The Value Theory of Labour from a Socio-Ecological Reproduction Perspective
Guarino, Raffaele (Parthenope University of Naples. Department of Science and Technology)
Yasin, Zehra Tasdemir (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Marx's theory of value was revolutionary in illustrating the central and contradictory role of labour in the reproduction of socio-ecological systems within capital's value relations. The antagonism between capital and labour emerges as the "organic exchange" between living labour and its environment becomes alienated through the historical social-ecological organisation of labour based on the commodity form. Renewed engagement with Marxian thought has raised different questions of whether this framework can extend beyond the human domain. Specifically, contemporary debates interrogate how ecosystems' reproduction, carried out by a trans-species labour force spanning microbes, plants, and animals, contributes to value creation. Grounding this analysis in thermodynamic frameworks, this article rethinks the labour theory of value to centre the role of non-human labour in capital accumulation. Engaging with feminist perspectives on reproductive labour, it argues that life's reproductive capacity is foundational to surplus production and value extraction. From this perspective, expanding the category of labour to include non-human work offers a historical-materialist framework for understanding how commodification functions as an organising principle of socio-ecological relations, alienating both human and non-human labour within the autopoietic system of the web of life.
Grants:	European Commission 101071647
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Energy-labour ; Labour theory of value ; Non-human labour ; Social metabolism ; Socio-ecological organisation of labour
Published in:	Capitalism, nature, socialism, (September 2025) , ISSN 1548-3290

DOI: 10.1080/10455752.2025.2557868

21 p, 782.8 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles