B® carcerres 2006
2
Basic theoretical foundations
241 The ditston eeneen production a
‘nouproducton activities
‘Mars notiogal sezoune depend excl on the distinsion be
‘vee abor hin productive of eal and that whlch is ot Because
{hisdtination eo often resented ie confused and cotadictry ma
ner, we wll nt tgin fom instead, his setion wl focus on he rie
find more general srinetin btween production sd nonbredtion 3e-
tier. Tae set section wil ea devel ths into more concrete iting:
tins between ors which are an tre nol productive of expt As we
‘halle, our derivation wil enable wt ave at a diaon that coer
Spends csaty tote one Mare sues. Daring the deiion Crm Best
Prints, rather than rimply Beginning wih, allows ws co endow i
‘ith considerably greater orth
24.1 Mistaken conceptions ofthe dsintion
Ieirareta to epi by emphasing what the dition between
‘rodation and nonprodetion abo dos efron tes pci
‘toot diintion been ecessary and unoeesay stv. We nnd
‘oconnation et poducton artes ae ether more oles) Rear
then noaproduction activities, The dividing He dos ot rest on ether
{echnical or soc sandards of efeieney, though ofcourse such stan-
{Ende may wal be apple to either staf actives. Baran and Sweez's
Srument that some labor onder capitalise would be unvecessry ina
‘aonaly ordered (eta) economy (Baran 195, p. 32) i one
sch efcency approach. Butt easy to show that hey dra the ds
‘ston between “prodacive” and “onpreducive labor in way that ae
(gt deen rm thorn Mace (an 1979, pp. 364-9), end cerany
fem thse which we wil éeveop
20
‘Basi theoretic foundtions a
Second, we are not attempting demarat between “god and “baa”
civic One might wel aretha certain sci ee mes weapons
Production) ate dangerous and destructive and thus bady or that much
of advertising Is manipulative and dishonest These would be mora e
tigus. But sch abels are ceay applicable to both production activ.
Us (nuclear weapons) and noprodecton actives (advertising). The
reduction nonprodacionditnetion te ndependent of our evaluation
tthe sci ert.
“Thin, we we oot atemptng o constr polilal dtineton, Bacause
reduction abo is not a anigation for he working cass, nar aonpro:
‘uctlon abot one forthe pty bourgeoisie, 5 Pouantaas (975) would
ave it! Fil, we wil mot equate pradsion aches with “physical
‘oods" nor ronproduction aes with “services” Such confion |
Bustsorignsin the fact thatthe casa ecomomitadopt on praia
srounds.* Marx ceainly rejets any such association atthe theoreal
{eve and explicit eruee Ada Smith for confusing the “tera
{aati of abr a se vale with embodiment ia pies! good
‘Maes 1963, pp 171-2),
In sum, the dsiaction we sek har noting to do with the esse,
morality, physlealty, or polis ofthe activites involved. With this
‘ind, wean tra othe agunen its
211.2 Basi activites of rsa reproduction
Inazalyzng the overall process of soil reproduction, we can