I have created a set of flashcards for the second section of chapter one of Marx’s Capital (see https://quizlet.com/ca/990207164/marx-capital-volume-1-chapter-1-section-2-the-double-character-of-the-labour-represented-in-the-commoity-flash-cards/?i=5wlz50&x=1qqt).
There are also previous flashcards for the earlier section of chapter 1 on that site (as well as on this blog).
Here is a copy of the flashcards:
1
A commodity has the double or dual character of being a _______________ and a(n) ____________________
use-value; (exchange) value
2
_________________ too has a double or dual character.
Labour
3
Abstract labour that produces value does/does not have the same characteristics as the concrete labour that produces use value.
does not
4
What does Marx claim to have been the first to do? Two things.
1. To have pointed out the double character of labour that produces commodities; 2. to have critically analyzed this double character
5
What is one condition for understanding political economy?
Understanding the double character or nature of the labour that produces commodities.
6
Any use-value is specific and satisfies a specific ______
need
7
The labour which is required to produce a specfic use value is u_____________, and the specific nature of the use value produced is dependent on at least five factors that produce that specific use value. What are they? 1. g_____ or a_____; 2. m________ or m_______ of o__________; 3. o___________; 4. m_________; and 5. r________________.
useful; 1. goal, aim; 2. method, means of operation; 3. object; 4. means; 5. result.
8
Give an example of method or mode of operation.
Answers vary: for example, the way in which beer is produced; at home, how eggs are cooked. It is technique in a general sense.
9
Give an example of an object of labour.
Answers vary; hops required to produce beer, for example.
10
Two different commodities involve different _____________ labour processes.
concrete
11
For commodities to exchange, there must be different kinds of ______________ labour (with the five factors or determinants involved in such labour).
concrete
12
Are the same kinds of commodities exchanged against each other?
No.
13
In a commodity-producing society like capitalist society, there are a totality of diverse or heterogenous use values, and to those diverse and heterogenous use values correspond diverse and heterogenous _______________ _______________.
concrete labours (or useful labours)
14
The diverse or heterogenous concrete useful labours can be classified according to o___________, g____________, s__________ and v____________, or the s____________ d__________ of l_________.
order; genus; species; variety; social division of labour
15
The social division of labour can be classified according to order, genus, species and variety, which are classified from the most general to the more specific. Give an example from each classification.
answers vary; for example: Order: agriculture, manufacture, services; Genus: In Agriculture: crop farming vs. livestock farming; in Manufacture: Heavy industry vs. light industry; in Services: Professional services vs. personal services; Species: in Crop farming: producing wheat vs. producing rice; in Light industry: cotton spinning vs. silk weaving; in Professional services: dentist vs. lawyer; Variety: In Producing wheat: organic vs. conventional wheat farming; in Silk weaving: handloom vs. power loom weaving; in Lawyer: commercial law vs. family law
16
The ___________ d___________ of l____________ is a necessary condition for the production of commodities.
social division of labour
17
Is the production of commodities a necessary condition for the social division of labour? Give an example.
No. Labour divided in a factory is not divided according to the exchange of commodities.
18
Only products of labours that are performed p___________ and i_____________ of each other face each other as commodities.
privately; independently
19
True or false: The nature of concrete labour does not change if the produced use value is used by the producer or by someone else.
True
20
The relation between the concrete useful labour that produces a use value is/is not affected by whether there is or is not a social division of labour in which such concrete useful labour now becomes a specialization.
is not
21
Concrete useful labour always forms a _______________ condition for humans to continue to live on Earth.
necessary (or universal)
22
Any use value of a commodity is a combination of two elements, __________ and the ___________ provided by nature.
labour; material
23
The performance of concrete labour is i___________ of all forms of human society and constitutes a n__________ necessity which mediates between humans and nature and therefore human life itself.
independent; natural
24
What other source of material wealth is there, besides labour?
nature (or the Earth)
25
Different kinds of concrete useful labour are m____________ of the human capacity to shift from one __________ of labour to another _____ of labour
modifications; form; form
26
This capacity to shift from one form of concrete labour to another form of concrete labour and in fact to an indeterminate number of different forms of concrete labour becomes practically important and the focus of the production of value when the concrete n_______ of those who engage in such concrete labour (workers) are d________ from the kind of labour performed.
needs; divorced
27
The diverse forms of concrete useful labour count are all diverse forms of the productive expenditure of human b______,n________m_________, h______, l______n_____, l___, etc. in the context of a labour process that abstracts from the needs of those who expend them.
brains; nerves; muscles; hands; legs
28
Abstract labour is simple a__________ labour, or labour which the _________ person can perform without s_____________development.
average; average; specialized
29
Is simple average labour a fixed quality independent of time and space? Explain.
No. It varies according to country and epoch.
30
Is simple average labour a fixed quality independent of time and space or is it a given quality in a particular society?
It is given.
31
More complex, complicated or skilled labour counts as intensified, enhanced or m___________ simple labour.
multiplied
32
Complex abstract labour is treated as or counts for a greater/less quantity of simple average labour
greater
33
Is complex labour qualitatively, the same as multiplied simple labour? Explain.
No. Complex labour counts as multiplied simple labour in determining how much value it produces relative to simple labour, but complex labour is not just a multiple unit of simple labour–the skills of a dentist are not the result of just adding up simple forms of labour.
