Labor Power: A "Peculiar" Commodity

Labor power is a "peculiar" commodity. It does not conform to the standard "rules" governing the exchange of commodities, unless it is assumed that capital has "conquered all production" so that household production does not exist. Marxist theorists, when recognizing its existence, have addressed this "dilemma" in several ways. The distinction between necessary and surplus production in all class societies provides a different solution to this dilemma. This solution addresses both the proportion of wage labor in the total labor of the working class (including that which takes the form of household labor and petty commodity production) and the wage that is paid for this labor power. In doing so, it contributes to an understanding of the role of women in household production.