Work and the Social Nexus. Classical Social Theory Revisited

Wienold H, Kossler R

Zusammenfassung

The current tendency to purge the question of work from social theory amounts to a severe restriction of that theory's scope & content. In a brief sweep through some of the history of social thought, the centrality of work to such approaches is recalled. The potential contribution of a critical, comprehensive conception of work is then explored in a closer look at central portions of Marx's work on the critique of political economy. From this vantage point, work is a constitutive dimension of cooperation, communication, knowledge, & society's relationship to nature - all central themes of current social theory. Moreover, a critical reading of classical political economy & its Marxian critique can yield important insights into current problems confronting the debate on development, such as the informal sector or marginality, as far as they revolve around the social modalities of work for survival & reproduction.