which do~inate the individual worker and Of course, it is not the total surplus-value which the
are alien to him (Ibid., p. 156).
empl9ying capitalist pockets as industrial profit. He
The above Marxian tenet$ represent a further concre- shares it with banking and commercial capital, and with
tisation of the thesis about the transformation of science the land owner. But this issue is a secondary one for
into a direct produc'tion fbrce with the development of the the worker. ' "It is the employing capitalist who imme-
capitalist mode of production, which was advanced and sub- diaJ:ely extracts from the labourer," Marx emphasises, "this
stantiated in 1857-1863. Marx then took up antagonistic surplus value, whatever part of it he may ultimately be
contradictions connected with this process. Since capi- able to keep for himself. Upon this relation, therefore,
talist production is'also expanded reproduction of the between the employing capitalist and the wage labourer
relationship between labour and capital, therefore to the the whole wages system and the whole present system of
same extent as the social productive labour force develops
production hinge" (K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works,
Vol. 2, Moscow, 1969, p. 62).
42
43

I
~
 Marx takes a considerable step in analysing the re-
wages ... working men fulfill only a duty to themselves
and their race. They only set limits to the tyrannical
lation between wages and profit; he demonstrates that
usurpations of capital" (Ibid., p. 68). By struggling
there is. in reality. an inverse proportion between wages
for "a rise of wages corresponding to the rising inten-
and surplus-value. while the rate of profit may decrease--
sity of labour, the working man only resists the depreci-
according to its objective tendency to decrease--even
ation of his labour and deterioration of his race" (Ibid..
when the rate of surplus-value goes up; "the rate of pro-
p. 69).
fit;' Marx indicates. "thus falls. ... not because the
worker js less exploited. but because he is more exploit- Thus the struggle of the working class for higher
ed" (K. Marx. Theories of su:rri?Zus-VaZue, Part 2, Moscow, wages and shorter working hours is directly dictated by
1968. p. 439). economic necessity; it flows directly from the general
tendency of capital to reduce the cost of labour to its
Further on Marx deals with more specific problems.
physical limit or still lower.
In analysing the cost of labour he demonstrates that
it is different in various branches of industry. Marx II
comes to the immediate practical conclusion: "The cry for
an equality of wages rests, therefore, upon a mistake. is His economic studies of the late 1850s and mid-1860s
an insane wish never to be fulfilled What you think prepared Marx for delving into the problems of the strike
just or equitable is out of the question. The question movement during the years of the 1st International (1864-
is: What is necessary and unavoidable with a given system ,1872).
of production?" (K. Marx and F. Engels. SeZeated Works,
The precept which defined the most urgent task of the
Vol. 2, Moscow, 1969, pp. 56.67).
International Marx formulated in the General Rules of the
In the report under review Marx thoroughly analyses, Association: "The success of the working men's movement
"in all seriousness" the most important instances of the in each country cannot be secured but by the power of
workers' fight for higher wages or against cuts in wages. union and combination" (Ibid.. p. 21). Proceeding from
He notes that if in case of an increase in the cost of this task, Marx elaborated the tactics of the workers'
labour caused, for example, by a rise in the'cost of liv- movement, predicated on the implementation of this, pro-
ing or monetary devaluation the worker must fight for a gramme thesis. He started by substantiating the need for
corresponding increase in the wages. then in case of a achieving unity of action in the strike struggle. He be-
decrease in the above costs, due to a general growth of lieved that such tactics would be best of all understood
labour productivity. he must resist a decrease in wages by the workers, regardless of their theoretical develop-
because in the latter case the worker "would only try to ment, it would be easily ~ssimilated by them because it
get some share in the increased productive powers of his was consonant with their vital interests.5
own labour.4 and to maintain his former relative posi-
tion in the social scale" (Ibid., p. 66). Marx sought to use the spontaneous upsurge in the
workers' economic struggle of the 1860s in order to put
Marx deals with the question of the work-d~y'length into effect these tactics, as he well understood that it
and !o~ulates the dual tendency of capital: towards might become a prelude to the ftevelopment of the class
longer working hours and higher labo~r intensity;'henc~ struggle. and its transition into an independent politi-
he arrives at the conclusion that "in their at,tempts at cal movement of the working class. The very first steps
reducing the working day to its former rational dimen- in unifying the strike actions of the workers demonstrat-
sions, or. where they cannot enforce a legal fixation of ed his remarkable ability to identify the most burning
a normal working day. at checking overwork by a rise of task of the working class which matured in the course of
its struggle.

