ernest mandel, introduction to capital

8/21/2019 Ernest Mandel, Introduction to Capital

1/233

Ernest Mandel

Introduction to Capital

Introduction to volume 1 (1976) p.2

Introduction to the Appendix: Results of the Immediate Process of Production (1976) p.78




2/233

Introduction

When Vue f apal was s pubished capiais indushugh pedinan in a few Wesen Eupean cuies si

appeaed as an isaed isand enciced by a sea independenaes and handicafsen which cveed he we wd incuding he gea pa even Eupe Wha a's apaepained hweve was abve a he uhess and iesisibe ipuse gwh which chaaceies pducin pivae pand he pedinan use f p f capia accuain SinceMa we capiais echng and indus have indeed speada ve he wd. As he have dne s eve n n hae

aeia weah and he pssibiiies f eeing ankind deniive f he buden f eaningess epeiive and echanica wk nceased b s has he paiain sciebeween fewe and fewe wnes f capia and e and ewkes hand and bain ced se hei abpwe hese wnes The cncenain f weah and pwe in a sanube f gian indusia and nancia cpains has bugh

wih an inceasing univesa sugge beween Capia adLabuPeidica he bugeis cass and is idegues have hug

he have fund he sne f wisd ; have e abe accdig annunce he end f cises and sciecic cnaicin he capais ssem u despie Kenesian echniques wihsanding a he vaius aeps inegae he cass in ae capiais f ve a decade nw he se�

appeaed i anhing e cisisidden han when Ma apal F he Viena wa he ui he nea sse ; f he upsuge f adica wkes suggs Wesen upe since he eecin f bugeiaus adcuue b age nubes f ung pepe hughu he wd he ecg and eneg cises he ecuen ecnic e


3/233

2 noucon

cessios : thee is o eed to ook ve fa fo idicatos thatapitaisms heda is oe apal epais wh the shapeigcotadictios of the sstem wee as ievitabe as its impetuousgowth I that sese cota to a geea accepted beief a

is mch me a ecoomist of the twetieth cetu tha of theeteeth odas este wod is much eae to the pueme of apa tha was the wod i which it was compsed

HE UROS O

I apal a's fudameta am was to a bae the aws fmotio which gove te oigis the ise the deveopmet the

decie ad the disappeaace of a give socia fom of ecoomicogaizatio the capitaist mode of poductio

t se!J/aws o ecoic ogaao Ideed oee tses·o is tt o sch as eist o atee ae o ecoomic aws aid fo e d eve basia dieet fom of societ aside fom tiviaities ike the fomua whihots out that o societ ca cosume moe tha it poduces without eduig its stock of weath whehe the atua fetiit ofthe ad the tota popatio the mass of meas of podctio oseea of tse Each pecic socia fom of ecomic ogaiatio has its ow specic ecoomic aws apal imits tsef toeamig tose which goe the cpitaist ode of poduco

apal is theefoe ot pue ecomic theo at a o a pe ' ecoomic theo that is ecomic theo whic abstactsfom a specic soca stuctue is impossibe It woud be simia

to pue' aatom abstacted fo the specic species which s obe eamied e ca push the aaog fte Athoug ofcouse comaa aaom is a bach of atua sciceusefu fo iceasig o owedge of huma ad aima phsioog it ca be o a bpoduc of the deveopet o heaatomica udestag of specic give species the saewa a's theo of hitoica ateiais oes ideed icuecompaative ecoomic aasis fo eampe a eamiatio of

the eotio of huma abo hma abou poductivit sociasupus poduct ad ecoomic gowt fom sae societ thoughfeudaism to cpitaism But uch compaiso ca esut o foe aas of specic mes of poductio each with its w ecooc ogc ad ts ow aw of otio hese caot espeseded b o sbsmed ude etea ecoomic aws W a


4/233

noducon 1

ven push the anaog to its na concusion I one ties to ndsoe basic coon kene in a ' anao one eaves the eao that specic science and entes anothe bioog o iocheist n the sae wa one ties to discove basic woking

hpotheses vaid o a econoic sstes oe psses o theea o econoc heo to tha o the science o socia stctueshistoica ateiais

In this wa a's econoic theo and it s cownng wokapal ae ba_sed upon an undestanding o the lay ocaldmnaon and ocalmaon o a econoc aws In thesocioeconoic deveopent o ankind coodit poductionaket econo o the distibution of socia esouces aon

dient banches of poduction b objective econoic aws opeating behid the back o the podces' do ot coespondto huan nate have not awas eisted and wi not awaseist xpaining the igs c_mital

s

ode o pduction points

ar-v

ble historic

l dece·an ofthis so!hytem. A a hhistoa vy oev econoic sste its stict iitationin tie tactess einds esss the capitaists thei hangesonand thei apoogists that capitlsms� is a


5/233

noucon

aasis f aue ad echagevaue, s des he capiaistde f pduci eege ocall f the gth f c-di puci wthut sipe cdi pdci capiais cn ce it eistece apal, he un ad

he the basic ecic iigs f Ka Ma theefe icudean aases f sipe cdit pductin, a f f pduci hich eised i anifd was f ea 000 easbefe de capiais was b, ut which fud its fuesweig betee he thiteeth ad sieenth cetuies A.Di the L Cuties, the Ia, ad ate Btai (ad aesser degee i apa befe the Meiji evui

Objectis have bee advaced b ea Russia Mais

auhs ike Bgdav, b ae cmetats ike Rubin ad bcepa Maists ike Luci Cett ad Luis Atusse1 t he vie, igiag wih Eges ad hed b Rsa ebug, which I subscie,2 ha Mas apal pvides abasc aasis f he capias de f pduci but assgica cets p he whe histica peid wic -cudes essetia phemea f pett ci pdcti Theseectis, hweve, ae basd up a dube cfun It is tuetha he caitaist mde f pducti is the sca gaiai ec which ipies na cdit p-duci It wud hus be cpee isake t cnsde, feape, Heestic save sciet he cassica Isaic piew fs f scie wih stg deveped pet cmditpducti, e ec ad ieaia ade as eigul b he aw f vaue Cdit pducti in these pe

capitaist des f pduci s iewied with ad th lastanss subdinted , gaiatis f pdcti i he s

1. I. . Rub n, Essays on Mar's Theory o Val ue, Deoit, 19 72, p p 54 -6ucio Coleti, Marxism and He gel, NB ondon 1973, pp 112 ouisA hsse , he Objec of Capital, n Reading Capital, NLB, ondon, }70,pp 317 12 4 6. Thee is aso a vey iuminating emak y a x hims ef,o Cpe 6 ' o Capital, Vol. 1 (see Apdx o s olme): Neeles s, hin c rtan limts bot g oods an oney wer e cculated an hen .

