Labour Power

Labour Power PDF Author: Roberto Ciccarelli
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030708624
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
This book offers a critical account of Karl Marx’s dazzling theory of labour power which is also one of the most influential concepts in the history of contemporary philosophy. Labour power is the dark side of the digital revolution. Working men and women are invisible and treated like human service, flesh and blood automatons or organic extensions of a machine that produces data on its own. Automation is viewed as something magic made possible by algorithms whose life is independent of human beings. Labour power, however, has not disappeared. Without drivers, Uber cannot connect customers on its platform; without searches on its browser, Google grinds to a halt; without us, Facebook or Instagram is desert. Labour power is the dwarf hidden inside the puppet of technology that allows algorithms to be intelligent and make the biggest profits in the history of capitalism. The invisible centrality of labour power is the political enigma of our times. Today a new account of the theory of labour power is needed more than ever in order to understand the political economy of digital capitalism on new grounds. Unlike a long tradition in the history of work, labour power is not only the work or the data it produces, but a potency that does not coincide with its current commodification. The actuality of labour power does not exhaust the virtuality that can be actualised by its faculty. Even when reduced to a commodity, labour power does not exhaust the potency of its being otherwise. Immersed in the constant propaganda that boosts the latest technological inventions, we neglect the fact that this wealth is produced by us and that it could be ours precisely because it is a part of our potential to be other than what we are at present. This book is a vibrant invitation to consider the fact that we are always connected with the potency that is constantly at work in our life. If this were not the case, we would not be alive. If we do not strive to become consciously and collectively active, we will never know.

Labour Power

Labour Power PDF Author: Roberto Ciccarelli
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030708624
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 180

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers a critical account of Karl Marx’s dazzling theory of labour power which is also one of the most influential concepts in the history of contemporary philosophy. Labour power is the dark side of the digital revolution. Working men and women are invisible and treated like human service, flesh and blood automatons or organic extensions of a machine that produces data on its own. Automation is viewed as something magic made possible by algorithms whose life is independent of human beings. Labour power, however, has not disappeared. Without drivers, Uber cannot connect customers on its platform; without searches on its browser, Google grinds to a halt; without us, Facebook or Instagram is desert. Labour power is the dwarf hidden inside the puppet of technology that allows algorithms to be intelligent and make the biggest profits in the history of capitalism. The invisible centrality of labour power is the political enigma of our times. Today a new account of the theory of labour power is needed more than ever in order to understand the political economy of digital capitalism on new grounds. Unlike a long tradition in the history of work, labour power is not only the work or the data it produces, but a potency that does not coincide with its current commodification. The actuality of labour power does not exhaust the virtuality that can be actualised by its faculty. Even when reduced to a commodity, labour power does not exhaust the potency of its being otherwise. Immersed in the constant propaganda that boosts the latest technological inventions, we neglect the fact that this wealth is produced by us and that it could be ours precisely because it is a part of our potential to be other than what we are at present. This book is a vibrant invitation to consider the fact that we are always connected with the potency that is constantly at work in our life. If this were not the case, we would not be alive. If we do not strive to become consciously and collectively active, we will never know.

Female Labour Power

Female Labour Power PDF Author: Janet Greenlees
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 9780754640509
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
The cotton industry was the first large-scale factory system to emerge during the industrial revolution, and as such there were no set business practices for employers or employees to follow in the organisation of the shop floor. In this book, Janet Greenlees argues that this situation provided workers in both Britain and the United States with a unique opportunity to influence decisions about work patterns and conditions of labour, and to set the precedent for industries that were to follow. Furthermore, data relating to the mass employment of women in the cotton industries, is used to challenge many of the tacit assumptions of women's passivity as workers that pervade the current literature.

The Attention Economy

The Attention Economy PDF Author: Claudio Celis Bueno
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1783488255
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
The attention economy is a notion that explains the growing value of human attention in societies characterised by post-industrial modes of production. In a world in which information and knowledge become central to the valorisation process of capital, human attention becomes a scarce and hence increasingly valuable commodity. To what degree is the attention economy a specific form of capitalist production? How does the attention economy differ from the industrial mode of production in which Marx developed his critique of capitalism? How can Marx’s theory be used today despite the historical differences that separate industrial from post-industrial capitalism? The Attention Economy argues that human attention is a new form of labour that can only be understood through a systematic reinterpretation of Marx. It argues that the attention economy belongs to a general shift in capitalism in which subjectivity itself becomes the territory of production and exploitation of value as well as the territory of the reproduction of capitalist power relations.

Labor's Lot

Labor's Lot PDF Author: Elizabeth A. Povinelli
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226676749
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Analysis of the role of labour in every day activities and its influence on the construction of identity among the Belyuen Aborigines, Cox Peninsula, NT; Western definitions of labour; Aboriginal relationship to land and land ownership; concepts of knowledge and the role of story; negotiation of the land claim process - Kenbi land Claim; representation of pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial Aboriginality in the Darwin region - Laragiya and Wagaitj; Aboriginal women's use and narratives of the past; interpretation of mythic labour and contemporary actions - spirit children, totems; activities affecting the mythic landscape - hunting and sweat; Belyuen economic structures; proportion of bush and store bought food in the diet; use of time; relations with the market economy - local stores, use of money; history of land use and colonial ownership in the Darwin region; contemporary Aboriginal use of the Belyuen region - settlement patterns; process of forming and maintaining cultural identity in contemporary political and economic power structures.

