The Reproduction of Daily Life

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/perlman-fredy/1969/misc/reproduction-daily-life.htm
http://www.spunk.org/texts/writers/perlman/sp001702/repro.html
http://libcom.org/library/reproduction-everyday-life-fredy-perlman
Year Published:  1969
Resource Type:  Pamphlet
Cx Number:  CX6529

What sustains capitalism? Our acceptance of everyday activities. The text offers a clear introduction to basic Marxist concepts like commodity fetishism and surplus value; it also traces the transformation of human activity into capital.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

In capitalist society, creative activity takes the form of commodity production, namely production of marketable goods, and the results of human activity take the form of commodities. Marketability or saleability is the universal characteristic of all practical activity and all products. The products of human activity which are necessary for survival have the form of saleable goods: they are only available in exchange for money. And money is only available in exchange for commodities. If a large number of men accept the legitimacy of these conventions, if they accept the convention that commodities are a prerequisite for money, and that money is a prerequisite for survival, then they find themselves locked into a vicious circle. Since they have no commodities, their only exit from this circle is to regard themselves, or parts of themselves, as commodities. And this is, in fact, the peculiar "solution" which men impose on themselves in the face of specific material and historical conditions. They do not exchange their bodies or parts of their bodies for money. They exchange the creative content of their lives, their practical daily activity, for money.