Adam Smith is known as the patriarch of economics because his ideas have been widely used and adapted over the centuries. His concepts introduce a philosophical vision of economic functioning and regulations, including the division of labor. Meanwhile, Marx supplements Smith’s view on labor but considers it as estranged, which is widely explained in the corresponding excerpt. The works of both economists are significant as they explain the interdependence between historical events and subsequent economic development in the middle of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries accordingly.
Initially, Smith planned to present The Wealth of Nations as a polemic instrument targeted at the limitation of political influence and monopoly abuse. It is probably one of the most valuable economic works, which emphasizes individual freedom as a means to promote personal and social benefits. Also, Smith introduces the concept of individuality for each country, assuming that each state is supposed to concentrate on its competitive industries. Each nation must view the prosperity of others with which it trades, and consider their gain as its own loss (Smith, 1776). Meanwhile, politicians and governments need to develop their countries naturally, satisfying both public and individual interests. At that time, the monopoly was a prevailing market structure, and Smith encouraged to shift from it in favor of competitiveness as a major factor that promotes economic growth. Another major aspect discussed in The Wealth of Nations concerns the division of labor. Till the end of the eighteenth century, the economy was based primarily on manufacturing and craft, where one worker was engaged in all stages of the production process. Based on these premises, Smith proposed the contrasting theory – to make one worker concentrate exclusively on a definite stage. These assumptions were widely adopted starting from the break of the industrial revolution, where production lines implemented the division of labor.
Within such circumstances, people started to play new roles in the economy. According to Marx (1884), the political economy starts from labor as the real soul of production, but it gives nothing to labor and everything to private property. Based on this, a new concept of estranged labor emerges – it alienates a person from its natural essence within the production environment. In Estranged Labor, Marx philosophically discusses the role of workers in the capitalist society, where the premises of industrial production and division of labor transform a person into the “detail” of a huge machinery mechanism. Thus, labor becomes a commodity that is exchanged for wages.
Analysis of the two documents, The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, and Estranged Labor by Karl Marx allows drawing the distinctions between two different periods of economic development. In particular, Smith’s concepts are derived from the need to adjust the market structure and move from the monopoly to the perfect competition market in England. Within the colonial policy of that period, the country established a monopoly in trade with its territories. Meanwhile, Smith’s concepts promote competition as the primary force that drives the development of the market. His other principles regarding labor division and transition from manufacturing towards the enhanced alternatives were widely adopted within the period of the industrial revolution. Technological advancements substituted much of people’s efforts and distributed workers among certain production lines. This alternation is widely criticized by Marx – his Estranged Labor considers people as details of a huge machinery production base. Human labor transforms into goods that can be exchanged for money. Within the capitalist era, exploitation of colonial people was also widespread, especially in such powerful empires as Great Britain. That is how political economy provides many opportunities for private properties, but deprives labor of those.
References
Marx, K. (1844). Estranged Labor. Web.
Smith, A. (1776). The Wealth of Nations. Web.