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We began with the assumption that labour-power is bought and sold at its value. Its
value, like that of all other commodities, is determined by the labour-time necessary to
produce it. 340 [itlicos meus]
Conceitos
Under the capitalist mode of production, however, this necessary labour can form only
a part of the working day; the working day can never be reduced to this minimum 340
Besides these purely physical limitations, the extension of the working day encounters
moral obstacles. The worker needs time in which to satisfy his intellectual and social
requirements, and the extent and the number of these requirements is conditioned by the
general level of civilization. 341
As a capitalist, he is only capital personified. His soul is the soul of capital. But
capital has one sole driving force, the drive to valorize itself, to create surplus-
value, to make its constant part, the means of production, absorb the greatest
possible amount of surplus labour. 341
The time during which the worker works is the time during which the capitalist
consumes the labour-power he has bought from him. If the worker consumes his
disposable time for himself, he robs the capitalist. 5 341.
You and I know on the market only one Iaw, that of the exchange of commodities
341-2. NOTA. Checar captulo 4, ver esfera de circulao de mercadorias.
You pay me for one day's labour-power, while you use three days of it. That is against
our contract and the law of commodity exchange. 342
The capitalist maintains his rights as a purchaser when he tries to make the working
day as long as possible, and, where possible, to make two working days out of one. On
the other hand, the peculiar nature of the commodity sold implies a limit to its
consumption by the purchaser, and the worker maintains his right as a seller when he
wishes to reduce the working day to a particular normal length. There is here therefore
an antinomy, of right against right, both equally bearing the seal of the law of exchange.
Between equal rights, force decides. Hence, in the history of capitalist production, the
establishment of a norm for the working day presents itself as a struggle over the limits
of that day, a struggle between collective capital, i.e. the class of capitalists, and
collective labour, i.e. the working class. 343
DUVIDA. Por que os dois matm seus direitos, um como comprador e outro como
vendedor? DUVIDA II. Ser que isso acontece porque est implcito que o capitalista
compra o labour-power do trabalhador apenas pelo seu valor de reposio? Creio que
sim, ainda mais lembrando que a compra do labour-power se faz na esfera da circulao
de mercadorias, mas a produo de mais-valia, em outra esfera.
RESUMO
O capitalista compra a fora de trabalho por seu valor. E o seu valor determinado pelo
tempo de trabalho necessrio para reproduz-la. Mas esse tempo necessrio, por ser
determinado tanto fisiolgica, quanto socialmente, no fixo e muda de sociedade a
sociedade.
Por sua vez, a jornada de trabalho quantidade de tempo em que o capitalista consome
a fora de trabalho que comprou, mas por isso mesmo ela varivel e tambm
determinada socialmente. Para vermos como isso funciona, vamos nos deter um pouco
em como esse mercadoria fora de trabalho adquirida.
O que acontece aps a compra o que mais nos interessa aqui. De seu lado, o capitalista
como comprador vai tentar tirar o mximo de proveito que puder da mercadoria
fora de trabalho, que comprou. Mas como essa mercadoria produz valor, o capitalista
vai tentar ao mximo us-la alm do tempo de trabalho necessrio para reproduz-la. S
isso faz sentido em uma modo de produo capitalista. Se tudo se passar assim, o que
vai acontecer que a fora de trabalho vai produzir mais valor do que o valor necessrio
para reproduz-la e o capital investido vai se (re)valorizar.
Agora que j expusemos isso, podemos dizer que: se o capitalista tenta usar ao mximo
que puder a fora de trabalho que adquiriu, ento as nicas barreiras a isso o tempo de
trabalho necessrio para reproduz-la, que determinado fisigica e socialmente. Se
parassemos aqui, j poderiamos ver que a jornada de trabalho determinada
socialmente, mas h mais.
Se o capitalista como comprador , busca tirar o mximo do proveito possivel da
mercadoria fora de trabalho, o trabalhador percebe que o valor que produz muito
maior do que o valor que o capitalista lhe paga. E ele tenta como vendedor ,
equiparar o valor de sua mercadoria ao valor que ela produz, s que isso pode sera
ajustado de duas maneiras: aumentando o valor pago pela fora de trabalho ou
diminuindo a jornada de trabalho. O trabalhador, ento, luta no somente por salrios
maiores, mas tambm para a diminiuio da sua jornada de trabalho.
Assim, temos um segundo ponto em que podemos ver como a jornada de trabalho
varivel socialmente, porque ela determinada nessa luta ou conflito entre o
comprador o capitalista , e o vendedor o trabalhador. Ambos com direitos legtimos
Capital did not invent surplus labour. Wherever a part of society possesses the
monopoly of the means of production, the worker, free or unfree, must add to the
labour-time necessary for his own maintenance an extra quantity of labour-time in order
to produce the means of subsistence for the owner of the means of production... 344
It is however clear that in any economic formation of society where the use-value
rather than the exchange-value of the product predominates, surplus labour will be
restricted by a more or less confined set of needs, and that no boundless thirst for
surplus labour will arise from the character of production itself 345
Quando ocorre essa mudana de finalidade (valor de uso para valor de troca) a cede por
surplus-value se torna insacivel. DUVIDA. Mas isso ento: a cede se torna
insacivel porque a busca por valor de troca isacivel?
