ENGL 200 D: Reading Literature: Literature in the Marketplace

“And finally, the division of labour offers us the first example of how, as long as man remains in natural society, that is, as long as a cleavage exists between the particular and the common interest, as long, therefore, as activity is not voluntarily, but naturally, divided, man’s own deed becomes an alien power opposed to him, which enslaves him, instead of being controlled by him. For as soon as the distribution of labour comes into being, each man has a particular, exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape.”

Here Marx is saying that society divides labor naturally which in turn also divides people from one another. By dividing labor, men become focused only on their own work and happiness instead of the well-being of the social group they live in. When people can do many different activities rather than a single one all of the time, it is possible for society to work towards a common goal and benefit.

Furthermore, division of labor even causes careers to enslave people. This implies a never-ending cycle of work without rest for simple self-sustainment. While a specialized occupation seems at first to be beneficial for the individual, it becomes inescapable. There is no happiness or feeling involved in the labor.  We need a sense of common interest in order to avoid enslavement by our labor.

This point that Marx makes implies a kind of cause and effect relationship. By working under the division of labor for our “particular” interest, we cannot avoid becoming enslaved by our labor. It is only when we combine the goals of particular and “common” interest that we can avoid becoming “exclusive” in our work and flourish as a complete society. When labor becomes very specialized for one purpose only, it takes advantage of the system by becoming most efficient for generating personal profit. More specialization allows people to work more independently from one another, not needing to face one another personally, but in a way that they can take advantage of each other to be most productive. It is not possible to avoid this downward spiral into one’s self, but rather it is necessary to get at the root cause of such “exclusive sphere of activity”. Here, the root is the mentality of the labor, the purpose and motive.