IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/halshs-01244684.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Adam Smith on the subordination of wage-earners in the commercial society

Author

Listed:
  • Jean Dellemotte

    (PHARE - Philosophie, Histoire et Analyse des Représentations Économiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Benoît Walraevens

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Adam Smith's discourse on wage labour is both original for its time and complex. While Smith indisputably considered the substitution of serfdom by wage labour as an improvement in both opulence and independence, we argue that he nevertheless saw the wage relationship as one founded on subordination. We then cast light on the material factors and symbolic mechanisms which, in his writings, explain how and why the worker agrees to this subordination. Finally, we endeavour to show that Smith's praise for the system of natural liberty as well as his repeated criticisms of merchants and capital owners aimed to transcend this issue.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean Dellemotte & Benoît Walraevens, 2015. "Adam Smith on the subordination of wage-earners in the commercial society," Post-Print halshs-01244684, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01244684
    DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2013.792375
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey T. Young, 1997. "Economics as a Moral Science," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 842.
    2. Ricardo, David, 1821. "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, edition 3, number ricardo1821.
    3. Winch,Donald, 1996. "Riches and Poverty," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521559201, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Benoît Walraevens, 2023. "Moral Sentiments and the Sense of Justice in Smith and Rawls [Sentiments moraux et sens de la justice chez Smith et Rawls]," Post-Print hal-04700018, HAL.
    2. Ecem Okan, 2017. "How did it all begin? Adam Smith on the early and rude state of society and the age of hunters," Post-Print hal-03171143, HAL.
    3. José M. Menudo, 2017. "Turgot, Smith and Steuart on Stadial Histories," Working Papers 17.14, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    4. Andreas Ortmann & Benoit Walraevens, 2015. "The Rhetorical Structure of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (and the importance of acknowledging it)," Discussion Papers 2014-11A, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    5. Andreas Ortmann & Benoit Walraevens, 2014. "The Rhetorical Structure of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (and the importance of acknowledging it)," Discussion Papers 2014-11, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roger E. Backhouse & Steven G. Medema, 2009. "Retrospectives: On the Definition of Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 221-233, Winter.
    2. Scott Drylie, 2020. "Professional Scholarship from 1893 to 2020 on Adam Smith’s Views on School Funding: A Heterodox Examination," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 17(2), pages 350–391-3, September.
    3. Mauro Boianovsky, 2013. "Humboldt and the economists on natural resources, institutions and underdevelopment (1752 to 1859)," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 58-88, February.
    4. Ahmad Jafari Samimi, 2011. "Ethonomics & the History of Economic Thought," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 2(5), pages 223-232.
    5. Drylie, Scott, 2021. "Adam Smith on schooling: A classical liberal rereading," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 748-770.
    6. Mauro Boianovsky, 2011. "Humboldt And The Classical Economists Onnatural Resources, Institutions And Underdevelopment," Anais do XXXVIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 38th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 116, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    7. Rune Skarstein, 2007. "Free Trade: A Dead End for Underdeveloped Economies," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 347-367.
    8. Brausmann, Alexandra & Bretschger, Lucas, 2018. "Economic development on a finite planet with stochastic soil degradation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-19.
    9. Craig Smith, 2016. "All in the best possible taste: Adam Smith and the leaders of fashion," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 597-610, August.
    10. Ayhan, Fatih & Elal, Onuray, 2023. "The IMPACTS of technological change on employment: Evidence from OECD countries with panel data analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    11. Bahar, Dany & Rosenow, Samuel & Stein, Ernesto & Wagner, Rodrigo, 2019. "Export take-offs and acceleration: Unpacking cross-sector linkages in the evolution of comparative advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 48-60.
    12. Sergeyev, Dmitriy & Iovino, Luigi, 2018. "Central Bank Balance Sheet Policies Without Rational Expectations," CEPR Discussion Papers 13100, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Joseph Francois & M. Rombout, 2000. "Preferential Trade Arrangements, Induced Investment, and National Income in a Heckscher-Ohlin-Ramsey Model," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 00-061/2, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Banfi, Silvia & Filippini, Massimo, 2010. "Resource rent taxation and benchmarking--A new perspective for the Swiss hydropower sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 2302-2308, May.
    15. Michalis Nikiforos, 2020. "Demand, Distribution, Productivity, Structural Change, and (Secular?) Stagnation," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_945, Levy Economics Institute.
    16. H. W. Arndt, 1984. "Political Economy," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 60(3), pages 266-273, September.
    17. Emilio Depetris-Chauvin & Ömer Özak, 2020. "The origins of the division of labor in pre-industrial times," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 297-340, September.
    18. Boerner, Lars & Severgnini, Battista, 2015. "Time for growth," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64495, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Michel Zouboulakis, 2010. "Trustworthiness as a Moral Determinant of Economic Activity: Lessons from the Classics," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 209-221, January.
    20. Ramona Dumitriu & Razvan Stefanescu, 2015. "The Relationship Between Romanian Exports And Economic Growth After The Adhesion To European Union," Risk in Contemporary Economy, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, pages 17-26.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01244684. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.