But in the capitalist the appetite for surplus labour appears in the drive for an unlimited
extension of the working day, while in the boyar it appears more simply in a direct
huntfordays of corvee. 346
DUVIDA. Quais so os efeitos que isso tem para o trabalhador? E para sua jornada de
trabalho?
However, with deep insight into political economy, the working day is not taken in its
ordinary sense, but as the working day necessary to the production of an average daily
product... 347.
THE WORKING DAY. The working day necessary to the production of na average
daily product
Crises during which production is interrupted and the factories work short time', i.e.
for only a part of the week, naturally do not affect the tendency to extend the working
day. 350
Marx menciona que a jornada de trabalho regulada pelo Estado (ao menos na
Inglaterra), mas isso no invalida o que dissemos anteriomente. Embora, seja regulada,
a jornada de trabalho foi e continua a ser socialmente (assim como fisiolgicamente, em
grau menor) determinada. Assim, essa regulao est sujeita a constantes alteraes.
interessante que Marx j deixa entrever sua concepo de que o Estado serve os
interesses das classes dominantes (detentoras dos meios de produo).
The worker is here nothing more than personified labour-time. All individual
distinctions are obliterated in that between 'full-timers' and 'half-timers'. 352-3
Parte III
So far, we have observed the drive towards the extension of the working day, and the
werewolf-like hunger for surplus labour, in an area where capital's monstrous
outrages... 353
Os primeiros relatrios das comisses apontam para 1) o uso da fora de trabalho para
alm dos limites legais, 2) descumprimento dos horrios de almoo e jantar e do horrio
de recreao, 3) uso de crianas na produo, etc.
Podemos ver mais uma vez como a jornada de trabalho uma coisa fluida, no depede
apenas do tempo de trabalho necessrio para a reposio da fora de trabalho, muito
menos dos limites impostos pela lei, mas definida ainda no prprio processo
produtivo, em que brechas legais so procuradas e exploradas aos montes.
DUVIDA. Por que hoje em dia a jornada de trabalho foi diminuida e mantem-se, ao
menos em paises de primeiro mundo, dentro dos limites legais? Foi somente por causa
da fiscalizao? Que outros fatores ajudaram a promov-lo?
But capital, as we said earlier, is at first indifferent towards the technical character of
the labour process it seizes control of. At the outset, it takes it as it finds it.358.
DUVIDA. O que significa aqui technical character? Mtodo tradicional de produo,
uso de mquinas, etc.? A produo de po ainda se fazia de forma artesanal, sem o uso
de mquinas, acho que era isso que Marx queria dizer. Ou seja, no importa se se usa
mquinas ou mo de obra braal.
(...) all men are alike in the face of capital - a milliner and a black smith. 364
Parte IV
Constant capital, the means of production, only exist, considered from the standpoint
of the process of valorization, in order to absorb labour and, with every drop of labour, a
proportional quantity of surplus-labour. In so far as the means of production fail to do
this, their mere existence forms a loss for the capitalist, in a negative sense, for while
they lie fallow they represent a useless advance of capital. This loss becomes a positive
one as soon as the interruption of employment necessitates an additional outlay when
the work begins again. The prolongation of the working day beyond the limits of the
natural day, into the night, only acts as a palliative. It only slightly quenches the vampire
thirst for the living blood of labour. Capitalist production therefore drives, by its
inherent nature, towards the appropriation of labour throughout the whole of the 24
hours in the day. But since it is physically impossible to exploit the same individuals
labour-power constantly, during the night as well as the day, capital has to overcome
this physical obstacle. An alternation becomes necessary, between the labour-powers
Used up by day and those used up by night. 367 [itlicos meus]
DUVIDA. Por que existe essa alternncia da jornada de trabalho? REPOSTA. Creio que
porque, como no fisicamente possivel explorar a mesma fora de trabalho por 24h,
necessrio, para se aproveitar o dia todo, usar outra fora de trabalho noite. Em suma
o motivo : para usar todo o dia, necessrio alternar duas foras de trabalho.Ta, ok.
DUVIDA. Mas por que preciso usar a fora de trabalho o dia todo? RESPOSTA. ai
que entra a dinmica do sistema capitalista. Tempo perdido em um dia significa uma
diminuio dos lucros ou do capital acumulado no fim do ciclo M-C-M.
Agora, Marx vai abordar a viso do capital (personificado pela figura do capitalista)
sobre esse shift-system.