hee as a cetain eotion of ade: this was the premiss and poin o d-parture for the ormation o capital d he capitaist mode o podcon'p 0560 eo)

2 Kal Ma x, Capital, Moscow, 1962, Vol 3, pp 1724 Fedich Eng els,aw of Vaue and Rate o Pot, ibid. (appendx), pp 8736 os a u mbug, fhrun g in die Nationalkonomie, Bein, 192 , pp 1922 ; rnesMande; Mar ist conomc Theory, ondon, 969 , Vo 1, pp. 68


6/233

nocon

pae agcutua pductin f a cea nncapitais natuewhch fw a deent ecnic gic f ht hich gvensechanges etween cdities the accuuatin f cait

Bt ths n n wa pies that in scieties in wich pett

dt pductn has aead bece the peomn de fpductin that is whee the ait f the pduces ae feasants and fee handicatsen wh wn and echange thepducs f thei abu the aws gvening the echage f c-dities and the cicuain f ne d nt stng inuencete ecnic dnaic Indeed it is pecise the uoln f theaw f vaue which eads in such scieties t the sepaatin f thediect pduces f thei eans f pductin athugh a whe

seies f scia and pitica devepents inuences this ithpcess f den capitais hastening it swig it dwn cbining it with tends ging in dieent diectins

On the the hand it is tue that fuedged ecniaccunting based upn quantities f scia equaied auces int its wn n unde cpitais and this n as an bective ecnic aw and nt as cnscius decisins f nes fcdities it des nt fw at a f this stateent thaabu quantities accunting cannt en t appea in pecapitaist scieties in which cdit pductin bees aegua institutin Indeed it is pecise when pett cditpductin is aead age deveped ut at the sae tie sintetwined with taditna fs f natua ecnic ganatin which ip cnscius acatins f ecnic esuesand scia abu between dieent fs f pductin th

custs habits ites eigin deibeatin f edes assebes fpaticpants etc) that the need f a cnscius accunting fabu quantities can and ust appea in de t avd ascnusties and inequaities n scia ganiatins sti ased up ahigh dege f scia equait and cheence I have tied t peb epiica data that this has in fact been the case at ieistica eids in dieent pats f the wd 3

s de nt ean that the aw f vaue s a pduct capitaist hist N des it ean at such sti etive riitive scieties wee budened with the sae anic pusu ateia ewads and easueent f abutie ependiedwn t factins f secnds as u n; f these ae indee

pue pducts f bugeis ciet It n eans that the e3. Mde op. cit., pp 565


7/233

nucon

ryonic orms o te a o vaue can e discovee in te eronic eelomens o commodiy procion, jus as teeleenary ce o capial, e commodiy, contains in an mryonic way all he nner ualiies and conradicions o a socia

caegory To deny his isoica dimension o Maxs analysis isto ransor he origins o capiaism ino n insoe serOne coud argue ha his is raher a moot poin or economiss,

ineresing only or anhropoogiss, ehnologists or hisorians Buis iplications are in act exremely areaching B saing tatthe analysis o te aws o moion governing e capita_ ode oproducion necessari includes at leas some essenal emens an analysis o economic phenomena valid or te wole isorica

epoch encompassing economic organizaions in wic commodityproducion exiss, one exens he vaidiy o pats o Marsapal no oly io he pas u also io e uure or penomena o coodiy producio oiously survive, a eas partialy, in hose scieies in wich he rule o capia as aready beenovehrown, t

'hc

are no yet ulledged lassess, ha issocals, c: he USSR and he Peoples eulcs oEase E, Ca, Norh or Koea and uaapal is no more a ide o unersanding e s ion oee sieies a i is a guide o undersading the aws oion o developed ae medieval socie ased upon pey comody roucion Bu it can el us a lo aou he dynamics andisinegraing logic) o commodiy producion an eyeconomy in such noncapials sociees, and he contradicionsc ese inroduce ino he specic and pure as o moion

te laer apal is no a reaise n eernal economic aws, does it al at onain a science o the capials ecoom? ome Marists,in e s plae he German ar orsch, ave enie is4 orhem as or so any ourgeois criics o ax aal is eseilly an insme or e revoluonary oerhro o capiaism y he prolearia ccording o hem, it s possile oseprate �

!:'

conen of _a fro �:!' ieion, as he Aus�Gemn Maris Rudo Hilerdin riedto do is contenion overlooks a asc disincion which Marxand gels inroduced eween uopi and scienc sociasar remaned indeed a revoluionar during e whole o is

. Ka Kc Marm ad hooh NB d 70 560·5 Rd iedig a akaa ea 12 x


8/233

noucon

dul life afer 83 Bu e considered i essenial o ase sociaism(communm) upon a scientc foundation. The

$! _Jtic

anal�s

of h clst mode ofproducio1 w�t e e coesone a fu

�o

;

w1 gw�y:and ho w capi m-rQr

s ev e economc maeal and social pre-condons for a socey of associated prod\cers In ha senseMar srove no indeed n conradicon o u precisely as funcon of hs inenion o anayse capiasm in an ojece andsrcy scenc ay In oher ords he dd no simply gve ve oan aggressive hosiy oards a parcular for of econocorganizaion for reasons of revoluonary passon and compassonfor he donrodden and oppressed; nor i hardly needs o e

sad as he movaed y personal spie maeria failure orpsychoic malance Marx sough o dscover oecive las ofoion here as noody no even he ypcal ourgeoispee hom he despised moe han he man ith scienicpretensions ho nevrtheless deleraey tists empirca daa ofalsies research resuls o su some sjecive prpose reciseecause Marx as convnced ha he cause of he prolearia asof decisve imporance for the hole fuure of manknd he anedo creae for ha cause no a msy plaform of rheorica invecve or shfu hinking u e rocke foundaion of sceni-c tru.

