Marx, formal subsumption and the law

Abstract

Recent work rethinking the place of the law in Marxian analysis of capitalist society provides us with a foundation for a renewed look at the labor process. Drawing on this literature, which emphasizes the materiality of institutions through which labor is exploited, and returning to Marx's discussion of formal subsumption in Capital, I argue that the law was central for subordinating labor. I then present three case studies from industries in Victorian England to demonstrate the diverse ways in which law was implicated in formal subsumption. The case studies focus on the ways in which capitalists used master and servant law, the key law governing the workplace, to subordinate labor. I conclude by considering how these cases provoke us to consider the materiality of the law in labor relations more broadly, and such questions might be pursued in developing capitalist economies such as China."But the really difficult point to discuss here is how relations of production develop unevenly as legal relations."-Karl Marx (1973, p. 109) Over the past several decades considerable attention has been focused on developing Marx's theory of the capitalist labor process. A number of social scientists and historians have sought to build on Marx's analysis in Capital, particularly in the wake of Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital. Throughout numerous debates on labor control, however, the place of the law has been conspicuously absent. 1 This silence on law and its role in the process of capitalist exploitation has several sources. First, as I discuss below, Marx himself in Capital and other works made infrequent reference to law in the development of capitalist labor relations. Relatedly, he focused on the technical relations of production with the real

Diffusion-Enhanced Förster Resonance Energy Transfer and the Effects of External Quenchers and the Donor Quantum Yield

“…With one notable exception, the FDE has not been studied on the level of elementary FRET analysis before. To understand, corroborate, and generalize the experimental results, we needed to link the traditional evaluation of FRET measurements to the more complex analysis based on the HSE (eq ). ,,,, We did that with three questions in mind: (i) Does the HSE predict a symmetrical dependence of the FDE on the donor lifetime and the donor–acceptor diffusion coefficient as demanded by eq ? (ii) Which donor lifetime should be used in eq if it is not the experimental one?…”

“…In this context, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) has increasingly come into focus. FRET from an energy donor dye to an acceptor dye, both conjugated to the chain at selected positions, is distance dependent and can thereby bring the sensitivity and speed of fluorescence spectroscopy to distance and structure determination of polypeptides (and nucleic acids). ,,− Time-resolved FRET on the ensemble and also single-molecule FRET offer the additional possibility to obtain information on the dynamic properties of the peptide chain, i.e., on intrachain diffusion; in general, this diffusion enhances FRET. , Unfortunately, although the analysis of time-resolved FRET data has been pioneered by Steinberg and Haas, − and expanded by Lakowicz and Kusba, − both experimental and computational challenges have arisen which have prevented it from becoming routine. The main roadblock is that the efficiency of FRET is determined by both chain structure and dynamics, that is, by the distance distribution of and by the mutual diffusion between two labeled chain positions.…”

Accounting fundamentals and accounting change: Boulton & Watt and the Springfield Armory

“…Between 1720 and 1792, ten acts were passed under the master and servant laws, with High Court rulings in 1806 and 1817 generalizing applicability to most forms of employment. The principle feature was the asymmetric contract, where breach by the employer was regarded a civil matter, but breach by the employee was regarded a criminal offence (Steinberg, 2010). Furthermore, employers enjoyed rights to determine custom and judge work quality (Frank, 2010).…”

Reconfiguring Sovereignty in Foucauldian Genealogies of Power: The Case of English Master and Servant Law and the Dispersion and the Exercise of Sovereignty in the Modern Age

“…In a series of case studies I have demonstrated how master and servant law was used as the dominant means of work discipline in a variety of towns and industries in Victorian England (, , , Forthcoming). Employers in these towns either effectively controlled the local courts or could rely on sympathetic magistrates to adjudicate their prosecutions.…”