In this chapter we will look at two topics which at first sight seem to be quite different from, or even opposed to, one another: cooperation, i.e. the coming together of labour in the work place, and the division of labour, i.e. the separation of the various parts of the labour process into its constituent parts. However, in so far as manufacturing industry is concerned, Marx argues that these two processes are really just two sides of the same coin, and in fact, Marx actually defines manufacturing as cooperation based on the division of labour (1974a, 343 [1976, 485]).

In Chapter 13, Marx looks at various types of simple cooperation which do not involve a sophisticated division of labour; for example, when everyone helps to harvest a crop or dig a canal. This type of cooperation is necessary because there are certain things that one cannot usually do by oneself (such as lift a heavy rock, or tie a ribbon on a cake box). If one man can dig a canal or build the Great Wall of China in 14,000 years, 14,000 men can do this same thing in one year.