The Limits of the Law: Work in the Light of Capitalist Reproduction

ABSTRACT The article explores alternatives to capitalist work from the point of view of reproduction of capitalist relations. The latter occurs in a cyclical manner as capitalist structures—the economic, juridico-political and ideological levels—co-constitute and reproduce one another. Given the difficulty inherent in breaking the cycle of reproduction, a reflection on alternatives to capitalist work requires that work is reconceptualised, to the extent possible, beyond current structures: as transformations at any one individual level cannot produce radical change, alternatives to capitalist work require a holistic reimagining of the social totality, transcending, for example, mere legal or mere political reform. The force that can disrupt the cycle of capitalist reproduction and open space for such holistic reimagination is class struggle. The latter becomes embedded in the process of redefining work in so far as it is the force that can precipitate structural and unforeseeable change. It also acts a reminder that the substantive redefinition of work is a collective process, and cannot be the task of any single individual situated externally to that struggle.