2 MOD F CAPTAL

he purpose of apal s iself a clear remnder of he meho noedge applied y Mar o his mai or he mehod of emaeias diaecc arx e no dou ha his as ndeed oe himsef undersood his aours. In a leer en o MauLachtre he edor of he rst French ediion of aa Vue he ssed the fact ha he as the rs person o have ps mehod o e sudy o economic prolems6 gain n hson posface to he second German editon of apa Volun I,

Marx speced ths use of the dialecca mehod as hef

pecca of apal ich disnguised i from a oher ecaayses7

6 Ma o Mac Lac of 18 Mac182; s Pfac to theFc Eon ow

7. S bo 2


9/233

nocon

When the dialectica method s apped to the study of economproblems, economic henomena are not viewe separately fromeach other, by bits and pieces, but in their inner connectin as aintegrated totality, sructured around, and by, a basi pedomnan

mode of production is totality is analysed in al its aspects andmanifestations, as determined by cerain given laws of otin which relate also to its origins and its inevitable disappearancehese laws of motion o he given mode of production are discovered to be nothing but the unfolding of the inner contradictinof that structure, which dene its very nature he given economicstructure is seen to be characterized at one and the same time bythe unity of tese contradictions and by their strggle, both f

which determine the constant changes wih it undergoes he(quanttative changes which constantly occur in the given odeof production, throgh adaptation, integration of reforms andselfdefence (evolution, are distinguished from those (qualitativechanges which, by sudden leaps, produce a dierent structure, anew mode of production (revolution

Marx clearly poses his own dialectical method of invstg tion

and knowledge to that of Hegel, alhough he neer hesitates to recognize his debt of grtitude to the German philosopher, sprre on by the French Revoltion, catapulted dialecticathoght back into the modern world egel's dialectics were ide�lis: the basic otion was that of the Absolute dea; material realityas only the outward appearance of ideal essence For Marx, onte contrary, the dalectic is mterialist, the ideal is noting btthe material world reected in the mind of man, and traslated

into foms of thougt'8 The basic laws of motion of history arethose of real men, theselves producing their own maerial eistence in a given social framewor The development o togtcorresponds in the na anlysis to hat asic movement, an reects it, abeit throuh many mediations Thus the scientictougt process throgh whic arx came to undertad theoperations o the capitalist mode of production was itself poduct of that mode o prodction, of bourgeois society and its

conradictions nly secondarily can it be seen as a rodct of tedevelopment of many human sciences and ideologies classcaerman philosopy; nglish politial economy French istoriogray and political science preMarxian socialsm Only e

8. id 10


10/233

nroon

grow f ourgeos soey and ts ontradtons, above tstruggle between aptal and labur eabled Marx to assiilateome and ransfor these ses the spe way and thspe dreo he d Nevetheless, we the materiaist dia

let s egels deais daletturned rght side up again, bothave basi ommo trats Dalets as the logi of motion presupposes that al moton, a evolution, whether of nature, soiety ohuman ought, adopts erta genera forms whih are alled dialetal 9 Engels and Lenin both saw, in the very way in whiaptal olue 1 was onsrted, a striking appliation of thisgeneral daletal metho thus enin wrote that althogh Marhad neer rtten hs projeted short treatis on dialetis he had

everthelss le us aptal, whih is the appliation of the aterialst dalet the eld of eonomi phenomena0· Preisely beause Marxs dialeti is a mateialist oe howve

t does not start from inuiio, preoneptions or ystifyishmes, ut ro a full assmlaton of sienti data he ethodof vesgaton must dier from the method of expositioEmpral fats have to be gathered rst, the given state of noledge as to be fly grasped Only when this is ahieved an adaletal reorgaaton of te material be undertaken in order tounderstn gen ttality If this is suessful, the rsut is areprouon mans tougt of this material totality thaptaist mode of prodution

he main anger for an sientst nvolve n the study of soapenomea s tht of tag anything for granted, o probbldness he dstton betwee appearane and essene, wih

arx nherte from ege

d whih is part and parel of tedaletal method of investigation, is noting but a onstantatempt to piere farther and farer hrogh suessive layers ofphenomena, towars laws of moion whih explan why thsphenomena evolve a ertain diretion and in ertain ways o

gs ee o Coad Schid o Noem agesSeeed orrepodee oscow p.

e a o Heges aecics ogic Coeed Work Vo 8p

ee wi e see wha he phisies ad ga ecooiss ay o fook a h sems om ame om he ac a s o he orm of maeao o eas ha s eeced he ais ad o eer oeio Icidea he ae wee he case wha eed wodhee o ee? ee om ax o ges 2 Je 8 Seeted Coepodee p ) See aso Capa Vo p.


11/233

0 noution

tanty searcng o queston cang nt queton! weoters ony see reaymae answers an vuga eence ts certainy one of Marxs man mert as a revoutonary novator ecoomc sc1ence.

But fo Marx, te materiast iaectician, e istincton betwee essee an 'appearance in no sense mes tat 'appearance is ess 'rea ten 'essence. Movements of vaue eter•ne in te ast anayss movements of pces but Marx temaeraist wou ave auge at any 'Marxist wo suggestetat prces were 'unrea, because in te ast anaysis detemine byvaue movemens. e stinction between 'essence an 'ap

pearance refers to ierent eves of eterminaton, tat s n te ast anaysis to te process of cogton, not to erent egrees oreaty o expain te captast moe of prouction in ts totaityit is woy insucent to unerstan smpy te'basic essence, te'aw of vaue t s necessary to ntegrate 'essence an 'appearnce roug a ter ntermeiate meating nks, to epainow an wy given'essence appears in given concrete forms annot in oters For tese 'appearances temsees are neter ac

ienta nor sefevient Tey pose probems, tey ave to bexpaine in er turn, an ts very expanation eps to percetroug new ayers o mystery an brings s again nearer to a fuunerstanng of te specic form of ecoomc orgazaton wcwe want to unerstan o eny is nee to reintegrate 'essncean 'appearance s as niaectca an as ystfying as accept 'apparances as tey are, witout ookg for te bascforce a contraictons wc tey ten to e from te supcia an empircist bserver.

e ay in wic pita starts wit an anaysis of te basategores of commoity prouction, wit te 'basc unit (unamenta ce of captais econmc ife te commoty, as oenbeen cte as a moe apicton f ts materast aectc Marxmsef mkes it cear tat e oes not start from a basic contvaue bt from an eeentary materia penomenon te

commoity wic s at te basis of capitasm, as te on eonoic organztion base upon generaze commot proucton2t s eefore corect but ncompete, strcy peaking, to say tataxs eto consists of 'rising from te absract to te cn

Karl arx Radglosse z A Wagers "ehrbuch dr poisceekome W pp Eglish raslao Theoretcaractice N 5 odo 7


12/233

nouion

crete '.3 n act, e tart ro eeet o te atera concreteto go to· te teoretca abtract, wc ep ten to reprocete concrete totaty n teoretca anay In t f rcnean epoyent, te concrete away a cobnaton of n

nuerabe teoretca 'abtracton. Bt te atera concretetat , rea bourgeo ocety, ext before t woe centceneavor, eterne t n te at ntance, an rean a con-tant practca pont of reference to tet te vat of te teoryOny te reprocto of t concree totaty n an togtoe earer to te rea atera totaty togt reay cen-tc t rt gt, te oveent wc onate pitVoe appear a a oveent of eonoc 'categore, fro

te cooty an t nner contracton to te accmaton ofapta an t breaow Te qeton a oen been ake t oveent ut an abtract ynop of te 'eence capta, r t a greaty pe reecton of rea economceveopent, tat , te rea tory eag fro te rt ap-pearance of cooty procto p to fcae captat pro-cton n te Wet, pre o a econary an cobnefor wc wo ony obcre te bac natre of t ove-

ent?.

