[OPE-L:6908] Re: slavery and value

From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@msn.com)
Date: Fri Apr 05 2002 - 09:27:05 EST


Re Alfredo's [6907]:

> I think that a more useful approach would depart from the relations of
> production: in "slave-capitalist" societies, slaves produce commodities
using
> (by and large, though not necessarily) inputs that are also commodities;
> moreover, even the slaves themselves are commodities (and, therefore, the
> production of slaves is also a commodity-producing process).

I ask that you think through the implications of this last statement: if the
(re)production of slaves is a commodity-producing process, is it also
productive of surplus value?  If so, this would mean that the procreation
and raising of children as slaves would itself be productive of surplus
value. This would mean that the act of procreation and reproduction
by and of slaves -- including the rape of slaves by slaveowners  where
pregnancies and children result [!!!] -- would itself be a productive act
[!]  in the sense that it would be productive of surplus value. If that were
the case, then it would be possible to then say that slave_owners_, through
the act of rape, contribute directly to the production of surplus value and
are thereby (partially) productive laborers!

In solidarity, Jerry



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