Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Fabian van Onzen
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   202/12
Weight:   0.518kg
ISBN:  

9789004337053

ISBN 10:   9004337059
Pages:   222
Publication Date:   14 October 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction  1 Centrality of Service Work in Contemporary Capitalism  2 Overview of Book 2 Historical Materialism  1 Method of Historical Materialism  2 Mode of Production and Social Formation  3 Historical Materialist Research 3 Marxism, Class and the Service Industry  1 Marxist Class Analysis  2 Marxist Definition of Class  3 Two Approaches to Class Analysis  4 Main Classes of Capitalist Mode of Production  4.1 The Working Class  4.2 The Bourgeoisie  4.3 The Petty-Bourgeoisie  4.4 The Dissolution of the Petty-Bourgeoisie  5 Summary 4 Service Labour and Value Theory  1 Marxism, Services, Commodities  2 The Commodity-Form  3 Surplus-Value and Service Workers  4 Surplus Value in the Service Industry  5 Productive and Unproductive Labour  6 Increased Surplus-value  7 Conclusion 5 Retail and the Circulation of Commodities  1 Circulation of Commodities  2 Circulation Time and Costs of Circulation  3 Production in Circulation  4 Consumption Time and Consumption Period 6 Monopoly Capital and the Sales Effort  1 Marx on Commercial Capital  2 The Emergence of Monopoly Capital  3 Imperialism and Monopoly Capitalism  4 Imperialism and the Split in the Bourgeoisie  5 Dependency Theory: Centre and Periphery  6 Unequal Exchange 7 Two Stages of Production and Realisation  1 Stage One: Production of Goods  2 Stage Two: Realisation of Surplus-value  3 Possibilities for Resistance to Monopoly Capitalism 8 A Marxist Analysis of Outsourcing  1 Bidvest-Noonan: A Case Study in Outsourcing  2 Conclusion 9 Cleaning Workers and Surplus Value  1 Molly Maid: A Case Study  2 Conclusion 10 Organising Retail and Service Workers  1 Retail: H&M Workers in Germany  2 Cleaners in Struggle  3 Exposure Campaigns and Workers Power  4 Conclusion 11 Service, Retail and Transport under Socialism  1 What is Socialism?  1.1 Workers Power  1.2 Socialist Mode of Production  1.3 Socialist Planning  2 Food Consumption under Socialism  3 Socialist Integration and Retail Labour under Socialism  4 Residential Cleaning under Socialism  4.1 Cleaning Outside the Home  5 Transportation under Socialism  6 Conclusion 12 Afterword Bibliography Index

Reviews

This book is a valuable addition to Marxist literature on service labour, and itachieves its goal to provide practical guidance for class struggle. It is highly recommended to workers, trade unionists and researchers who are interested in contemporary applications of thetheory of surplus value . Caglar Karaca, in the BJIR British Journal of Industrial Relations, March 2022.

"""This book is a valuable addition to Marxist literature on service labour, and itachieves its goal to provide practical guidance for class struggle. It is highly recommended to workers, trade unionists and researchers who are interested in contemporary applications of thetheory of surplus value"". Çağlar Karaca, in the BJIR British Journal of Industrial Relations, March 2022."

Author Information

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.

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