44 45
 On Marx's initiative on April 25, 1865 a m f revo- nationalMarx was confrontedby the need to bring home
lutionary tradition emerged in the internationa:" ..')rkers' to the foremost workers the theoretical rationale of the
movement which has continued into our day. At the meet- strike struggle. This was because of the underestimation
ing of the General Council Marx read the appeal of Berlin of this form of struggle or even direct rejection of it
printing workers, requesting help for striking printers within the General Council itself and in the labour move-
in Leipzig because there were plans to bring in workers ment in a number of countries. It concerned representa-
from England to disrupt the strike.6 tives of various trends involved in the Association, in
The ~eneral Council's warning against the hire of particular the Proudhonists, Lassallians and BakuniITists.
strike-breakers was published in a number of British news- By rejecting labour's organised economic struggle they
papers. From that day the General Council began its tried to prove that it was useless or even basically har~
steady daily efforts to organise international aid to the ful.
striking workers of England, France, Germany, Belgium, While debating in his report "Wage, Price and Pro-
Denmark, and Switzerland. The General Council's action, fit"7 with tHe Owenist Weston, a Council member, Marx re-
to which Marx devoted special attention, bore fruit by vealed the historical regularity of the proletariat's or-
the mid-1860s.
ganised economic struggle against the capitalist yoke and
Under Marx's guidance the General Council fostered demonstrated its place in the general liberation movement
of the working class. His arguments refuted the conside-
awareness and organisation in the strike movement, conso-
rations of Proudhonists and Lassallians and proved the
lidating the feeling of class solidarity and proletarian
internationalism. The correctness of the tactics Marx historical regularity of the strike movement which came
from the hired labour system itself.
suggested was confirmed by the tremendous moral impact:
each strike backed by the International brought an influx Marx showed that rejection of the strike struggle
of workers into the International Workingmen's Associ- by Proudhonists and Lassallians was the same as refusal
ation, trade unions increased their membership and new by the workers to oppose the capitalists. The fight for
ones appeared. Marx noted in the General Council Report higher wages, he said, is the answer to capital's steadi-
to the Basel Congress (1869) that even unsuccessful ly mountLng attack against the working class. The gene-
strikes were to a large extent compensated by the fact ral tendency of capitalist production itself leads to low-
that hundreds of new participants were attracted to the er wages. Daily clashes with capital signify that the work-
"revolutionary army of labour" and thousandsof proleta- ers are fighting for their own existence. Strikes are
rians were awakened from their slumber. an effective form of pressure on the given capitalist and
Marx.and Engels constantly called on the workers to his ruling class backers. If the working class gives up
make use of the strike struggle. On more than one occa- its struggle against the inroads of capital and ceases its
sion Marx indicated that strikes taught the worker to see attempts to use every available chance for even a tempora-
that his enemy was not an individual industrialist but ry improvement of its condition, it will degenerate into
a mass of destitute people.
the entire ruling class whose interests were represented
by the bourgeois state. As far back as 1854 he wrote in At the same time Marx drew attention to the exagge-
connection with the Preston strike: "the working classes ration of the end results of the strike struggle which
will now understand that the individual capitalist who existed among British trade-unionists. It is necessary
opposes them is backed by the whole machinery of the to remember, he said, that in this struggle the working
state and that in order to hit the former they must deal class is "fighting with effects, but not with the causes
with the latter" (K. Marx, F. Engels, Gesamtausgabe of those effects" (K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works,
(MEGA), Sec. I, Vol. 13, Berlin, 1985, p. 172). Vol. 2, Moscow, 1969, p. 75).
From the very first days of existence of the Inter- At the first Congress of the International
held at
46 47
 Geneva in 1866 "Instruction" ("Instruction for the Dele-
the importance of organised economic struggle.
gates of the Provisional General Council. The Different
Questions", ibid., pp. 77-85) written by Marx was read, On the basis, of preceding studies, Marx substantiat-
which outlined the platform for the economic struggle of ed in detail in V01ume I of CapitaZ (1867) the workers'
the proletariat. It included, Marx wrote to Engels, only struggle for a reasonable working-day. Backed by his dis-
those points "which allow of immediate and concerted ac- tinction between constant and changing capital, he demon-
tion by 'the workers, and give direct nouri~hment and im- strated the complete inconsistency of the bourgeois econo-
petus to the' requirements of the class struggle and the mic dogma according to which profit represented the result
organisation
p. 417). of the workers into a class" (Ibid., of the last hour (or hours) of the worker's labour, the
so-called Senior's last hour. Marx notes that shorter
hours do indeed lower the rate of surplus-value but that
In section 2 of "Instruction" entitled "Internation-
is a long way from destroying profit.9
al Combination of Efforts, by the Agency of the Associ-
ation in the Struggle between Labour and Capital" atten- Marx demonstrated, further, that in principle it is
, tion was drawn to the particular function of the Interna- impossible to fix precisely the length of the work-day.
tional "to counteract the intrigues of capitalists always Its minimum limit is clear: it is determined by the ne-
ready, in case of strikes and lockouts, to misuse the fo- cessary working time. But its maximum 1imit--in accord-
reign workman as a tool against the native workman..." ance with the dual nature of labour cost considered above
(Ibid., p. 78). This task was substantiated by the fol- --is predicated on two factors: the physical limit of la-
lowing argument: "It is one of the great purposes of the bour as well as by moral 1imits--the worker requires time
Association to make the workmen of different countries for his intellectual and social needs, the amount of which
not only feel but act as brethren and comrades in the is determined by the general state of culture. It is this
army of emancipation" (Ibidem).
duality in determining the ultimate limit of the work-day
that makes it impossible to determine precisely its value:
The "Instruction "-was read at the Congress as the
it fluctuates between its physical maximum and social op-
General Council Report and intensive debate followed.
timum (in the same measure as it is possible to speak of
Marx's supporters defended its tenets, particularly on optimal limits of the work-day within the framework of
strikes. The Geneva Congress Resolution included all the
the capitalist mode of production) just like market prices
provisions of the Marxian "Instruction". The Congress
fluctuate around cost. The laws of commodity exchange
outlined the prospects for advancing the workers' move-
sanction either of the two values: the right of the worker
ment, the urgency of cOmbining the economic and political as seller of labour to demand a price equivalent. to the
struggle and the immense importance of such a labour wea-
cost of his commodity (social optimum) and the right of
pon as strikes. Life demonstrated how right Marx was
the capitalist as buyer to use the purchased commodity to
when he noted that all the main points of the programme the utmost (physical maximum). Marx theoretically sub-
reflected the genuine interests of the workers.
stantiated the urgency of constant class struggle for
~rxian ideas also triumphed during the discussions shorter hours. It was based on a vast body of factual
material.
on strikes at the Lausanne (1867) and Brussels (1868)
Congresses. Both refuted Proudhonist allegations to the
A part of the section concerning the limits of the
effect that strikes are a useless, barbarian instrument work-day in Volume I of CapitaZ is written in the form
which allegedly ran counter to the interests of the work-
of a polemic dialogue between the worker and the capital-
ers. The resolution of the Brussels Congress recorded
ist, here Marx stressed that "during the great strike'of
the Marxian point of view: strikes are an indispensable the London builders, 1860-1861, for the reduction of the
