Labourism - an Ethical-social Principle or a Political System?

Abstract

Labourism is one of the options of the Catholic social thought. Despite the discussion triggered by the publication of the encyclical Laborem exercens, in which John Paul II has formulated, expressis verbis, for the first time the principle of the priority of labour over capital, the popularization of the idea of labour is not too common. There are differences in opinion among authors as to its understanding and range of obligation. Some understand labourism as an ethical-social principle which does not have to be applied in the practice of economic life. Others perceive labourism as a proposal of a concrete political system based on the principle of the priority of labour over capital, and construct models of such a political system. These two extreme ways of understanding seem to be unacceptable. Labourism understood as a social-ethical principle calls for its being taken into consideration when establishing socio-economic order according to the principle of correlation with other principles. The documents of the social teaching of the Church do not favour any particular political solution, postulating considering principles in any political form. According to some authors, labourism seems to negate the right to private property. This results from an insufficient understanding of capital as a means of production and of the owner of capital. In this approach labour is understood in a very narrow manner, and is identified with hired labour. Such authors seem to forget about the activity of the owner or disposer of capital. It is not regarded as labour, the latter being granted by labourism with the right to organize the process of production. The model of labourers’ humanistic democracy, constructed by O. Šik, is not inspired by the social encyclicals, yet is interpreted by Catholic authors. It proposes a way to organize enterprises, which is based on the priority of labour over capital, and suggests establishing structures which make economic democracy possible within the macroeconomic scale. The model of a labouristic system worked out by A. Berchtold and inspired by the social teaching of the Church embraces an analogical range. These models, however, arouse many reservations as regards both their conformity with the social thought of the Church and their effective functioning in practice.