Četiri koncepta za teoriju nadničarskog rada
Four Concepts for the Theory of Wage Labour

Summary/Abstract: Theories of precarity not only criticise contemporary forms of labour exploitation but also challenge the concept of wage labour itself. In doing so, they produce a contradiction: they cannot avoid Marxism, the main theory of worker exploitation, while simultaneously undermining wage labour, one of its fundamental concepts. For this reason, this article undertakes a critical reading of theories of precarity. It identifies four theories that, according to Althusser, meet the conditions for theoretical production: Italian operaism, labour market segmentation theory, the precariat as a new social class, and the Dutch world history of labour. The aim is not simply to expose the inconsistencies, ideological aspects, or contradictions of these theories, but to extract questions and concepts that can inform future theoretical work. Four concepts are proposed: (1) the class composition of the working class and the relation between technical and political composition; (2) the co-exploitation of the proletariat by intellectual workers responsible for technical and social management, who receive part of the surplus value extracted from workers; (3) the super-exploitation of labour power, typical of the world periphery but increasingly present in the centre; and (4) unfree wage labour, in which workers lose control over their labour power. These concepts are tested through a study of labour relations in three Slovenian companies using surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The analysis raises questions concerning workers’ political organisation, uneven forms of exploitation within the world capitalist system, and the transformation of employment from free to unfree wage labour.

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