"Workers do not strike every day, they cannot do that the way they function in the capitalist economy. The way they have to live by selling their labor power makes that impossible"
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Mandel underscores a structural fact of capitalist society: workers survive by selling their labor power, and a strike is precisely a refusal to sell it. Because rent, food, and debt do not pause, the daily compulsion to earn a wage makes permanent or routine strikes impossible. Capital can stockpile profits, tap credit, and mobilize legal and political support to wait out disruption; the individual worker faces the immediate costs of lost pay and the risks of dismissal. That asymmetry is baked into the wage relation, not a matter of individual courage or apathy.
Calling labor power a commodity signals a Marxist framework. Workers are not simply people who happen to work; they must continually reproduce themselves as sellers of labor in a market. That market imposes discipline without constant overt coercion. The strike interrupts the normal exchange, but precisely because it suspends income, it can only be episodic unless there are strong collective buffers: unions, strike funds, solidarity networks, and political allies. Hence, the rhythms of struggle tend to be wave-like. Long periods of routine bargaining and small acts of resistance punctuate moments when conditions ripen into mass action: inflation erodes wages, management overreaches, or crises expose the system’s fragility.
The argument cuts against romantic visions of unending militancy. Endurance requires strategy. Organization lowers the individual costs of collective action, coordinates timing, and concentrates pressure at decisive choke points. Modern supply chains and service hubs make short, targeted strikes potent, but their effectiveness still depends on preparation and shared resources.
Mandel’s point also clarifies the stakes of reform versus transformation. As long as survival hinges on market income, workers will return to work after a fight, even an inspiring one. Political projects that reduce dependence on wages—through social guarantees, public services, or democratic control of production—aim to weaken that compulsion and enlarge the space for sustained, self-directed collective power.
Calling labor power a commodity signals a Marxist framework. Workers are not simply people who happen to work; they must continually reproduce themselves as sellers of labor in a market. That market imposes discipline without constant overt coercion. The strike interrupts the normal exchange, but precisely because it suspends income, it can only be episodic unless there are strong collective buffers: unions, strike funds, solidarity networks, and political allies. Hence, the rhythms of struggle tend to be wave-like. Long periods of routine bargaining and small acts of resistance punctuate moments when conditions ripen into mass action: inflation erodes wages, management overreaches, or crises expose the system’s fragility.
The argument cuts against romantic visions of unending militancy. Endurance requires strategy. Organization lowers the individual costs of collective action, coordinates timing, and concentrates pressure at decisive choke points. Modern supply chains and service hubs make short, targeted strikes potent, but their effectiveness still depends on preparation and shared resources.
Mandel’s point also clarifies the stakes of reform versus transformation. As long as survival hinges on market income, workers will return to work after a fight, even an inspiring one. Political projects that reduce dependence on wages—through social guarantees, public services, or democratic control of production—aim to weaken that compulsion and enlarge the space for sustained, self-directed collective power.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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