Labour Power and the State

Abstract

The Marxist theory of the state has developed in three main directions: the study of the relation between the bourgeoisie and the state; the study of the functioning of the state; and the study of its role in the valorisation of capital. However, it seems to us that the essential question is that of the foundation of the state under capitalism. This foundation must be sought in the wage-relation, whose reproduction is never given a priori. Hence the necessity for a study of the relation between the state and labour-power.