The means of labor (also called instruments of labor) is a concept in

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

that refers to "all those things with the aid of which man acts upon the subject of his labor, and transforms it." (Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., 1957) Means of labor include

tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...

machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

ry, buildings and land used for production, and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

such as

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

telecommunications network A telecommunications network is a group of Node (networking), nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit ...

s, and so forth. Labor, itself, defines "work, especially hard physical work." The means of labor are one of three basic

factors of production In economics, factors of production, resources, or inputs are what is used in the production process to produce output—that is, goods and services. The utilised amounts of the various inputs determine the quantity of output according to the rela ...

(Marx, 1967, p. 174), along with human labor and the subject of labor (the material worked on). The means of labor and the subject of labor comprise the

means of production In political philosophy, the means of production refers to the generally necessary assets and resources that enable a society to engage in production. While the exact resources encompassed in the term may vary, it is widely agreed to include the ...

of society. In some formulations, the means of labor and human labor (including the activity itself as well as the laborer's

skills A skill is the learned or innate ability Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various Action (philosophy), actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are in ...

and

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

used in production) comprise the

productive forces Productive forces, productive powers, or forces of production ( German: ''Produktivkräfte'') is a central idea in Marxism and historical materialism. In Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' own critique of political economy, it refers to the combin ...

of society (e.g., Sheptulin, 1978). Other formulations define productive forces more narrowly as the union of instruments of production and the laborers who wield them (e.g., Institute of Economics, 1957), thereby excluding invested capital.

References

*Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. (1957). ''Political Economy: A Textbook.'' London: Lawrence and Wishart. *Marx, Karl (1867 , 1967). ''Capital'' Vol. I. New York: International Publishers
Internet copy
*Sheptulin, A. P. (1978). ''Marxist-Leninist Philosophy''. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Marxist terminology Marxian economics {{Politics-stub