Social Character of Labour, social mode of the existence of labour. Labour is always social in character, because people cannot produce without entering into economic ties. The social character of labour identifies itself in different economic forms depending on the type of relations of production. Thus, with commodity production based on private ownership of the means of production, the labour of isolated producers acts as private labour. Its social character manifests itself in the process of exchange of the products of labour which resolves the contradiction between private and social labour inherent in commodity production. Under capitalism, this contradiction develops into the contradiction between the social character of production and the private appropriation of its results. The socialist system eliminates the private character of labour, the labour of every individual worker acts from the very beginning as direct social labour. This labour is a historically definite form of the manifestation of the social character of labour. The outstanding specific feature of this labour is that the labour of the individual worker from the very beginning is a component link of society’s aggregate labour. Labour is socially recognised and included into society’s aggregate labour in a planned way in the process of the activity of society in managing production in the interests of all members of society. The socialist state ensures the planned training of the labour force, its distribution and use, organises social production in a planned way, distributes labour between the spheres and sectors of the economy, and consciously regulates the links between producers. There are essential differences in the degree of the development of direct social labour at state and collective farm-cooperative enterprises. Today this is revealed in the fact that state enterprises are given production assignments, regimes and rates of labour directly by the state and its bodies. The state determines the plan of sales of products to the state for the collective farm-cooperative enterprises and evolves recommendations for the general principles of organising labour. Collective farms directly regulate the distribution of products which .remain once the plan of sales to the state is met, the concrete regime and rates of labour. Labour on the personal subsidiary small holding of a collective farmer is not directly social, because it is in fact the farmer’s personal labour and he uses farm implements which he himself owns (see Personal Property). As the productive forces develop and their social nature becomes more pronounced, and socialist ownership of the means of production further expands, the differences between the state and collective farm-cooperative enterprises in the degree to which labour at them is directly social disappear. The direct social character of labour is linked with its universality. In a socialist society every able-bodied member of society must work according to his abilities. The universality of labour manifests itself in the right to work enjoyed by each able-bodied person. This right, as proclaimed in the Constitution of the USSR, is ensured by the socialist economic system, the steady growth of the productive forces, free vocational and professional training, improvement of skills, training in new trades or professions, and the expansion of the systems of vocational guidance and providing jobs.