Aaron Lish Professor Fia Backstrom September 12, 2012 Theory Paper Labor, Value and Change The

concept of value, or the monetary worth of something1, is such a part of how we evaluate objects that it may overshadow the question of usefulness or need, especially when the price is perceived as a good deal. However, before The Great Transformation2 and the beginning of a market society value as a concept was not thought of as it is today, but rather the issue was that of need. Before the privatization of the commons in Britain the peasants, or the commoners, were able to provide for their basic needs through the building of homes, raising of crops and livestock, and hunting and fishing on common lands. If they had a need that was not met then they would offer goods or services for sale or barter to be able to acquire what was needed. Karl Polanyi, an Austro-Hungarian political economist, wrote that when the commons were claimed as private land the economic system as it was known was completely transformed into a system where labor, land and money became critical components of the new economy (1944). This economy was based in the production of goods for sale, and was founded not on need but on the idea of profit; to him, this is what created the market economy, or market society, that we now live in. Prior to this time, at least in Britain, profit was not a driving motive because most all basic needs could be met by the shared use of the commons. However, after the commoners were displaced from these lands they had nothing of value except their labor. This caused them to have to sell their ability to do work to be able to make money to pay for food and rent. Eventually this

Merriam Websters online dictionary defines value as: 1) a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged; 2) the monetary worth of something (market price); 3) relative worth, utility, or importance. 2 Karl Polanyi, in The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time wrote of the shift from the commons to the privatization of land as a part of the industrializing of Britain (1944).

2 profit-driven economic model spread so that by the beginning of the 21st Century it now covers most of the globe. It was this same way of thinking about history that led Karl Marx (writing nearly a century before Polanyi) to base his analysis of economics on the concept of a labor theory of value. This meant that the value of an object is based on the relative amount of time it takes to produce that object. Labor theory of value was not a new concept developed by Marx though; in the 1700s Adam Smith also saw that labor was the real price of an item. However, Smith saw the value of something only as the labor required to produce it, whereas Marx felt that it should factor in all of the labor required to produce the machinery and the labor required to acquire the raw materials involved, as well as the labor required in the final production of the object (Labor Theory of Value). Marx also distinguished the value of labor as the worth of the ability to do work, rather than only the doing of the work. Further, Smith and Marx also suggested that it is only labor if it is activity that is not enjoyable (or that the worker would rather be doing something else with their time) (Patel 2009). Most economic theorists now suggest that there are many other factors influencing the value of goods besides just labor3; and free-market economists suggest a market theory of value whereby the market, including supply and demand, sets the value of all items. Even some neoMarxist theorists feel that it is the sale of the product that establishes the value of the labor, not the labor itself establishing the value of the product (Real Value). However, looking back to Marx and to Polanyi is a good way to explore different ways of thinking about the market society we live in, ways of thinking that fall outside of the cultural norms that shape our perception of the way things are. As Polanyi wrote "the economic system is, in effect, a mere function of social organization" (1944: 49), meaning that although the economy is so large that it may seem transcendent, or outside of human control, this is not the case. Labor theory of value is also a good starting point when investigating the value of human labor in the service sector, or in any position of employment that does not produce a physically
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For example, in writing about the flaws of the labor theory of value, economic theorist Donald C. Ernsberger wrote: The assertion that only labor gives an object value ignores the fact that many natural objects in which no labor has been invested such as scenic views, pure water, gems and minerals, and wild fruits and vegetables have economic value. http://www.isil.org/resources/lit/labor-theory-val.html

