ABSTRACT
In preceding chapters it has been argued that the primary means of demarcating different types of socio-economic system should be in terms of different relations of property governing the sphere of production. When defining key terms in this context, it is important to focus on essential structural characteristics, rather than on contingent functional relationships or outcomes. For example, the employment contract does not necessarily imply the outcome of obedience. Essentially, it invests the employer with limited authority over the worker. The employee may sometimes work voluntarily and without command, in ways that conform to the employer’s wishes. Obedience is a possible or likely outcome of this relationship, it is not always actual in fact.
