Labour power (in German
Arbeitskraft, or labour force; in French
force de travail) is a crucial concept used by
Karl Marx in his critique of
capitalist political economy. He regarded labour power as the most important of the
productive forces of human beings. Labour power can be simply defined as work-capacity, the ability to do work.
Under capitalism, according to Marx, the productive powers of labour appear as the creative power of capital. Work becomes just work, workers become an abstract labour force, and the control over work becomes mainly a management prerogative.
Marx introduces the concept in chapter 6 of the first volume of Capital (generally known by its original German title, Das Kapital), as follows
He adds further on that
