Includes bibliographical references and index.

Despite the centrality of the concept and reality of labour in Karl Marx's writing, the subject remains remarkably unexplored in the Marxist tradition. Utilizing Marx's own work and taking into account recent developments in communist science, the book subjects the category of labour to a critical reappraisal. This approach, defined here as a Marxist theory of humanization, overcomes the limitations of orthodox Marxist studies of labour by extending the significance of the concept of labour to areas outside the factory and into all aspects of human sociability. This theoretical expansion of the category of labour is supported and illustrated by reference to new empirical research into the global condition of labour. These studies include investigations into the internationalization of labour in New Zealand and Argentina, a reassessment of the role of women workers in Russia and Canada, and the racialization of sections of North American labour. While recognizing the current predicament of labour throughout the world, the theory of global humanization includes a framework for a theoretical reconsideration of the politics of human resistance.

English.