It s mpossile to answer ths qestin smply wth a 'yes or ao. Cootes proue accentay in precai a list soce-ties, at the very margin of the basic processes of production an�consption, obvious ly cannot trgger o the strikng an ter-rfyng gic of t e' law of va lue whch Marx ma jestca l ly nfo ls in Capital. Commodit prodction as a basic and dominant f eatre of econ

omic l e prespposes apitalism, that is a society n whic labor-power and instrments of labor have themselves becoe cooities In that sense it s tre that the aayss o Voe 1· of Capital is ogica (base pon diaecica ogc) an ot torca

1 3 . Marx Grun d ri sse, Pecan Marx L brary p. 0 . See on the cota L enin (op cit . , p 1 71 ) 'Thought pr eding om the con ret to the abstrc d s not g et away from the truth but comes coser to it. In his cm on the thee voum es of Captal witten n the ery thrties D. I. Rosenrg m akes the interes ting point that Mar's abstractions are in ther turn conret i

a

n

_

m

c

h

as they are : elated to a concrete econom ic form ation and a� te; are h stocall determ ed They are neither aritrary nor a priori abstractions(See the Spanis trans lation of the orig nal Rs sia text, pulished y Semt �.nario d e 'El Capital, Escuela Naciona de Econom ia UNAM Mexico; Cudern I p


13/233

2 ntouctio

But dialectics imply that very phenomenon has an orgn an aend, that nothing is either eterna or nised once and for all.Hence the historical cel of capital is at the same time the key tothe logica analysis of capital: phylogenesis and embryology ca

not be competely separated Within capital accumlation incontempoary eeryday capitalist life, some ascts of primitiecapital accumulation are reproduced without that primitivecapital accumuation, there wuld be no capitalst mode of prodction So te ogical analysis does reect some basic trends ofhistorical deelopment aer al The simplest forms of appearanceof the 'economic categories (which are just forms of materialexistence, of material reality as peceied and simplied by te

human mind) are ofen also their pmitie that is thei originalfo Hweer controesial this interpretation may be, it isdiclt to deny that this unity of histoical and ogical analyss isthe way in which Ma and Engels undestood their own method 14

A whole literaure has een prouced, from Bernstein to Poperand on to contemorry academic economists, on the sbject ofte 'seless, metapysical or een 'mystfying nate of tedialctical metho which Marx borrowed from HegeJ5 Thepostivist narrowness of outloo of these critcs themseles generaly beas eloquent testimony to the cotrary, tat is to the broahistoical ision and the piercing lucidiy which the dialecticlmethod heped arx to achiee hans to that method, arxsapt« apars as a giant compaed to any subsequent or contemporay wor of economic analyss It was neer intended as ahandboo to hel goernments to sole such problems as balance

of-payments decits, no yet as a learned, if somewhat tite, expanation of al te eciting appenings in the aret pace we

See ths and atd subects mng thes tt f Gechchted Dalet de olche Oekome Fanfut 9 Eva Vasevcjenv a daletca del atatto e del coceto e Catae d M ax lan6 Kae Ks De Dalektk de Kokete Fanfut 96 dchZen De Wchatlok d Da Katal Fanfut 969 ; eKe Gechchte d Dalektk Hambug 955 etc

5 F exam Eugen vn Bhm-Ba Kal Max a the Cloe oh ytem e Y 99 ; Eduad Bensten De Voaetzede ozam d de Afabe de ozaldemoate Stuttgat 899 5 Ka Pe T Oe ocety ad t Eeme nd 96 V . 8 Vass nt The Sgncance f axan Ecnmcs fPsntDa Ecnmc he Ameca Ecoomc eve lemetach 98 ented Ht Max ad Mode coomc Lndn968 95 etc


14/233

ntoucto 3

Sth ds o bue o te ast ohs 000 tos o o It wasiteed as a expaatio o what woud happe to abouachie techoloy the size o etepises the social stuctueo the popuatio the discotuity o ecooic owth a the

eatios twee wokes ad wok as the cpitaist ode o poductio olded a its teiyi potetia Fo that poit oiew the achieeet is tuy ipessie It is pecisely because oaxs capacity to discoe the o-te laws o otio o tecapitaist ode o poductio i its esece iespectie othousads o ipuities ad o secoday aspects that his ote pedctios the aws o accuuatio o capita steppeduptecholoca poess acceated icease i the oductiity itesity o abou owi cocetatio ad cetalizatio ocapita aoatio o the eat ajoity o ecooicayactie pepe ito sees o laoupowe declii ate o poticeased ate o supus alue peiodicay ecuet eessiosieitable cass stue betwee Capita ad Labou iceasieolutioay attepts to ethow capitais hae bee stiiy coed b histoy16

his udeet has eeay bee chaeed o two ouds.he easist wayut o citics o a is sipy to dey that theaws o otio o the caitaist ode o poductio which he disoeed hae bee eied at a This is eeay doe by educi the to a couple o isstated ad oesipie ouae(see belw poessie iiseatio o the woki cass aee-wosei ecooic cisis17 oe sophisticated ec

6 Heve ptant these technca cntbutns t h pgess ofecc the n the pesent� da appas f aan aceveents theae eshaded b hs bant anass f te ng-te tndences f thcaptast sste The ecd s ndeed pessve nceasng cncentatn h apd entn f sa and edu-szed etepse pgess f cpetn cessant techngca pgess accpae the evgng ptance f ed capta and ast but nt east th udnshg apude ecuen busness cces an unsupassed sespgnstcatns fued aganst hch den ecnc the th eneents has tte t sh deed (Lentef p ct. p. 4

17 A classical exaple of such over smpli cation is given by Paul Samu l-son. He reduces the laws of otion of the capitalist ode of prod cio two (!): the i miseration of the workng clas s', and he growing m onpolization under capitalism , and concludes on the rst that 'it sm ply nev took place, while declaring on the second that ' fo thrty years Max seem et hae ben right i this prphecy, even thugh fr the net s eventy years hdoes not seem to be bo out by the m ost careful research on indus tra


15/233

ntoution

o s dced by K oppe, ho deed he ey possbo he he scec e, o sch s', cg hem -odio hisoc pophecies' o be cey dsg ishe sceic pedicios' dy pedcios sciece' sys

o e codiio. They sse h ce chges (sy, ohe empee o e kee) be ccopie by oechges (sy he boig o he e)'8 Poppe deies he scei-c e o apta by sseig h, ike sceic heoie, shypoheses co be sceicy esed9