means of struggle against the capitalist yoke.8 By the work-day to 9 hours, their Committee published a mani-
end of the 1860s'the working class as a whole rea1ised
festo th~t contained, to 'some extent, the plea of our
48
49
 In conclusion Marx formulates and thoroughly sub-
worker" (K. Marx~ Capital, Vol. 1, Moscow, 1969, p. 225). stantiates "the absolute general law of capitalist a~cu-
Later, already after the publication of volume I the New
mulation", reflecting the tendency to worsen working class
York and London sections of the 1st International printed
conditions and,withal, a rise in the class struggle and
the dialogue in leaflet form. awareness of the workers as capital accumulates (Ibid.,
In analysing the g~neral formula of capital circula- pp. 602-604,611). Though Marx calls this law "absolute",
tion (C-M-C) Marx came to the conclusion that "the circu- he immediately lists numerous circumstances, capable of
lation of capital has therefore no limits" (Ib id. , modifying its coming into effect, especially working class
p. 150): In the sphere of exploitation it manifests it- resistance. We have witn~ssed that this law is the result
self in the insatiable craving for surplus-labour, the of the generalisation of lengthy studies which date as far
capitalist drive to prolong hours without end. This ob- back as the Economic and Philosophic Manusc:r>ipts of 1844.
jective tendency of capitalist production prema- Both in this final formulation and in all the previous
turely wears out and destroys the labour force and tears ones, Marx underscores the qualitative aspect of deteri-
up by the roots "the living force of the nation" (Ibid., oratin~working class conditions, having no bearing on the
p. 229, 253). Marx demonstrated that, using the vast do- wage level.
cumentary material of the Blue Books, officially publish-
Marx's general conclusion is a logical consequence
ed by the British Parliament. of the sum total of his economic studies: capitalist ex-
Only after the laws regulating the length of the ploitation increases, "but with this too grows the revolt
work-day, which "were the result of a long struggle of of the working class, a class always increasing in num-
classes" (Ibid., p. 268), took firm roots in major branch- bers, and disciplined, united, organised by the very me-
es of industry "their wonderful development ...
hand-in- chanism of the process of capitalist production itself"
hand with the physical and moral regeneration of the fac- (Ibid., p. 715). The struggle for higher wages and shor-
tory workers struck the most purblind" (Ibid., p. 279). ter hours is an integral component of this objective pro-
cess and, in this sense, plays the full-fledged role of
Marx draws the general conclusion that the workers'
a political and economic factor, an economic forc~ which
movement "had grown instinctively out of the conditions
develops in the bowels of the capitalist mode of produc-
. of production themselves" (Ibi.,d., p. 285). Its result-- tion and precipitates the inevitable expropriation of ex-
the legal shortening of hours--marks an important stage
propriators.
on the road towards revolutionary transformation of bour-
geois society. Marx focused attention on the tendency NOTES
to transform factory legislation into a general law of
all social production because by accelerating the concen- K. Marx considers the case when increased labour pro-
tration of capital and replacing transient forms by un-
ductivity has not yet become general for the given
masked domination of capital "it also' generalises the di-
b~anch of production, as a result, the capitalist sells
rect opposition to this sway" (Ibid., p. 472). the product as if the manufacture of this product ne-
Limiting by law the length of the work-day is also, cessitated more working time than was actually the case.
as Marx demonstrated, a real way to combat partial employ- If the necessary' working time was equal to 1Q hours,
ment. It destroys the telation,between paid and unpaid and surplus time was equal to 2 hours, then after th~
labour, its regularity and leads to alternating periods increase of individual labour productivity by a quarter
of exhausting labour and total unemployment. In this con- the necessaryworking time would be 10 x 3/4 = 7 1/2
nection Marx analyses the demands of London builders dur- hours, whereas the surplus time would be 2 x 3/4 =
