Symbolic Exchange and Labour

U članku se ispituju teme i metode kritičke teorije u polju analize rada i s radom povezanih pitanja, a u kontekstu ekonomije postindustrijskog društva. Pri tome se revitalizira francuskog filozofa Jeana Baudrillarda te njegovu teoriju rada koja naglašava simboličku dimenziju rada. Članak ističe važnost Baudrillardovih interpretacija rada putem teorijskih koncepata Imaginarnog, Simboličkog i Realnog, a koje je 1960ih utemeljio francuski filozof i psihoanalitičar Jacques Lacan. Rad kontekstualizira njegove osnovne teze o karakteru rada u postindustrijskom društvu, koje on postavlja krajem sedamdesetih godina, suočavajući ih sa suvremenim kritikama koje, pogotovu nakon ekonomske krize 2008. godine inzistiraju na vraćanju klasičnim pitanjima kritike političke teorije. Mapirajući razlike između definicija simboličkog karaktera rada i materijalističkih interpretacija koje nastaju u nasljeđu Marxove kritike političke ekonomije, članak upozorava na nužnost uključivanja obaju teorijskih paradigmi, spajanja političko-simboličkog i ekonomsko-materijalističkog pristupa. Inzistirajući na važnosti obaju pristupa, pokušavaju se protumačiti prisutne anomalije u doba navodne dematerijalizacije rada, kao što je to paradoksalno povećanje radnih sati nauštrb nasljeđa osmosatnoga radnog vremena.The paper questions themes and methods of critical theory in the realm of analysis of labour and related questions in the context of economy of the post-industrial society. The paper revitalizes often neglected the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard and his theory of labour which insists on symbolical dimension of labour. The paper accents importance of Baudrillard’s interpretations through theoretical concepts of Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real founded during the sixties by the French philosopher and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. The paper contextualizes his major thesis on character of labour in the post-industrial society, which he elaborates at the end of the seventies, and confronts them with contemporary critiques which, especially after the economic crisis in 2008, insist on returning to classical questions of the critique of political economy. By mapping differences between definitions of symbolic character of labour and materialistic interpretations which are founded in the heritage of Marx’s critique of political economy, paper warns on a necessity of including both theoretical paradigms, relating political-symbolical and economical-materialist approach. While insisting on a relevance of both approaches, the paper tries to elaborate present anomalies in the era of so called dematerialization of labour, as it is the case of, for example, paradoxical increasing of working hours at the cost of eight hours labour time