Wage labour is the mode of production where the worker sells their labour power as a commodity. A wage labourer is a person whose primary means of income is to sell their labour-power. Informally, it is sometimes used to mean "the labour done for an employer in exchange for a wage".
This creates a special socio-economic relationship between an employer and an employee, which in turn creates a labour market[1], in which the worker sells their labour power and the employer buys it . This relationship is said to be unique to capitalism.
Usage
This concept is most often used by anti-capitalists, including socialists and most anarchists, to describe and attack capitalism. They see wage labour as a major, if not defining,[1] aspect of capitalism.
Anti-capitalists argue that under this system, exploitation occurs. The employer who buys this labour power, owns the labour process and can sell the products to make profit. On the other hand, the worker sells their creative energy and their liberty for a given period, and are alienated from their own labour, as well as its products.
Wage labour is often compared to slavery (see wage slavery). For example, Karl Marx said "The slave, together with his labour-power, was sold to his owner once for all... The [wage] labourer, on the other hand, sells his very self, and that by fractions... He [belongs] to the capitalist class; and it is for him... to find a buyer in this capitalist class."
Notes
- ^ McKay, Iain; Elkin, Gary; Neal, Dave et al Appendix 1.1.3 - Was Proudhon a socialist or a capitalist? "An Anarchist FAQ" Version 11.4 Accessed March 2006
References
See also
External links
- Wage Labour and Capital - Karl Marx, 1847
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