Centrality and Historicity of Work in Marx’s Thought: Some Reflections from a Post-Marxian Point of View

Abstract

The article explains the three dimensions of Marx’s philosophy of work: work as production, work as subjectivation, and work as integration. From this, the article defends the following thesis: while Marx allows us to shed much light on exploitation (social pathology of work as production) and alienation (social pathology of work as subjectivation), in particular in capitalism, nonetheless, he lacks an understanding of the ins and outs of emancipation as it is effectively deployed in our wage societies, far from the radicalism of his communist utopia. JEL Classification: B14, B40, B52