This is obosy bsed po isdesdg o he eye o he eiis diecic, hich, s ei poied oeqies cos ecio hogh pxis o icese is cogi-

o coe.2 c, od be ey esy o poe' Mxysis o he bee og, expeece hd sho, o exmpeh he moe cpis dsy deeops, he sme d sehe ege coy becomes, he ess depeds po e ech-oogy, he moe is cpi is spped by he okes hemseeshe moe okes become oes o hei coes, he Jess hep o ges ke by cosme goods becomes d he geebecomes he p o ges sed o byig he okes' oes o podcio) , ddio, hee hd b decdes ho ecoomic cos d sce dsppeace o deios d epoyes ssocios ( og om he dis-ppece o codcios beee p d bo, smch s okes cesgy become he cooes o he oes d codiios o podcio), he oe cod ideed syh apta s so mch bbish d hd dismy ed o pe

dic h od hppe he e cpis od cey es pbico. s sce o compe he e hsoy o he

concentration E ery thing is the capped by the nal s tatement that Ma thoug ht there wa an ' nevitable law of apitalis t developent that the bus nes s cy cle s hould be g etting wors e and wors e n that ths was ot true e ter ( Paul A Samuels on, 'Marxian Economcs as Economics American Economi Review, Vol . 57 1967 pp -3)

18 Karl K Popper, ' Predictons and P ophecy in the Social Scences Co j ectures and futatons - T Growth of Scientc Knowled ge, Lond�n 1963, p. 339 1 9. Po� per, h Open Society and its Enemes, Vol te whole of Cha te

23, es pecJally p 210. 2 0 Lenin, op. ct, p 319: 'All thes e moments (s teps , s tag es , roces s es o

o nition move the drection f r the s ubj ect to the obect be tes ted i actice and arrivng t oug h ths tes t at ruth . •

'


16/233

ntroution

ri sic 867 th hd with wht rx rdictd itwd , d t thr wth y sch trtv ws t t drst hw rrk dd ws Mrxsthrtc chivt d hw strgy t stds st th

xrit tst histry2

3 · THE PLAN OF CAPAL

p ws t t st spts grti r ws it thrdct sdd trst Mr cc rs Evrc this dctr hshy (J, 84 hd c cst th crs th ght-rtis dr th rssr

crrt xrc wth sc rs (th trtt wdthvs i th Rhi rvcs rss th isg thSs txt wrkrs th strks i Egd ; th css strgg Fc), h hd tr twrds cc stds Bt hs rst tr wth mdr tc cy (whch s rst th onom nd Phosop Musrpts The Poverty oPhosophy Wge Lbour n pt d The ommunst Mnfesto ws rgy irrtd y th rssr xtr vts

Prtctig ctvy itcs, Mrx rtrd r rs tGry t th trk th rvutry vt i 848 Thr h d d drctd diy r Wh ctrrvtiry rct srgd Er tr th rvtiscosd, grtd t d d d t strgg r hs hd s jrst Ths crrt rssrs, tgtr with th

2 1 . amusing aside t th s seemingly absud hypthess f the

imagnable laws f mtin is pvided by Vilfed Paets ' ctique f Mthey f value n de t pve that Max had a built-in ptiti pricipis th labu tey value Paet stated that we ight a wel assume thathe seamstess hes her machne, and he wn subsstence which wld telead t the cnclusin that the machne has 'pduced the suplus-lue( ntductin K Max apital extat faits pa P. Laage Marism t cmpr Geneva, 66 pp 48 Leaving aside the facthahis example 'pves nting f the d t is signcant what his cmdel plies : that wes he the mns f pductin an 'aesult f ths, w th rdct f thir labr sell them n the maet theeb apppiate the pts (suplusvalue pduced in the cOuse epcess f pductin. Nw it is evident that this has n way en h dminant tend f industial develment the last 5 yeas But een athe end f the nneteenth centuy, the questin seemed s 'en in aetmnd that he culd adance such an hypthesis withut being stuc by ieident absudity. his all the me undelnes the fudity f Max ·ight nt the peatins f captalis


17/233

2 Intoduton

rd igr tics i Ld, dyd h ssiiiy systtc rstti his cic thry r wh dcd

Oy wh, thrgh Lss, ushr rssd i xihis cic ids y-dgd wy did h rr

sc cotr wh Ad Sth d hs, Rcrd d J. B .S Sd d Sisdi d Tk, ghr wih h sBrish gvrt Blue Book whch w c v src c tri t th cdiis Briishdsry rd, c d wrkgcss i Th sysicsdy cic s d hghts cis rsudy rx rd 87 , rdcd h wig wrs

() rs rgh dr aptal ishd shsy drh it Gunde de Ktk de po ltchen Oekonome (dis h Criq Ptc Ecy), wri i 878() th cd k Zu Ktk de poltchen OekonomeA Cri h Crtiq Piic Ecy sh 89 ;(c) h 863 scris, wy-hr rs s,r which Ktsky xrcd heoe o uplu- Value (s

k s V aptal Thi hwvr csss ys V I - X V icsv Ns -v d wih rsgry cssd i aptal V ; ks X V I ,X V I I d X V I I d wih rs i apta/ V 3 ; ksX I X X X I I I gi d wih rs r aptal V d icd ghy rt h hsry chiqs dth s chs dr cits (d) scr 86 sty dig wh rs k i apt/ V 3 ( r scris wri w 86 870, r whicEgs xrc st h r r apta/ V 2 () h vrsi apta/ V , w i 8667

O h six sic cic wriigs h r rx V s hrr h y whch h hr c d ddhis d whic h v d vi crrcd diis i

r d rch Vs 2 d 3 aptal 22 The wo mo accuae cenc edon of Capta o 1 ae ha of

he Inue fo Mam-Lennm of he Cena Coee of he SD 2) and ha of H J e and Benedk Kauk Sga 162)boh of whch ndcae he vaaon of he e eween he vou Gemanedon and he Fench edon eded by Ma ad nge emeve Te


18/233

ntoucton 2

nsed ee posumos and aboos pubsed b Max sifeong fiend Fiedic Enes. heoes o Sps Vaue aseaanged and pubised b Kaus Te Gunsse as pesented to te p bic fo e st time on in 3 A consideabe

pat of e 86 3 manscipts si emains npubisedTe inita pan of apta as dan up in 8 e na pandates fom 866 Beteen tese to dates tee a nine eas ofintense stud especa n te Bitis Museum eaied ndee dcu ccumstnces Max as budened b constannancia oubes b te iness and dea of tee of is cidenamong tem is beoed son dga and b is going enoement n cent oitca an soca sdies especia

toug is aciit in te Intenaiona Woing ens Association (te socaed Fis ntentiona e need to anse a sapand sandeos attac b a Geman itica opponent a ceaine Vogt cost Max nea af a ea s dea in e poductionof apta Voume 1 Fina iness and bad eat became inceasing obstaces e imsef spoe sacastica of is cabunces e eects of ic e bogeoisie oud no foget foa ong ime Bu in fac it is is siing soca atttude toadsa te miseies sonding im ae tan an specia biteness fom mateia adsp a pemeaes is mate o