3 measurable product, as theorists suggest that the service economy is linked to the production economy. According to Hank Robison, senior economist with Economic Modeling Specialists International, A labor market that loses wage pressures of high-productivity manufacturing industries will settle at wage rates lower than markets where this wage-boosting effect is present. In other words, high productivity manufacturing results in high wages; this is due to the high value of marginal product that results.4 Thus, an economy supported largely from the service sector, as our economy is now (Robison reports that in 2011 9% of total employment was in manufacturing, while 86% was in services) does not have a large percentage of employment in high productivity manufacturing. As a result our economy will be one with an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor as there are a relatively small number of high paying service jobs which require the most specialized training. Everyone else is left competing for the rest of the jobs available, resulting in an over-qualified service-sector workforce earning low wages, while the corporations outsource manufacturing jobs overseas, and CEOs get large bonuses for increasing corporate profits (Goodman 2010). However, this only partly addresses why social service jobs like those in education are relatively low paying compared to either high paying manufacturing jobs, or jobs like investment banking that do not produce an object, but are still profit oriented. For this we must look at the theory of human capital. Theoretically, in both manufacturing as well as in service-related work, the value of labor, and thus the wage earned, is thought to be related to the amount of human capital one has, where human capital refers to the sum of various factors including training, intelligence, etc. 5 However, the fact that We pay more in the monetized economy to people who park [our] car than to people with whom we entrust our children," (Gerencher 2001) shows that how we value services and how we pay for services may not match up. I would imagine that if a parent were asked which they valued more, their child or their car, that the answer would be easy. But this value is not translated into a monetized system of compensation. Child care, education, community healthit is easy to think of a profession that we value for the good of society, but

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Wage = Value of Marginal Product = Marginal product produced X the net price per item sold (Econweb) Economics texts define human capital as An amalgam of factors such as education, training, experience, intelligence, energy, work habits, trustworthiness, and initiative that affect the value of a workers marginal product (Econweb).

4 when the value of the service is compared to the wages earned by these jobs we can see a disconnect. One possible reason for this disconnect is the fact that within the theory of human capital we still have the workers marginal product, or the production of a sellable product. However, being an effective educator does not result in a direct connection to a clear, sellable product; there is no clear measurable amount of something produced. Economic theory on the value of servicerelated labor appears to be incomplete. Even though our economy has become a service economy, we still operate with a mindset that was developed from 400 years of a culture in a market society built on the profit available from surplus value in manufacturing6. We need to develop a new way of thinking about value that is not based on the marginal product of a worker. This is the goal of some of my most recent art projects, including Summit on Immaterial Labor held recently in the board room at the tbd Agency in Bend, Oregon, Sorry, no cash, check or charge payments, an upcoming project for the Bend Fall Festival involving the trading of time as compensation for services provided, and a proposed project for next June to be conducted in Boston with the working title Calorie Theory of Value. For the Summit on Immaterial Labor I posted wall text at the entrance to the board room that said "How to equitably pay those who do not produce physical goods, or measurable products? Teachers, for example, are critical professionals, and yet they do not produce a quantifiable, measurable product to base their wages on. But neither do physicians, professional athletes, CEOs, or prostitutes" Once visitors entered the room I invited them to preview the space, which included wall text on conflicting economic theories displayed to visually relate to a beautiful panoramic artwork showing the wooden decking over an aqueduct making what appears to be a loop through the forest which the text was placed around. There was also a short video playing which presented various job descriptions of workers who do not produce physical objects. Everyone was then invited to contribute to the creation of a concept map of the various factors that influence the wages paid for work that is not production related. A sample concept map, as well as a primer on concept mapping were provided. Signs on the walls stated that visitors were to discuss their ideas before contributing to the concept map, plus cookies and tea were available to make for a feel that visitors were welcome
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The difference between the expense of labor and the price obtained in the sale of the product; the profit for the factory owner (Surplus value).