The steel furnaces, rolling-mills, etc., the buildings, machinery, iron, coal, etc., have
something more to do than transform themselves into steel. They are there to absorb
surplus labour, and they naturally absorb more in 24 hours than in 12. 373
PARTE V
'What is a working day? What is the length oftime during which capital may consume
the labour-power whose daily value it has paid for? How far may the working day be
extended beyond the amount of labour-time necessary for the reproduction of
labourpower itself?' We have seen that capital's reply to these questions is this: the
working day contains the full24 hours, with the deduction of the few hours of rest
without which labour-power is absolutely incapable of renewing its services. Hence it is
self-evident that the worker is nothing other than labour-power for the duration of his
whole life, and that therefore all his disposable time is by nature and by right labour-
time, to be devoted to the self-valorization of capital.375
But in its blind and measureless drive, itsinsatiableappetitefor surplus labour, capital
oversteps not only the moral but even the merely physical limits of the working day.
375
It is not the normal maintenance of labour-power which determines the limits of the
working day here, but rather the greatest possible daily expenditure of labour-power, no
matter how diseased, compulsory and painful it may be, which determines the limits of
the workers' period of rest. 376
O capital v os trabalhadores como simples fora de trabalho a ser consumida. Por isso
no v limites jornada de trabalho; atravessa barreiras tanto morais quanto fsicas para
extrair o mximo possvel de surplus-labour. E isso uma fonte potencial de conflitos
entre o capital e a fora de trabalho. Um querendo aumentar a jornada de trabalho at os
limites fsicos e morais mais inimaginveis, enquanto o outro, diminiu-la a limites
tolerveis. Esse mais um ponto que corrobora o que ns vimos descrevendo: a
definio da jornada de trabalho determinada na esfera social...
It extends the worker's production-time within a given period by shortening his life
377.
But the value of labour-power includes the value of the commodities necessary for the
reproduction of the worker, for continuing the existence of the working class. If then the
unnatural extension of the working day, which capital necessarily strives for in its
unmeasured drive for self-valorization, shortens the life of the individual worker, and
therefore the duration of his labour-power, the forces used up have to be replaced more
rapidly, and it will be more expensive to reproduce labour-power... 377.
A mesma lgica que opera na escravido, opera no livre mercado de fora de trabalho:
se existe sempre a possibilidade de reposio da fora de trabalho, ento no h motivo
para us-la moderadamente, para que dure mais.
Capital therefore takes no account of the health and the length of life of the worker,
unless society forces it to do so. Its answer to the outcry about the physical and mental
degradation, the premature death, the torture of over-work, is this: Should that pain
trouble us, since it increases our pleasure (profit)? But looking at these things as a
whole, it is evident that this does not depend on the will, either good or bad. of the
individual capitalist. Under free competition, the immanent laws of capitalist production
confront the individual capitalist as a coercive force external to him. 381
Of course, the pretensions of capital in its embryonic state, in its state of becoming,
when it cannot yet use the sheer force of economic relations to secure its right to absorb
a sufficient quantity of surplus labour,'but must be aided by the power of the state- its
pretensions in this situation appear very modest in comparison with the concessions it
has to make, complainingly and unwillingly, in its adult condition. 382 DUVIDA.
Como assim sheer force of economic relations?
PART VI
Ainda mais pelo comeo dessa seo, parece que s existiu uma tendncia (ver pergunta
acima) no perodo citado a tendncia de aumentar a jornada de trabalho.
It has been seen that these highly detailed specifications, which regulate, with military
uniformity, the times, the limits and the pauses of work by the stroke of the clock, were
by no means a product of the fantasy of Members of Parliament. They developed
gradually out of circumstances as natural laws of the modern mode of production. Their
formulation, official recognition and proclamation by the state were the result of a long
class struggle. One of their first consequences was that in practice the working day of
adult males in factories became subject to the same limitations, since in most processes
of production the co-operation of children, young persons and women is indispensable.
394-5
Acho que com o decorrer do captulo podemos ver essa outra tendncia tomando lugar.
Ela resultado das demandas dos trabalhadores pela reduod a jornada de trabalho.
PART VII
The reader will recall that the production of surplus-value, or of surplus labour, forms
the specific content and purpose of capitalist production, quite apart from any
reconstruction of the mode of production itself which may arise from the subordination
of labour to capital. 411
DUVIDA. Essa reconstruo histrica diz respeito apenas ao perodo em que Marx
expe aquelas duas tendncias, no ?
Agora, Marx faz uma generalizao desse processo histrico (no est claro se ele vale
somente para a Inglaterra ou se vale tambm para outros lugares). No vamos explicar
todas as etapas, apenas citar alguns trechos que julgamos importantes.
First
Second
The history of the regulation of the working day in certain branches of production, and
the struggle still going on in others over this regulation, prove conclusively that the
isolated worker, the worker as 'free' seller of his labour-power, succumbs without
resistance once capitalist production has reached a certain stage of maturity.412
It.must be acknowledged that our worker emerges from the process of production
looking different from when he entered it. In the market, as owner of the commodity
'labour-power', he stood face to face with other owners of commodities, one owner
against another owner. The contract by which he sold his labourpower to the capitalist
proved in black and white, so to speak, that he was free to dispose of himself. But when
the transaction was concluded, it was discovered that he was no 'free agent', that the
period of time for which he is free to sell his labourpower is the period of time for
which he is forced to sell it, that in fact the vampire will not let go 'while there remains
a single muscle, sinew or drop of blood to be exploited' 415-6.