Research On Andre Gorz’s Labor Thought

Since the mid-20th century,with the progress of science and technology and economic development,the industrial structure and class structure of western countries are changing.Driven by the logic of capital,in order to continuously improve the social production efficiency to obtain the maximum residual value,the division of labor is becoming more and more detailed,and the pressure of capital on workers is becoming more and more serious.The large-scale machine production also threatens the balance of the ecosystem.Different degrees of alienation occur in various fields of society,which to some extent intensifies the tension between man and nature,man and man,and man and society.This led to a series of political movements demanding change in capitalist society,such as the French‘May Storm’,the feminist movement and the ecological movement,which fiercely attacked the culture and society of capitalism.In this context,Andre Gorz(1924-2007),drawing on Marx’s alienation theory and labor division theory,absorbing Sartre’s existentialism,Frankfurt School’s social criticism theory,Rifkin and Negri’s non-material labor theory,began to examine the capitalist society from a unique perspective,and launched a fierce critique of capitalist labor alienation from five aspects.He believes that the division of labor in capitalism is the root of labor alienation and even all alienation,that the unlimited pursuit of profits under the principle of economic rationality is the endogenous driving force of labor alienation,that “ technical fascism ” is the technical support of labor alienation,that capitalist education becomes the invisible promoter of labor alienation,and that consumption alienation is the pathological derivation of labor alienation.Alienation and its interaction in various fields will inevitably lead to human alienation.Gorz believes that labor alienation has seriously hindered individual freedom and labor liberation.Thus,he described the ideal labor from the perspective of “time strategy”,labor autonomy and diversity,and the construction of non-material labor society,and put forward the idea of the goal of labor liberation.Moreover,Gorz also pointed out the specific path to realize labor liberation under the condition of ecological socialism from five aspects of the way of labor liberation,revolutionary subject,technical support,power and value orientation,and formed his own labor thought characterized by the pursuit of individual freedom and liberation.Gorz’s labor thought is progressive in expanding the understanding of production,consumption and labor,broadening the unique perspective of political ecology criticism,criticizing capitalism and understanding of socialism.However,there are also serious technical determinism tendencies,too much emphasis on the dominant position of workers and certain utopian color limitations.The study of Gorz’s labor thought helps us to deepen our understanding of the content of labor,and further recognize that capitalist economic rationality is the root of ecological crisis and capitalist labor division is the essence of all alienation.At the same time,it also helps to reflect on the problems existing in China’s social development,strengthen labor education,develop green and low-carbon lifestyles and production methods,adhere to fairness and justice,and explore a new path of ecological rational modernization.