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Harry Braverman’s Theory of the Evolution of the Working Class

Harry Braverman’s Theory of the Evolution of the Working Class

In The Making of the U.S. Working Class, Harry Braverman begins by discussing what the term ‘working class’ means and who it entails.  He explains that the difference between those who are a part of the ‘working class’ and those who are not, does not lie in doing different activities or work.  Rather, the difference lies in the social relations between them (Braverman, p.15).

Members of the ‘working class’ are hired to perform tasks by employers and may also use the employers’ tools to perform these tasks. Now, the employer may also be working and doing the exact type of work that the ‘working class’ that they hire are doing, but the difference lies in the relation they share (Braverman, p.15).  The employer is not part of the ‘working class’ because they are not hired but work for themselves and get to keep the profit that is made and own the tools that are used to produce the product.  A seamstress who owns a dress shop may hire people to help her make dresses.  These hired people would be considered ‘working class’ but the seamstress would not because she owns the shop and all of the materials in it.

Braverman goes on to discuss ways in which the shifts in occupations over time can be organized, and he singles out the shift from productive occupations to unproductive ones (Braverman, p.27). He first describes the type of work that is considered productive, which entails any work that assists in the necessary production of useful things or services (Braverman, pps.27-28).  Braverman adds that a productive worker does not have to be in direct contact with the product itself (Braverman, p.27).  An example of a productive worker is an office clerk who does accounting for a business that produces medical supplies.  The office clerk’s job is necessary to the business even though they do not actually work with the medical supplies.

Braverman then describes the work that is considered unproductive, meaning work that is superfluous to the production of goods (Braverman, p.30). He lists many industries including banking, insurance, advertising, and marketing and one clear example of unproductive work that he provides is the useless ornamentation on cars (Braverman, pps.30-31).

Considering these terms, working class and productive and unproductive labor, it seems as though Braverman is stating that members of the working class can do both productive and unproductive work. Additionally, capitalism has played a role in dividing the working class from those who are not part of it, as well as been the primary factor in the evolution of unproductive labor.