From he begnning, Marx waned o present an all-oundanalyss

of capialism in ts totalty. The initial pla of Capital alread

bears witness to this intention and reads as follows :

Vome on apta(a Capta n genea

ocess of podcon of capta2 ocess o cicuaton of capia3 ot and inteest

(b On compeiion(c On cedi(d On jon soc companes

2 oum on an popety

Lb don s somwha mo comp bcaus ndcas a svaaons n h sf I hav cound a as on undd ua aaons i h Lb don som o whch a mpoan bu on a fwscn so o mnond n s noducon [h pn asaonwas mad fom ME W Sgncan dvgcs bwn hs and h adons n Gman and Fnch a ndcad n h ]


19/233

28 ntotion

3. Volume n wag e our 4. Volume on the State

5 Voume on intention tde6 Voume on the wod mket nd ises

The 1 865-6 version o Capital, however, f alls ino f or volmes :

Voume 1 : Process of production of capital Voume 2 : Process of circuation of capita Vome 3 : F�rms of the process in its totaity Volme 4 : Hstory of the theory

Roa Rosdos who has ade he os exese sd o daeo his roe has soaed o ess ha oree dere versos o he a or pit ewee Seeer 1857 ad r186

wo qesos are rased hese chages Frs wh dd Marxod hs a a ad wha caos do he odcaoshae or a dersadg o Marxs ehod ad or he coe opit? Seco does he 18656 erso ha he our

oes whch we ossess oda rerese he ahogh he case o a sae he rs oe eded wor as aeded Marx? The aswer o each o hose qesos hasa eresg caos oh or he dscsso o Marxsecooc heor se ad or he gh hrows o he coros ade soe o hs ged oowers ad dsces

I ac wha we oda ca pit s he hrd ae y Maro rese hs ews o he caas ode of odco s

oa The rs ae he Gundisse o 185-8, oowsexac he a a o pit sos a o 1 a) 3 oha a The secod ae dag ro 81-3 s s shed exce or he ar o Theoies o Supus Vue Thehrd ae s he 1865-6 oe o whch we hae oes 4We ow ha as ear as Jaar 1863 , Marx ha aread decdedo dea wi ad re as a eee o disro of oa srsae aog dere secors of he rg casse Howeer hes seeed o sck a ha e o a searae oe o wageor a searae oe o aded roer ad searae

3 Kal ax lette t nel A 858 i Seected rrespdece

Rman Rdl Z Etstehgsgeschchte des arxsche KaptaFant 968 Vl 8

·


20/233

ntoduton 29

vomes on credi compeiio ad o isoc compaies Teogc of s a mped e desire o dea i e basic sociacasses of borgeois socie i a separae a rs e idsriacapass e e adoers a e proeara impied

aso

e desre o separae sarp e probems of prodcio ofae srpse ad capia from e probems of capiaiscompeo hc ca o be dersood as arising o of processes of redsbo of preios prodced srps-vae

oeer f s oga p as ear a ecessar seppigsoe oards e a aass of e capiais mode of prodco as Marx aasis progressed i proed isef icreasig aobsace o a goros ad cos se expos of e as of moio

of a mode of prodcio ad erefore o be discarded i eed e ome o ageabor became iegraed io ome Te Process o f Prodco o f apia appeared impossibe odea i ageabor separae ad apar from e prodcio ofsrps-ae a is from e apiais process of prodco(Marx probab eded o dea i e caions of ages ome 6 o e or d mare ad crises Te vome o adedroper became iegraed ogeer i ose o pro aderes o compeio a o joisoc compaies io ee me 3 hc exames ke forms of e capiais modeof rodco s oa from e po of vie of rediso of e oa sps-vae prodce amog arios secoroe properied cass

Looig a is rasformaio of e iia pa of apta eca oeer so dersad a id not cage omes

ad o apta ca si be sbsmed der e eadig of' apa Geera O ome 3 ie he igia pane 45 ad 6 c ere eer rie fas nde e ag of ma capas Ts meas cocree a a cerai mber probes sc as for isace e probem of e orign amechacs of e rade cce (of caiais crises of ovedco ae o pace omes ad 2 ad can be dea o e o desceds from e · iges eve of aba

ere capia dea i s goba reaiosip o aeabo an examiaio of e ieracios of varios capias po oer Becase se did no ae i specc srcre of ccessi vomes of apta io acco Rosa L�xembrg a

5 Kl ax lete t Kuelm 8 Decem 86 MW 69 Theres f Srls- Vle nn 969 Pat ne


21/233

30 ntoduction

thodoogicay istak i accusig Marx ohavig costrctdhis rroductio schs o Vou 2 wthout · sovig thraitio ro or without oruatig a thory o criss. 2 6I sha rtur to this itrstig ro i y itroductio to

it Vou 2A siiar istak is ad Joa Roiso i h r Prac toth scod ditio o An Essy on in Economics whr shcostrus a cotradictio tw th assutios rgardig rawas o it Vou ad thos o Vou I Vou 1 sh says Marx assus that a risig aour roductivity ads toa risig rat o xoitatio hras i Vou h assus thatrisig aour roductivity cod ad through a sta rat o x

oitatio to a risig rat o ra wags ad a dciig rat orot 2 oa Roiso dos ot udrstad that Vous 1 ad o it ar at dirt vs o astractio da with dirt qustios ad ak dirt assutios i ordr to cariyth secc dynmics which aow aswrs to ths qustios

I Vou 1, Marx xais th ratios tw Caita adaour i gra astractig ro th ts o cotitiotw caitasts o th distriutio o surus-vau ad o thvaratios o ra wags. H thror asss iitiay sta rasusistc wags i ordr t show through hat chaicssurus-vau is roducd aroriatd a icrasd y caita.I Vou h xais th cts o caitaist cotitio uoth distriutio ad rdistriutio o surus-vau aog caiaists ad thror has to i tgrat ito th aaysis th ts othis ctitio o th ra o xoitato (or xa i riods

o oo with a high v o oyt I ord to work outth asic aswrs to ths qustios i is rt ogica oastract ro uctuatios i th rat o rot ad wagsi Vou 1 ad to assu initiy a sta rat o xoitatio iVou , ut susquty to aado ths siiyig hyothss (Vou 1 Chatr 1 Vou Chatr 1 4) .