ing the great strike of 1860 which were aimed at opposing 1 1/2 hours, and the work-day could have been reduced
the tendency of capital to pay less for work by employing from 12 to 9 hours, provided the rate of exploitation
more people or, conversely, by prolonging the work-day. remainedunchanged at 20 per cent. However. the cap i-
50 51
 ta1ist acts otherwise. Marx notes that the capitalist
continues to make the workers toil 12 hours. paying for
Proletariat",Novaya i noveishaya istoria, 1964. No.5,
pp. 19-20.
7 1/2 hours of the necessary working time. and there-
fore pocketing 4 1/2 hours (K. Marx. F. Engels, Gesam- 6 Printers of Berlin asked for an appeal to the IWA and
tausgabe (MEGA), Sec. II. Vol. ,3, Ch. 1, p. 216). The in particular the printers of London "to support the
rate of exploitation in this case triples from 20 to struggle of their Leipzig class brothers".
60 per cent. Marx stresses the general nature of this
7 A brief characteristic of the theoretical content of
consideration. independent of whether subsistence means
this important work of Marxism was given above. Now
consumed by the worker are produced at the given enter-
it is necessary to dwell on how theoretical tenets, con-
prise or not.
cerning organised struggle of the working class. were
2 We have noted that in the Economic and Philosophic Ma- used by Marx to determine the practical tasks'of the
nuscripts of 1844 Marx was already interested in the re- workers' movement.
lative deterioration of working class conditions. Here
8 "Troisieme congres de l'Association Internationa1e des
he"reso1ves this problem. relying on his discovery of
Travailleurs. Compte rendue officie1", Supplement au
the tendency indicating the growth of organic composi-
journal Le Peuple Belge, September 6-30, 1868. Brus-
tion of capital during the process of capitalist pro-
sels. p. 17.
duction and consequent alienation and controversy be-
tween labour and capital. One of its manifestations is 9 Marx pays attention to the fact that. having become con-
a steady relative overpopulation as a result of capi- vinced of the falseness of the dogma he professed, Seni-
talist use of machines. Marx. in speaking of the mass or "at a later period ...
energetically supported the
of "semi-employed or completely unemployed ... for ever factory legislation" (K. Marx, Capital, Vol. 1. Moscow,
crawling around at the bottom" of bourgeois society. 1969. p. 220). The point is that "actual experience"
points out the relative diminishing of this fund "from quite eloquently testified against the said dogma. Marx
which the workers draw their revenue ... in proportion cites a factory report of May 31. 1855 which said: "Had
to their total output". But in absolute terms, wage the ... ingenious calculation ro~deby Senior been cor-
labour is increasirigits proportions and there occurs rect. every cotton factory in the United Kingdom would
"the perpetuation of wage-slavery through the applica- have been working at a loss since the year 1850" (Ibid..
tion of machinery" .(K.Marx, Theories of Surplus-Value. p. 219). It is also necessary to note that Marx sub-
Part 2. Moscow. 1968. pp. 260,566,573).' jected Senior's conception to criticism for the first
3 It so happens because 1) the worker gets his wages
time in his 1861-1863 manuscript (see: K. Marx.F. En-
after completing his work; 2) he really gives his labour
gels. Gesamtausgabe (MEGA), Sec. II, Vol. 3, Ch. 1.
to the capitalist as use-value of labour as a commodity.
pp. 157-158; 175-180; 305-306).
Therefore, though the capitalist pays only for a part
of the worker's labour, even unpaid labour is shown as
paid labour.

4.we have earlier described a similar worker's right to

a part of the difference between the social and indi-
vidual cost of the product created by him, between the
grow~ng individual cost of his labour and its social
cost which remained unchanged.

5 See A.1. Bakh, "Struggle of Marx and Engels in the 1st

International for the Unity of Action of International

52
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USSR ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
INSTITUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORKING-CLASS MOVEMENT

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Tha "International Worl~ing-ClassMovement",
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"Social Sciences Todav" Editorial Board

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