The Post-Industrial , Post-Modern Theory of Value and Surplus-Value : ( Deconstructing the Marxist Fetishism of Scientifically Quantifiable Value and Labor-Power )
© Michel Luc Bellemare Ph . d . I
The nexus of Karl Marx ’ s whole modern rational theory of value , i . e . the law of value , is predicated on the assumption that “ labor-power constantly creates value and surplus-value as long as it continues to function ”[ 1 ], once embedded within the capitalist production process , according to the parameters set by what is socially necessary , namely , the average social labor-time and working conditions of a specific sphere of production . Only labor that is stationed in the organizational process of production , working for capital under the limits of what is deemed socially necessary by a particular industrial branch , is value creating . As Marx states “ labor-power counts as … value , but in the production process it [ is ] the creator of value ”[ 2 ]. What this means is that labor-power is solely considered productive hardwired in production , functioning according to what is the average social necessity , concerning appropriate labor-time , for a particular sphere of production . For Marx , outside of production , labor is unproductive . It is imperative , according to Marx , that labor be immersed in capitalist production , regulated by the parameters of social necessity , i . e ., socially determined necessary labor-time , in order to be productive . Socially necessary labor-time is the regulative mechanism that disciplines and regiments labor according to the acceptable social parameters derived from both public necessity and industry standards .
Ultimately , within Marx ’ s modern rational theory of value , i . e ., the law of value , labor-power is the source of all value , both value and surplus value . For Marx , value is something quantifiable , objective and finite , it can be scientifically measured in units and / or segments of time , namely “ value … is labortime ”[ 3 ]; its magnitude is measured “ by means of the quantity of value forming substance , the labor , [ it ] contains ; [ it is ]… labor-time … measured on the scale of … hours , days etc .”[ 4 ] As a result , value is , according to Marx , “ the expenditure of identical human labor-power ”[ 5 ] over an identical period of time . In this regard , “ each unit [ of labor-power ] is the same as any other , to the extent that it has the character of a socially average unit of labor-power and acts as such ”[ 6 ], value is identical units of labor-power expended over specific periods or segments of time . Consequently , from the Marxist perspective , value is something definite and scientifically quantifiable , it is something that can be scientifically measured in the sense that we can measure the exact labor-time socially necessary to manufacture a particular commodity . And for Marx , this scientifically measured labor-time , embodied in a commodity , is the basis of value , i . e . it is value itself . And being true to the scientific method , for Marx , value , which cannot be neatly translated into quantifiable labor-time , i . e . exact temporal units of labor-power , or specifically , a scientifically determined socially necessary labor-time , which governs a specific economic branch , is in the end not-value , it is unproductive . Marx ’ s whole rational edifice of capital outlined in the rational theory of value , i . e . the law of value , laid-out in his three volumes , is grounded on this notion that value is scientifically quantifiable labor-time and nothing else .
However , value is non-material , it is incorporeal , it is always something that is mediated by something else , i . e . a commodity , money , labor , price etc . which serve the purpose , according to Marx , of representing and expressing value , “ value … is expressed by an imaginary quantity of the money commodity ”[ 7 ]. Value is quantifiable and is visibly equated in monetary terms . For Marx , what commodities , money and workers represent is scientifically quantifiable exact measurements of laborpower , that is , quantifiable labor-time , which is as well simultaneously value , that is , labor-power = labortime = value , when embedded in production and conforming to parameters of socially necessary labor-