From a Marxist perspective, assess the claim that work in Capitalist society is both Alienating and Exploitative.

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From a Marxist perspective, assess the claim that work in Capitalist society is both Alienating and Exploitative.

Marx refers to the dominant ideas, such as capitalism, as a ruling class Ideology. These Ideologies are distortions of reality, a false picture of society, which blinds members of society to the contradictions and conflicts of interest that are built into their relationships. As a result they tend to accept their situation as normal and natural, right and proper. In this way a false consciousness of reality is produced which helps to maintain the capitalist system.  

Marx believed that under capitalism exploitation is disguised by ideas of equality and freedom. The relationship between capitalist and wage labourer is defined as an equal exchange. The capitalist buys the labour power that the worker offers for hire. The worker is defined as a free agent as he or she has the freedom to choose his or her employer.

However, in reality, Marx believed equality and freedom to be illusions endorsed by the capitalist system. The employer-employee relationship is not equal. It is an exploitative relationship, workers are not free, they are forced to work for the capitalist in order to survive. All they can do is exchange one form of slave labour for another.

        Capitalism is all based around the maximisation of profit. Marx would explain the source of this profit using the following example;

        If you are working in say a shoe factory, and you are paid the value of your labour, and the shoes are sold at the value of the labour expended on the production, then there is no room for profit as both amounts would be equal.

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        Therefore profit can only occur through some form of dishonesty or unfair exploitation. Thus there is no such thing as a fair days wage for a fair days work.

The way in which a Marxist would approach this takes us back to the idea of labour as a commodity and the central distinction between use value and exchange value.

Use value is the value of a commodity to the person who uses it, i.e. the pleasure, say; someone would get from drinking a couple of pints of beer. Exchange value would be what that beer would be exchanged for via the ...

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