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CriticalSociologyContent•MarxonRefication•LukácsonReficatino•GramscionHegemony•HorkheimerandAdornoonCultureIndustry•HabermasonCommunicativeActionandPublicSphereMarxonRefication•Commodities,whichexistasuse-values,mustfirstofallassumeaforminwhichtheyappeartooneanothernominallyasexchange-values,asdefinitequantitiesofmaterialiseduniversallabour-time.Thefirstnecessarymoveinthisprocessis,aswehaveseen,thatthecommoditiessetapartaspecificcommodity,say,gold,whichbecomesthedirectreificationofuniversallabour-timeortheuniversalequivalentMarxonRefication•Capitalemployslabour.Themeansofproductionarenotmeansbywhichhecanproduceproducts,whetherintheformofdirectmeansofsubsistence,orasmeansofexchange,ascommodities.Heisratherameansforthem,partlytopreservetheirvalue,partlytovaloriseit,i.e.toincreaseit,toabsorbsurpluslabour.Eventhisrelationinitssimplicityisaninversion,apersonificationofthethingandareificationoftheperson,forwhatdistinguishesthisformfromallpreviousonesisthatthecapitalistdoesnotruletheworkerinanykindofpersonalcapacity,butonlyinsofarasheiscapital;hisruleisonlythatofobjectifiedlabouroverlivinglabour;theruleoftheworker'sproductovertheworkerhimselfMarxonRefication•[B]ecauseasaresultoftheiralienationasuse-valuesallcommoditiesareconvertedintolinen,linenbecomestheconvertedformofallothercommodities,andonlyasaresultofthistransformationofallothercommoditiesintolinendoesitbecomethedirectreificationofuniversallabour-time,i.e.,theproductofuniversalalienationandofthesupersessionofallindividuallabour.MarxonRefication•Theproductionofcapitalistsandwage-laborersisthereforeamajorproductoftheprocessbywhichcapitalturnsitselfintovalues.Ordinarypoliticaleconomy,whichconcentratesonlyontheobjectsproduced,forgetsthisentirely.Inasmuchasthisprocessestablishesreifiedlaboraswhatissimultaneouslythenon-reificationofthelaborer,asthereificationofasubjectivityopposedtothelaborer,asthepropertyofsomeoneelse'swill,capitalisnecessarilyalsoacapitalist.Theideaofsomesocialists,thatweneedcapitalbutnotcapitalists,iscompletelyfalse.Theconceptofcapitalimpliesthattheobjectiveconditionsoflabor—andtheseareitsownproduct—acquireapersonalityasagainstlabor,orwhatamountstothesamething,thattheyareestablishedasthepropertyofapersonalityotherthantheworker's.Theconceptofcapitalimpliesthecapitalist.However,thiserroriscertainlynogreaterthanthatof,e.g.,allphilologistswhospeakoftheexistenceofcapitalinclassicalantiquity,andofRomanorGreekcapitalists.ThisismerelyanotherwayofsayingthatinRomeandGreecelaborwasfree,anassertionwhichthesegentlemenwouldhardlymake.Ifwenowtalkofplantation-ownersinAmericaascapitalists,iftheyarecapitalists,thisisduetothefactthattheyexistasanomalieswithinaworldmarketbaseduponfreelabor.Werethetermcapitaltobeapplicabletoclassicalantiquity—thoughtheworddoesnotactuallyoccuramongtheancients(butamongtheGreeksthewordarkhaisisusedforwhattheRomanscalledtheprincipalissummareicreditae,theprincipalofaloan)—thenthenomadichordeswiththeirflocksonthesteppesofCentralAsiawouldbethegreatestcapitalists,fortheoriginalmeaningofthewordcapitaliscattle.MarxonRefication•Capitalemployslabour.Eventhisrelationinitssimplicityisapersonificationofthingsandareificationofpersons.Buttherelationbecomesstillmorecomplex—andapparentlymoremysterious—inthat,withthedevelopmentofthespecificallycapitalistmodeofproduction,notonlydothesethings—theseproductsoflabour,bothasusevaluesandasexchangevalues—standontheirhindlegsvis-à-vistheworkerandconfronthimascapital—butalsothesocialformsoflabourappearasformsofthedevelopmentofcapital,andthereforetheproductivepowersofsociallabour,thusdeveloped,appearasproductivepowersofcapital.Assuchsocialforcestheyarecapitalisedvis-à-vislabour.Infact,communalunityincooperation,combinationinthedivisionoflabour,theapplicationoftheforcesofnatureandscience,aswellastheproductsoflabourintheshapeofmachinery,areallthingswhichconfronttheindividualworkersasalien,objective,andpresentinadvance,withouttheirassistance,andoftenagainstthem,independentofthem,asmereformsofexistenceofthemeansoflabourwhichareindependentofthemandruleoverthem,insofarastheyareobjective;whiletheintelligenceandvolitionofthetotalworkshop,incarnatedinthecapitalistorhisunderstrappers(representatives),insofarastheworkshopisformedbythecombinationofthemeansoflabour,confronttheworkersasfunctionsofcapital,whichlivesinthepersonofthecapitalist.MarxonRefication•Thesocialformsoftheirownlabour—thesubjectiveaswellastheobjectiveforms—ortheformoftheirownsociallabour,arerelationsconstitutedquiteindependentlyoftheindividualworkers;theworkersassubsumedundercapitalbecomeelementsofthesesocialconstructions,butthesesocialconstructionsdonotbelongtothem.Theythereforeconfronttheworkersasshapesofcapitalitself,ascombinationswhich,unliketheirisolatedlabourcapacities,belongtocapital,originatefromitandareincorporatedwithinit.Andthisassumesaformwhichisthemorerealthemore,ontheonehand,theirlabourcapacityisitselfmodifiedbytheseforms,sothatitbecomespowerlesswhenitstandsalone,i.e.outsidethiscontextofcapitalism,anditscapacityforindependentproductionisdestr