Service Workers in the Era of Monopoly Capital

A Marxist Analysis of Service and Retail Labour
Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-90-04-33705-3
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 202/12, 222 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 518 g

Reihe: Studies in Critical Social Sciences / New Scholarship in Political Economy

In Service Workers in the Era of Monopoly Capital, Fabian van Onzen uses Marxist theory to analyse the process by which service and retail workers are exploited by the capitalist class. His analysis takes us through the primary concepts of Marxism—surplus-value, commodity form, etc.—and demonstrates their relevance for understanding the service industry. The book reveals that service and retail workers—shop employees, cleaners, hospitality workers-- are integral to the capitalist system and have significant power to transform society if organised properly.

Van Onzen argues that the key to ending the exploitation of service workers is through the socialist transformation of society. The book contains an examination of what service work will be like under socialism and provides examples of how former socialist countries changed the nature of service labour. Service Workers in the Era of Monopoly Capital is an important addition to Marxist theory, which is still somewhat lacking in detailed accounts of the service and retail industry.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Onzen, Fabian van

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Marxismus, Kommunismus
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftssektoren & Branchen Einzel- und Großhandel
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wirtschaftssoziologie, Arbeitssoziologie, Organisationssoziologie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftssektoren & Branchen Dienstleistungssektor & Branchen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Sozialismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Figures

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Centrality of Service Work in Contemporary Capitalism

Overview of Book

Chapter 2: Historical Materialism

Method of Historical Materialism

Mode of Production & Social Formation

Historical Materialism Research

Chapter 3: Marxism, Class, and the Service Industry

Marxist Definition of Class

Two Approaches to Class Analysis

Main Classes of Capitalist Mode of Production

The Working Class

The Bourgeoisie

The Petty-Bourgeoisie

Chapter 4: Service Labour and Value Theory

Marxism, Services, Commodities

Surplus-Value and Service Workers

Surplus Value in the Service Industry

Productive and Unproductive Labour

Increased Surplus-Value

Conclusion

Chapter 5: Retail and the Circulation of Commodities

Circulation of Commodities

Circulation Time and Costs of Circulation

Production in Circulation

Consumption Time & Consumption Period

Chapter 6: Monopoly Capital and Imperialism

Marx on Commercial Capital

The Emergence of Monopoly Capital

Imperialism and Monopoly Capitalism

Imperialism and the Split in the Bourgeoisie

Dependency Theory: Centre and Periphery

Unequal Exchange

Chapter 7: Two Stages of Production and Realisation

Stage One: Production of Goods

(Stage Two: The Realisation of Surplus-Value

Possibilities for Resistance to Monopoly Capitalism

Chapter 8: A Marxist Analysis of Outsourcing

Bidvest-Noonan: A Case Study in Outsourcing

Conclusion

Chapter 9: Cleaning Workers and Surplus Value

Molly Maid: A Case Study

Conclusion

Chapter 10: Organizing Retail and Service Workers

Retail: H&M Workers in Germany

Cleaners in Struggle

Exposure Campaigns and Workers Power

Conclusion

Chapter 11: Service, Retail and Transport Under Socialism

What is Socialism?

Workers Power

Socialist Mode of Production

Socialist Planning

Food Consumption Under Socialism

Socialist Integration and Retail Labour Under Socialism

Residential Cleaning Under Socialism

Cleaning Outside the Home

Transportation Under Socialism

Conclusion

Chapter 12: Afterword

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Fabian van Onzen, Ph.D (2018, European Graduate School) is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas. His work has appeared in the Marx and Philosophy Review of Books, Monthly Review Online, and Capital and Class.