Why and how do capitalists divide labor? From Marglin and back again through Babbage and Marx

Bruno Tinel ()
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Bruno Tinel: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) from HAL

Abstract: Nearly four decades ago, Stephen Marglin explored the origins of hierarchy in capitalist production with a divide and conquer hypothesis based on the idea that the monopolisation of knowledge about production technology plays a major role in explaining how workers are deprived of control over the labour process. Nevertheless, this explanation has some shortcomings that Marx and Babbage had avoided. Those two authors provided a highly accurate and convincing interpretation of the division of labour that remains relevant. The present paper proposes a general synthesis of their analysis. Two points are emphasised: (1) the division of labour plays a major role in wage determination; and (2) the division of labour largely determines the form of subjection of labour to capital.

Date: 2013
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00763837
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Published in Review of Political Economy, 2013, 25 (2), pp.254-272. ⟨10.1080/09538259.2013.775825⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00763837

DOI: 10.1080/09538259.2013.775825

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