Abstract

LASTRA, Facundo. Between deskilling, immaterial labour and intellectualization, where does the working class go?. Trab. soc. [online]. 2018, n.31, pp.223-241. ISSN 1514-6871.

The aim of this article is to analyse the transformations of the working class under capitalism, by relating the tendencies towards the deskilling of workforce, the emergence of immaterial labour, and the intellectualization of a part of the working class. With this purpose, we review the contributions by Marx to these questions and the interpretations of his writings made by Harry Braverman and posworkerism. Firstly, the chapters from Capital dedicated to the study of cooperation, manufacture and the modern industry are reviewed. Then, the analysis by Braverman is discussed, pointing out some of the limits of his ‘deskilling thesis’ and identifying the lines of continuity between the ideas of this author and the ones from Capital. Additionally, the fragment on machines from the Grundrisse is reviewed, emphasizing the contradictions of this fragment in comparison to Capital and Braverman’s theses. The interpretation of the Grundrisse made by the posworkerism is analysed, highlighting the continuity between posworkerist theory and Marx’s ideas. Finally, this article puts forward an interpretation of the two writings by Marx studied in this text. We argue that it is necessary to interpret both Capital and the Grundrisse together, in order to grasp the trends of differentiation and universalization, which coexist within the working class.

Keywords : Working class; posworkerism; deskilling; Braverman; economic sociology.

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