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The '''Reserve army of labour''', sometimes also referred as '''Industrial reserve army''' is Karl Marx's term for the pool of unemployed and partly-employed workers in [[capitalism]]. The | The '''Reserve army of labour''', sometimes also referred as '''Industrial reserve army (IRA)''' is Karl Marx's term for the pool of unemployed and partly-employed workers in [[capitalism]]. The reserve army of labour serves as a pool of potential replacements for those workers who are currently employed, thus enabling the capitalists to maintain a high degree of [[exploitation]] of the employed workers by holding against them the threat of dismissal and replacement by someone from the reserve army. The effect is to reduce the standard of life of the [[working class]] as a whole. That is why the capitalists are not interested in abolishing the industrial reserve army, which exercises pressure on the labour market and ensures them a supply of cheap labour-power.<ref>Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1957. ''Political Economy,'' (Lawrence and Wishart) p. 168.</ref> | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
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== References == | == References == | ||
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[[Category:Marxist terminology]] | [[Category:Marxist terminology]] | ||
[[Category:Marxist economics]] | |||
Revision as of 03:03, 22 September 2025
The Reserve army of labour, sometimes also referred as Industrial reserve army (IRA) is Karl Marx's term for the pool of unemployed and partly-employed workers in capitalism. The reserve army of labour serves as a pool of potential replacements for those workers who are currently employed, thus enabling the capitalists to maintain a high degree of exploitation of the employed workers by holding against them the threat of dismissal and replacement by someone from the reserve army. The effect is to reduce the standard of life of the working class as a whole. That is why the capitalists are not interested in abolishing the industrial reserve army, which exercises pressure on the labour market and ensures them a supply of cheap labour-power.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1957. Political Economy, (Lawrence and Wishart) p. 168.