Question:

How should we understand socially necessary labor time and the productive power of labor?

Answer:

The discussion above concerned the qualitative determination of commodity value. Your next question concerns its quantitative determination.

1 The value of a commodity is undifferentiated human labor congealed within it; undifferentiated human labor means abstract labor. How, then, do we measure the quantity of this value? We measure it by socially necessary labor time.

2 The definition of socially necessary labor time. “Socially necessary labor time is the labor time required to produce a use-value under the normal conditions of production prevailing in society, and with the average degree of skill and intensity of labor prevalent in that society. (52)”

3 The relationship between socially necessary labor time and individual labor time. If the individual labor time you spend producing a commodity equals the socially necessary labor time, the labor you expend can be fully compensated. If it exceeds the socially necessary labor time, part of your labor expenditure cannot be compensated, placing you at a disadvantage in market competition. If it is below the socially necessary labor time, you can earn extra profit and gain an advantage in market competition.

4 The definition of the productive power of labor and the conditions that affect it. The productive power of labor is the ability of workers to engage in production. Marx writes: “The labor time required to produce a commodity changes with every change in the productive power of labor. The productive power of labor is determined by a wide range of circumstances, including the workers’ average degree of skill, the level of scientific development and its technological application, the social organization of the production process, the scale and effectiveness of the means of production, and natural conditions. (53)”

5 The relationship between the productive power of labor and the magnitude of value. “Productive power is, of course, always the productive power of useful, concrete labor; in fact, it determines only the efficiency of purposeful productive activity within a given period of time. (59)” “Changes in productive power do not in themselves affect in the slightest the labor represented in value. (60)” For example, suppose that 1,000 years ago an average person working for 10 hours could produce one garment, whereas today people can produce 1,000 garments in an average of 10 hours. The single garment produced then and the 1,000 garments produced now contain the same magnitude of value, even though the productive power of labor differs enormously between the two cases.