The demand for equality originates in wage labor’s commodity equivalences

Evidence

For Marx, equality — or the demand for it — is the result of the equivalences instituted by wage labor, whence the suggestiveness of this remark: “The capitalist epoch is therefore characterized by the fact that labour-power, in the eyes of the worker himself, takes on the form of a commodity which is his property; his labour consequently takes on the form of wage-labour. On the other hand, it is only from this moment that the commodity-form of the products of labour becomes universal.” — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 1035

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies Marx’s claim that equality as a demand is derived from, not prior to, the commodity equivalence instituted by wage labor.
• XREF: Connects to Fredric-Jameson reading purpose: traces how a cultural/economic form (commodity equivalence) produces an apparent value (equality) — an example of the economy’s way of appearing as an ideal. — connects to: Socially necessary labor time makes disparate commodities commensurable — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1443; Capitalist-worker exchange is formally equal but substantively unequal — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1365; Unilateral wage setting without bargaining power is unilateral law-making — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4246 (+4 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Socially necessary labor time makes disparate commodities commensurable — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1443; Capitalist-worker exchange is formally equal but substantively unequal — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1365; Unilateral wage setting without bargaining power is unilateral law-making — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4246 (+4 more)