34
It is ______________ that demonstrates or expresses the fact of the reduction of complex abstract labour to simple abstract or average labour.
experience
35
It is due to the ___________ of the commodity that complex labour is reducible to simple average labour as its unit.
value
36
The diverse proportions in which complex labour is reduced to simple average labour occur through a social process openly/behind the backs of the producers.
behind the backs of the producers
37
Just as the needs of the producers are abstracted away in relation to the labour performed, so too are the s__________ m_________ p__________ and o___________ required to produce concrete use values.
specific material process; operations
38
Just as the use value produced by value is a___________ or vanish as a factor in v_____ production, so too does the c_______ useful labour..
abstracted; concrete
39
The abstract labour that produces value is/is not related to the concrete purpose of producing a specific, concrete use value.
is not
40
The abstract labour that produces value is not related to the concrete m_____ of o________ involved in producing a specific, concrete use value.
method (or mode); operation
41
The abstract labour that produces value is not related to the concrete o_______ involved in producing a specific, concrete use value.
object
42
The abstract labour that produces value is/is not related to the concrete m______ involved in producing a specific, concrete use value.
is not; means
43
The abstract labour that produces value is/is not related to the concrete _________ involved in producing a specific, concrete use value.
result
44
Two commodities, say linen and a coat, have value, but their value has a definite m__________ or amount.
magnitude
45
If a coat has a value twice as much as 10 meters of linen, why is that? Explain in terms of both the value of the coat and the value of the linen.
Twice as much abstract labour has been expended in the case of the coat. In the case of 10 meters of linen, only half the amount of abstract labour has been expended.
46
If commodity production requires a social division of labour, but a social division of labour does not require commodity production, which aspect, commodity production or the social division of labour, ultimately is more independent of the other?
the social division of labour
47
In the case of commodity production, is it possible to uncouple or separate it from the social division of labour?
No.
48
In the case of the social division of labour in a commodity-producing society, is it possible to uncouple or separate it from commodity production in a different kind of society?
Yes
49
Since a commodity is a unity of use value and value, the labour involved in the production of its specific use value counts only q__________________
qualitatively
50
Since a commodity is a unity of use value and value, the labour involved in the production of value counts only q________________ provided that it has been reduced to q________________ equal simple average labour.
quantitatively; qualitatively
51
The nature of use value raises questions of 1. h_____ and 2. w__________ or to what e_____.
how; what; end
52
The nature of value raises the question of h________ m________.
how much
53
Given that the magnitude of the value of commodities represents only the amount of labour required to produce them, different commodities, usually with different amounts of use values to be exchanged (that is to say, they exchange at different ratios or proportions), can be equated because they have the same/different value. Provide an example.
the same; answers may vary. An example: 2 cases of beer exchange for 1 computer printer cartridge because they require the same amount of labour to produce them.
54
Would we refer to labour as simple labour if complicated labour did not exist? What of complicated labour? Would we refer to labour as complicated labour if simple labour did not exist?
no; no.
55
Although labour is the o_____ factor in determining the value of a commodity, this is/is not the case with use value.
only; is not
56
Doubling the number of use values will only double the the value of commodities if the p__________ p__________ of labour or its p_______________ remains c________.
productive power; productivity; constant
57
If two commodities at first have the same value, but subsequently the productivity of labour for the production of a particular commodity doubles, whereas the productivity of labour of the other commodity remains constant, the value of the first commodity (the one that underwent the productivity increase) will decrease to ___________ the value of the second commodity.
half
58
If two commodities at first have the same value, but subsequently the productivity of labour for the production of a particular commodity decreases by half, whereas the productivity of labour of the other commodity remains constant, the value of the first commodity (the one that underwent the productivity decrease) will increase to ___________ the value of the second commodity.
double
59
An increase in the number of use values involves an increase in material _________.
wealth
60
An increase in the number of use values may occur simultaneously with a(n) increase/decrease in the total value of the commodities produced.
decrease
61
An increase in external quantity of the commodity may occur simultaneously with a(n) increase/decrease in the internal quantity of the commodity.
decrease
62
Variations in the productive power of labour have an/have no effect on the determination of the production of the value of commodities but only on the d__________ of the given quantity of value across a certain number of commodities.
have no; distribution
63
The same abstract labour, expended for the same duration, will have different/the same total value, even if it is distributed over more or less commodities as use values.
the same
64
If the productive power of labour increases, the same value will be distributed over less/more commodities as use values.
more
65
If the productive power of labour decreases, the same value will be distributed over less/more commodities as use values.
less
66
An expansion of external quantity–of use values–can go hand in hand with a decrease in internal quantity–of value–if the quantity of socially necessary labour required to produce the external quantity increases/decreases.
decreases
67
A decrease of external quantity–of use values–can go hand in hand with an increase in internal quantity–of value–if the quantity of socially necessary labour required to produce the external quantity increases/decreases.
increases
68
The contradictory movement of value and use value is due to the d_____ nature of labour that produces the commodity.
dual (or double)
69
If the labour that constitutes or produces value is due to private labour such that it is not yet social labour, then a n__________ must have occurred for the labour to not be social labour, or to be privatized labour that does not yet form part of social labour.
negation
70
For the labour to become social labour, a further process of n__________ of that negation must occur for the labour to become social labour.
negation
71
Whether labour is s___________ or u_____________, if it is not social labour while it is being performed, then a further process of negation of that negation must occur for the labour to become social labour.
skilled; unskilled
The Abolitionary 