Structure, agency and Marx's analysis of the labour process∗

From the persepective of the transcendental realist account of science and critical realist elaboration of the relationship between human agency and social structure, this paper examines the methodological approach Marx adopts in his analysis of the labour process. The agency-structure relation as detailed by critical realism is set out and placed in the context of wider debates surrounding the notion of structure. In particular the transcendental realist position, which has emerged in recent controversies in the philosophy of science and which underpins critical realism, is considered. The links between Marx's method and critical realism are then explored as a preliminary to the discussion of his analysis of the labour process. The main contention of the paper is that Marx's analysis of the labour process is in line with critical realism and that it can be viewed as a useful example of what a substantive analysis consisitent with this perspective can look like.