The Conditional View of the Neoclassical and Marxist Approaches to the Concept of Productive Labour

The major reason for the divergence of views regarding the definition of productive labour is the fact that the concept is viewed from different perspectives. For example, neoclassical economists see a world comprised of atomistic and selfish individuals. In this world, any kind of labour producing any good or service is considered productive if it creates utility for anybody. Marxists, on the other hand, do not reject this broad relationship between labour and utility, but deny that all activities creating utility are productive. Grouping individuals into social classes, Marxists insist that labour is productive only if it contributes to the historical development of the dominant mode of production. In this era, labour is productive only if it generates profits for the capitalist. The two viewpoints do not contradict one another, but actually complement each other. Economic concepts are concrete and thus conditional and relative.