5 to stay and chat for as long as they wanted. As with much of my work, this project was designed to include an element of conversation as I have found that conversation can be a very effective way to actively engage participants in creative thinking; but as each person will tend to connect the topic to areas of personal interest or experience it allows for a relatively open work that can develop many different interpretations or paths of thinking, even within a relatively prescribed environment. To me this last point is a critical part of my artwork. As the market society we live in becomes more and more of a consumer-driven monoculture7 we need to be reminded that even within a relatively homogenous existence we can still have (and need) unique, individual creative thought. I am not proposing this need for the ability to have unique personal insights as a human capital trait, although as contemporary Italian philosopher Maurizio Lazzarato points out in Immaterial Labor, such a trait is critical in the new workplace (1996); rather, I am suggesting that this is critical for our individual wellness. CBS reporter Dick Meyer suggested in 2009 that consumerism itself may be an anti-social response to the alienating effect of the post-modern capitalist culture we live in. Research on wellness has shown that spirituality, or having a strong sense of self and having a personal belief of how you fit into society as a whole is a vital part of personal wellbeing, which also influences our physical and mental health (Anspaugh, Hamrick and Rosato 2010). It would seem that this understanding of the self is being lost as a result of the homogenizing influence of consumer culture conflicting with pressures to be creative and innovative at work (Lazzarato 1996), leading to the perceived need to buy more things (either to fit in, or to stand out) (Meyer 2009). My work is designed to provide the participant with the opportunity to have a unique and creative experience within a social or community setting so as to remind him or her what that feels like (and to inspire him or her to find ways to have more such experiences), while also creating the opportunity for new ways of thinking about the world we live in. Having a unique personal experience within a community setting was also a central premise of the work done by
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Two examples of this include 1) conspicuous conservation, where the value associated with owning a conspicuous, environmentally conscious item (e.g. a Toyota Prius nothing else looks like it so it sells better than other hybrid cars (Conspicuous Conservation; Freakonomics 2011)) is a way to show your social status [conspicuous being noticeable, but in this case, not unique]; and 2) going to a shopping plaza in New Jersey is no different than going to a shopping mall in Southern California the same stores, the same store layouts, the same brands.

6 the artist group CAG in the former Soviet Union who created participatory experiences which, in part, involved conversation (Bishop 2012). There the monoculture was a state-dictated existence, whereas in the United States in the 21st Century it is consumer culture that is creating a form of collective existence. It is ironic that Soviet Communism, in an attempt to create a new version of the commons and to treat everyones labor as equal created a situation where artists felt compelled to make art that addressed the same issues now being felt in a capitalist society, albeit through a completely different set of circumstances. What is the answer to a better economic model? I have no idea. But that is not the role of the artist. My role is to illuminate the issues at hand in ways that actively engage the viewer in new ways of thinking, while empowering the viewer to have a personal, unique experience. Through aesthetic encounters with relational art new knowledge can be produced (Sutherland and Acord 2007), and possibly a new and better economic (and political) model can be created. Raj Patel, author and economic theorist, in his book The Value of Nothing (2009), suggests that we may be on the brink of a new changea change predicted by Polanyi in his writing on market society 75 years ago. Maybe art can be a positive part of that change through helping to create opportunities for personal creative experiences that are counter to the day-to-day existence in a profit driven, consumer-based market society.

Works Cited Anspaugh, Hamrick and Rosato. Wellness: Concepts and Applications, 8th edition. Ney York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print. Bishop, Claire. Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship. Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 2012. Print. Conspicuous Conservation. www.Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 9 Sept 2012. Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie; Meyer, Dick (2009-02-11). "Aggressive Ostentation". www.CBSNews.com. CBS News. Web. 10 Sept 2012. Econweb. Chapter 13. http://econweb.tamu.edu/aglass/econ202/Chap013.pdf. Online lecture notes. Web. 5 Sept 2012. Ernsberger, Donald C. The Labor Theory of Value (An Analysis). www.isil.org. International Society for Individual Liberty (1988). Web. 1 Sept 2012. Freakonomics. Saving the environment or just showing off? www.Marketplace.org. Marketplace (19 April 2011). Web. 9 Sept 2012. Gerencher, Kristen. The Economic Value of Housew ork: New Survey to Track Women-dominated Labor. 1 Sept, 2012. Goodman, Jim. The Value of Labor. www.counterpunch.com. Counterpunch (3 Sept 2010). Web. 28 Aug 2012. Labor Theory of Value. www.Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 28 Aug 2012. Lazzarato, Maurizio. Immaterial Labor. Paolo Virno and Michael Hardy, eds. Radical Thought In Italy: A Potential Politics. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press (1996), pp. 132146. Print. www. CBS.MarketWatch.com. CBS (January 2001). Web.

8 Patel, Raj. The Value of Nothing. New York: Picador, 2009. Print.

Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press, 1944. Print. Real value: Comments on the labor theory of value and the wealth of capitalist society. www.Ruthlesscriticism.com. Ruthless Criticism. Web. 9 Sept 2012. Surplus value. www.Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 28 Aug 2012. Sutherland, Ian and Sophia Krzys Acord. Thinking with art: from situated knowledge to experiential knowing. Journal of Visual Practice 6 (2007): 125-140. Print.