| This question <23|23> overall <22|24> Underground: <4|76>. |
| Question 61: a. Why is it necessary for the exchange of commodities that they contain qualitatively different kinds of useful labor? |
| b. Can commodity production exist without division of labor? |
| c. Can division of labor exist without commodity production? |
| d. How does commodity production influence the division of labor? |
| [23] Underground: Commodity production and division of labor a. It is necessary because qualitatively different kinds of useful labor produce different use values, and only different use values can be exchanged. You cannot exchange coats for coats or any other identical use values. |
| b. No, commodity production cannot exist without the division of labor, the division of labor is a necessary condition for commodity production. The diverse types of labor mediate different use values from various raw material. And these different use values must exist for products to become commodities. |
| c. Yes, division of labor can exist without commodity production. |
| Marx gives the example of the primitive community in India in which division of labor exists, yet the products do not become commodities. This same phenomenon probably exists in many “primitive” societies. As Marx states “Only the products of mutually independent private and self-directed labors face each other as commodities.” So, the division of labor does not automatically require that products become commodities. In short, division of labor can exist without commodity production. |
| d. Division of labor is a prerequisite for commodity production, and commodity production itself extends and enlarges division of labor. Thus, commodity production extends itself in a cycle of increasing production gaining a life of its own because it reproduces its own prerequisites. |
| Hans: Very good answers. |
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