This article aims at continuing the theoretical and political debate on the theme labour as an educational principle by establishing an interlocution with the text by Gaudêncio Frigotto entitled "A polissemia da categoria trabalho e a batalha das ideias nas sociedades de classe" published in Revista Brasileira de Educação n. 40, 2009, in which the author critiques an article by Paulo Tumolo, originally published as an electronic media in 2003 and, in 2005, published in revista Educação & Sociedade n. 90, with the title "O trabalho na forma social do capital e o trabalho como princípio educativo: uma articulação possível?". This article presents an appraisal of the critiques by Frigotto addressed to the text by Tumolo, with the focus on two main issues. The first concerns the historicity, the idea that we must "Think with Marx beyond Marx", as well as the political praxis, and the second concerns the issues of contradiction, of antinomy, and of the alienated work. The article also presents other issues concerning the relationship among labour, education, and strategy for surpassing capitalism.
labour as an educational principle; capitalism; working class; historical perspective