Chapter 6 — The Buying and Selling of Labour-Power
The Specific Commodity of Capitalism
Chapter 6 examines as a commodity in detail. The conditions that make a commodity are not natural but historical: the worker must be free (not a slave or serf) and separated from the means of production.
6.1 The Preconditions for Labour-Power
Two historical conditions must be met for to be sold on the market:
Condition 1: Personal freedom of the worker
The worker must be free in the double sense: - Free to sell their labour-power as a commodity - Free from ownership of the means of production (no serfdom, no slavery)
The worker owns their own person and the capacity to labour — but owns no means of production to make use of it.
Condition 2: Separation of workers from the means of production
The historical process that Marx calls primitive (Chapter 26 onwards) separates workers from the land and tools. This is not a natural state of affairs — it was produced through: - Enclosure of common land - Expulsion of peasantry - Colonial appropriation
"The so-called is nothing else than the historical process of divorcing the producer from the means of production."
6.2 The Value of Labour-Power
Like any commodity, the value of is determined by socially ">necessary labour time required to produce and reproduce it.
The worker needs: - Subsistence goods — food, clothing, shelter to maintain themselves - Replacement goods — enough to sustain a family (replacing the worker) - Skill training — if the work requires skills, the cost of training
Value of = Value of necessary means of subsistence
+ Value of goods for worker’s family
+ Cost of training/skills
The historical and moral element
Marx notes that the standard of necessity is not fixed — it varies: - By historical development of a country - By climate and natural conditions - By Class customs and expectations
6.3 The Use-Value of Labour-Power
The capitalist buys the use-value of , which is labour itself. The capitalist consumes by putting it to work — i.e., by the labour process.
The demand for labour-power
The worker must earn enough to: 1. Exist — survive day to day 2. Reproduce — sustain a family (so the working class reproduces itself)
This is why wages must cover not just the worker's subsistence but the cost of raising children — the next generation of workers.
6.4 The Class Relation
The exchange of for wages establishes a class relation, not merely a contract:
Worker: sells → receives wages
Capitalist: buys → puts worker to work → keeps the product
The worker works under the control of capital. The capitalist directs the — the worker does not own what they produce. The product belongs to the capitalist.
This is not an equal exchange of equivalents. The worker receives the value of their ; the capitalist receives the product of their labour.
Summary
| Concept | Definition |
|---|---|
| Labour-power | The capacity to labour — what the worker sells |
| Labour | The activity itself — what the capitalist buys the use of |
| Primitive accumulation | Historical process separating workers from means of production |
| Reproduction | The process by which workers sustain themselves and their families |