Aristocracy of Labour: Some Old and New Problems

Abstract

The article can be summarized as follows: (1) Not all the most affluent workers belong to the aristocracy of labour; only those 'bribed' by mono polistic profits. (2) Lenin's thesis is that superprofits are acquired by the exploitation of colonies. Some later authors have tried to show that aris tocracy of labour in this sense has disappeared, and still others that all workers in developed countries belong to the aristocracy of labour. In my opinion, both are wrong. (3) The political meaning of aristocracy of labour was seen by Lenin in its intermediating of revisionistic ideas. (4) New social groups have arisen close, but somewhat superior, to the workers. These groups are sometimes called'the new anstocracy of labour', but it is questionable whether this label fits. (5) There are no empirical studies that try to fathom the 'real' peculiarities of the aristocracy of labour.