iay i t ss car ro ay rarks itsrsd throughout th auscrit o Vou tat Marx aitaid hs it

o o cotig it ith vou o th stat orig tradth word arkt ad criss athough h acd ths ros

26 R uxemu, he Amln Cpl ndn, 156, pp327 ; Rk, p ci V pp 86

27 Jn Rn, An ss n Mrxn nms, ndn 1 ppiii.


22/233

nouion 3 1

ceay sde he a pa se.2 8 Oy whe he pbshed mascpt 181 becmes aaae w we kwhehe sme h dat wha he eded dee hesethee bks des deed exs smewhee whehe was

eded as a cmpeey ew ad he deepme hs sdy bges scey.I ew hese chages he pa C as a whe the

a es he pa Vme 1 s a e me skg Weshd ge ha me 1 as eed by Max s ageyoseio he a ad cmpee das Vmes 2 ad 3ae be eded by Eges. 29 I s heee me 1 whcaws s he bes sgh Maxs ew capasm

m he pace Vme 1 he a a pa C weca mmedaey da a aswe w mscceps whchcc aga ad aga dscss Maxs ecmc heyI s e ha accdg Max ad Eges capass d exhage he cmmdes hey w he bass he aue

wheeas de pey cmmdy pdc exchage cmmdes s ghy ased p he ae 30 B des wa a ha C/ me 1 whch assmes he exchage cm

des accdg he ae s ceed wh pecapascmmdy dc ad exchage ad ha y Vme d we sa exame ha capas cmmdy cca s ab. O he cay Max absacs m he pbem edsb spsae amg cmpeg capass hat se pbem he eqaa he ae p Vme 1pecsey de sae ad demsae he aws

cmmdy pdct ad ca he pes msdae way.I he same way i is rong to assume ha V olume 1 deals ol

28. K Mx Capital V 232, 392, c ; Rsdsky ci Vl1, 76

29 Accorg to Maximiien Rubel, the manuscripts f Capital Vo1:2

origatd btween 1865 and 1870, apart from a ew version of the st f()' cpters written i 877 ad a short manuscript of 1 879 ; t maurit fo

Vol. 3 date from 1861-3 and 1865�70 (Bibliographie des uves de Karl Max,Paris 1956, p 22). We are therefore justied in assuming tat, except for thes ssgs cngd in 877 nd 89 mnscis dig 2 nd 3 aital ni n vsin V ( sEngels' introduction to Vol 2 MEW 24, p. 8-13.)

30. K Mx Capital V 3 1745; dic Egs L oV nd R id (nx 876


23/233

3 ntoducton

with the ' essence or wit abstractons , whereas cocrete capitaism is anaysed ony in Voume Nothing coud be moreconcete and coser to immediatey prceived economic data ·( ' appeaances than the anaysis of the woking day, of wages an

of ahiey in Voume Commentators here confuse the tpeo uston soved in Voume with the thod o ansngVoue abstacts from capitaist competition from uneven andcombined deveopment and tho from prices of poducionand euaizatn of the rate of prot and even moe from matpices, in ode to revea the bas origin of supus-vaue in tepocess of productio, which is a pocess of consumption ofabour-powe by capita But this probem is deat wit b a com

binatio of theoetica insight and empirica veicatio, by aconstant attempt to icove the ediating nks between ' essece and ' appeaance , by a thoough aaysis of how a nd ·wy te'essence the vaue of abou-powe) is maifesing itsef toughthe ' appeaances the uctuations of ea wages

4· THE PLAN OF V O U ME

oume of ata pesets itse as a rgorousy ogcal costruction We stat from the �ement orm of citaist eat the commodity an its inner contradicton the contradictinbetween use-vaue and exchange-vae cause it is duce bpat abour, whose socia characte can no onger be rcognizedautomaticay, immediatey and direct by society the commoditcan exist ony togethe with a necessay coroary, oney a

univesa means of exchange But the anaysis of te cicuation ofcommodities accompaned by ccuation of money es t theunfoding of the inner pten tiaities and conradictions of money :te possibiity of exchangevaue embodied n money becoming anautonomous economic agent ; of money apearing as staring andna point, and not simpy intemediay, of a process of cicuation of money nt upon accetion of money, tat is of capta

In pre-capitalist societies, capital appears outside he sphe·re of

oduction, and hady eve enters that sphere. It feeds parasiticay pon the socia surps product produced and origially apporiated by non-apitalist classes. Here Marx comes to hs

centra point. A b siQ derl.q bet� _ l capitalist ad e-

capitalist modes � ction s.a _u: d r lm ano

apites

surp us-vaue; i prouces suus-va u Be•


24/233

nrouio 3

cause he consere ths unamental to an unerstanding of allaspects of bourgeois society - incidentaly, not ony the economi but also he political - Marx start Capital with a whole volumeeote

aJy_gsis o he proces of po ducto. Fo the

apitaist oces of prodctio i s at time a ocess ofprQ

cu�ti

n

gf�alue, _ Q.& LRm ton_of_�plus-_ces of cio of capita, a a pocess of poducto a

conafm- h

basic atagoistic sociaeatios he eato betwee wageabou ad capita, the comulson for the proletariat to sell its labourpower to the capita-sts, the compsio fo the capitaists to accmate capita atheefoe to maximize the extotio of ss-vae fom the

wokes.Vome 1 of p is ceted aroud Maxs asc iscovethe expaato of the secet of sps-vae Thee exists oecommoity, to wit abopowe , whose sevae fo the captaiss is abity o poce ew ve age tha its ow exchagevae The ocess of podctio which ax aayses i Vome1 is, theefoe, esseiay the pocess of oductio of supusvae

The octo o f ss-vae ca, howeve, be exame i amoe etaie way oy if capita itsef is sbdivie ito costatcaita ad variabe capita o

_n�s that

atof the a he caaist css ith h

cuis amana

aJ_Q

ety

_ a t the materiaeas

6

f

p

o

d

ucjo. T b¥

cts the wokig cass o omany PO§

�

i

lty_ prducgj

_ o i

io

�

n

w t s a ecessay ecoditio

o the poducto ofsurplvae

B

u

�

ta us-val

i ad by itseOy the aboower of

!v

produc dit-nvalu,cig spsvae That is why Max cas that otio capita by which the capitaists by the aboowe o ewokes vbe p fo oy that otio actuay oussurpus-vale.