Wage-Labour and Capital

Wage-Labour and Capital PDF Author: Karl Marx
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434469263
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
This volume contains an English translation of Karl Marx's influential essay.

The labour movement in Lebanon

The labour movement in Lebanon PDF Author: Lea Bou Khater
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526159422
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
The labour movement in Lebanon: Power on hold narrates the history of the Lebanese labour movement from the early twentieth century to today. Bou Khater demonstrates that trade unionism in the country has largely been a failure, for reasons including state interference, tactical co-optation, and the strategic use of sectarianism by an oligarchic elite, together with the structural weakness of a service-based laissez-faire economy. Drawing on a vast body of Arabic-language primary sources and difficult-to-access archives, the book’s conclusions are significant not only for trade unionism, but also for new forms of workers’ organisations and social movements in Lebanon and beyond. The Lebanese case study presented here holds significant implications for the wider Arab world and for comparative studies of labour. This authoritative history of the labour movement in Lebanon is vital reading for scholars of trade unionism, Lebanese politics, and political economy.

Capital

Capital PDF Author: Noel Chellan
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443898090
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
The 2008 financial crisis has come to be known as the Great Crisis. Just when the world thought that, with the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Marxism would die and be buried, the Great Crisis of the first decade of the 21st century, has triggered a renewed interest in Marxism. This book looks at Marx’s seminal work – Capital, A Critique of Political Economy – from an energy perspective. By combining the thoughts of this great thinker with those of scholars on energy, both past and present, this book serves to enhance the scientific thought of Marx, by using energy as a conceptual and analytical tool. With the capitalist economy taking repeated beatings since 2008, mainstream economic science is also under critical scrutiny for the unpredictable manner in which it has thus far analysed the global capitalist system. The invisible hand and self-interest theses of Adam Smith and his adherents are proving to be unworthy of their 250 year ideological grip on mankind and the natural environment. The 500 year-old capitalist system itself is showing signs of wear and tear, and so are its sciences that have thus far attempted to analyse it, if not uphold it. With the growing acknowledgement of energy as a central entity in all of aspects of life, disciplines such as economics are giving rise to interdisciplinary sciences such as econophysics; and sociology may see a revival of its founding discipline – sociophysics. All disciplines, it seems, will have to incorporate energy as a field of study in their curricula. Marx’s thoughts in Capital are an amalgamation of science, philosophy, history, sociology, political economy, and anthropology, among others. Capital: An Energy Perspective provides a fresh look at the physical workings of the capitalist economy – by using Marx’s Capital as a framework of interpretation and analysis.

The Technology Trap

The Technology Trap PDF Author: Carl Benedikt Frey
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691210799
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
From the Industrial Revolution to the age of artificial intelligence, Carl Benedikt Frey offers a sweeping account of the history of technological progress and how it has radically shifted the distribution of economic and political power among society's members. As the author shows, the Industrial Revolution created unprecedented wealth and prosperity over the long run, but the immediate consequences of mechanization were devastating for large swaths of the population.These trends broadly mirror those in our current age of automation. But, just as the Industrial Revolution eventually brought about extraordinary benefits for society, artificial intelligence systems have the potential to do the same. Benedikt Frey demonstrates that in the midst of another technological revolution, the lessons of the past can help us to more effectively face the present. --From publisher description.

A Guide to Marxian Political Economy

A Guide to Marxian Political Economy PDF Author: Teinosuke Otani
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319659545
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 503

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Book Description
This textbook offers a comprehensive guide to the systematic structure of capitalism, while at the same time introducing readers to all three volumes of Marx’s Capital. Based on his extensive expertise on Marx’s critique of political economy, the author reveals the specific structure of production in capitalist societies and explicates what sets this system apart from other modes of production. Marx’s political economy is explained in a systematic and easy-to-understand manner, using numerous illustrative diagrams to complement the text. This textbook will appeal to all students and scholars looking for a more comprehensive, systematic and theoretical explanation of capitalism, equipping them with a solid theoretical understanding of its core structure.

The Essential Karl Marx

The Essential Karl Marx PDF Author: Karl Marx
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1899

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Book Description
The 'The Essential Karl Marx' anthology curates a striking blend of essays and excerpts, casting a wide net over the myriad intellectual pursuits of Karl Marx, with contributions from noted scholars and activists such as Florence Kelley and N.I. Stone. This collection not only captures the immense range of Marx's theoretical work, from his early philosophic musings to his later economic analyses but also complements these with insightful contemporary interpretations and critiques. The diversity in literary styles and the evolution of Marxist thought throughout the book highlight its significance in understanding not just the man, but also the profound impact of his ideas on global movements and ideologies. The contributing authors, each a significant figure in their own right, bring a rich tapestry of backgrounds to this anthology. Florence Kelley's advocacy for labor rights and N.I. Stone's contributions to economic theory and socialism contextually enrich the dialogues initiated by Marx, showcasing a dynamic engagement with his work across different epochs and sociopolitical landscapes. This anthology aligns itself with various historical and cultural movements, offering readers a panoramic view of Marxist philosophy through the prism of multiple epochs and interpretations. 'The Essential Karl Marx' beckons to those intrigued by the historical and ongoing relevance of Marxist theory, inviting them into a dialogue that transcends time and geography. Through its eclectic mix of texts and commentators, this collection provides a unique educational opportunity, allowing readers to explore the evolution, application, and critiques of Marx's ideas. It's an indispensable volume for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of one of history's most potent ideological forces and the diverse discourse it continues to inspire.