The et ste the aayss s the isticto etwee the

ctio of absote a of eative ssvae Absote svae s pouce by a egtheig of the wokig ay beyo tube of hours duig which the woke ouces the vue whics oy the eqivaet of his wages Reative sups-vaue is oce by iceasig the p ouctivity of abo i the wage-goossty secto which eabes the woe to epoce te eva


25/233

3 ntoution

et of is ages i a sorter porto o te orig da tereicreasig srpls-vale itot a legteig of te orig daarx otes tat ile te prodctio of asolte splsvalepedomiated i te earl cetries of te capitalist mode of pro

dctio (i Eglad rogl speaig etee te siteetcetry ad te rst alf of te ieteet te prodctio ofrelative srpls-vale ecomes predomiat oce te logic of teidstral revoltio of te developmet of macier ad telogic of te class strgge et laor ad capital fl foldtemselves

A cetral sectio of art For of Volme I ('e rodctio oRelative Srpls-Vale is tae p a legt a mite

aalysis of mafactre ad of te moder factor (Capters ad ere te prodctio of srpsvale ta o a importat aditioal dimes io Drg te stage of mafactrigisr capital explits te frits of a icrease i te prodctivit of laor or from more ad more avaced forms of tedivis io of laor t te tehniue o poution remais fda•metall te same Laor is sivided i fctio of te sdivisio of te al prodct prodced mafactre eodtese sbdivisios o cages occr i te laor process e mai iterest fo te capitalist drig te stage of mafactre isterefore te cosat irect onto of a ita o e abou i orderto secre a maximm expeditre of spls aor it a giveleel of tece t is lie a orose i ic the ores Joseter freedom to deterie teir o or rtm i ic oreomes free foced laor from tat poit of vie also a

iitial mafactrig concers ere ieed literall tat : oroses lled it laoers o to varios degrees ad lost teiidivdal reedom

Wit te idstral evoltio ad te emergece of te moderfactor tis process of te smissio of laor to capital i tecorse of te pocess of prodctio is rooted ot ol i eierarcical forms of laor rgaizatio t i te ver teof te prdctio rocess itself asmch as podctio ecomes

mecaized i t ecomes reorgaize arod macier e orrt ad or cotet of livig laor are sodiated to temechaica eeds o macier tself Alieatio of aor is oger ol aieatio of te prodcts of lao t alieatio ote forms ad cotets of te ok itsef

Te exploive pottialities of mode macier are deveope


26/233

ntouto

Marx i ree direcios simtaeos Macies are capitalmai eapo for sordiatig aor o capita i te corse ote procss of prodcto Maci are e mai eapo foicreasig e prodctio of relaie srpsae ere re

etess sprrig o e process of accmatio of capia Adasaig macies are e mai eapo for podcig adreprodcig e idstria resere arm of aor rog icages are ept caig arod te ale of te commilaorpoer ad trog ic te appropriatio of srpsae is orma garaeed to te capitaists

Marx eefore logical iegraes te deelopme of ecass strgge eee capita ad ar ito is aasis of te

podco of srplsae iasmc as e sees a class strggleas orig iatig i tat process of prodctio Te etortio osrpae from iig aor meas a s rgge te captaiststo egte te orig da to icrease te or-load o teorers iot icreasig ages to approriate for capia a teeets of icreased prodcii of aor Coersel tesrggle agas capiaist exploitaio meas for te orers asrgge to redce e orig da iot a redctio of ags

a srgle for cts i te oroad a strggle for icreaed reaages o tis cass strgge agaist te immediate aspecs ocawalist expoitaio trasforms tsef io a strggle for te oetro of e apitalst sstem s qeso i s rie ae p ie eigt ad a art of Vome Part See meaie deasasicall i e accmaio of capial te goal of e oleifera ogic c Marx as aid are so far Capia prodces

srpsae ic i r is o a large exte trasformed ioaddiioal capital ic i r prodc addiioa srpsaAd so o it a its sseqe coradictor eecs fr maid

If we list he coets of the successive pars of Voume 1; sub-dividig Part Oe io its three costituent chapters, we a sehow this awess ogic of he aalysis ufods and how i og orresponds t the hsorical process 'sripped of e o . ·

orm ad diverting chance occurreces .3 1

Sartig poi eemetar form o f capiast ea e modit

1 idic ngs vw o Mxs A Cntributin t the Crtque oPlitil conm S ndix o vom o nm ondon 225


27/233

36 ntrouton

a he cmmd and he eaan f s exchangevale rhe prcess f exchange() he prcess f exchange and he means f exchange mne(c) mne necessar medar f he prcess f crclan f

cesII. Mne ransfrng self capal e vale earchng fran accren f vale srplsvale he nare f srpls-valeIII. he prdcn f srpl s-vale asle srpls-valeI. he prdcn f srpls-vale relave srpls-vale (frmanfacng he mdern facr ssem). elans eween wages prdcv f lar and srplsvale he rae f srpls-vae

I Hw he val f lar-pwer s ransfrme n wagesher deren frms nd varansIIJI he accmlan f capal e. capals wealh n sal s cnseences fr lar he gns f capalsm (he prmve accman f capal

he end f lme 1 w are ack where we sared frm capals wealh. B nw we n lnger ndersand smpl as a

sm f elemenar elemens a mnan f cmmdes (alhgh s s mnan als ! We ee nw als as he resl fa gganc prcess vale poduton f srplsvale extaton fvng lar as a gganc mvemen cnsanl revlnng he means f prdcn he rgnan f prdcn helabr prcess and he prdcers hemselves he frmla capalvale n search f addnal vale s nw nders as caparganng a rcess f self-valran Vewetng a prcss

f cnsan searchng fr ncreases n s wn vale hrgh hen f e labr prcess and he prcess f pdcn f ncreased vale (Enet von etspozess und Veweungspozess.We hs ndersand mre fll wh an analss f capalsm hsrs clarf everhng whch happens n he cre f he prcess f prdcn 3

32 he Pecn rx Lrr edtn the Gndsse cnt vnd rerette errr trntn rx cncept eeng vrzt, pre ccretn vue trnted tuhu reztn cpt rx ue the cncept reztn ener ny n retn t threztn the vue cmmte cntnn cure urpuve.But th prem pce n the rem the crcutn cdtend cpt, where te prem vrztn cpt the prem urpuvue r prt n rtn t, r prprtn pt pet the cptt prc prduct


28/233

ndun 7

Mar attte toward techoog, machery ad the actorytem ha ote ee mterpreted, eve y athor avoraced toward hm t ovoy tre that more tha ay othercotemporary ecoomt, ocogt or ph oopher, he wa aware

o the og-rage revotoary eect o machery po aapec o e orgeo ocety t ao tre that h dct et o the hma ret o the captat e o machery ca

ot cape ayoe who read Chapter 10, 15 ad 5 o apaome 1 wth a mmm o atteto t therefore approprateto ee ar a atter-day Lddte, a orerer o the erogowth prophet ? Or t tre, a other hae arged, 33 that arwa a deep admrer o captat techoogy ad pt a hope

te og-r emacpatory eect o that techoogy, aoecapae o redcg the avodae work-oad ad workatgeto J ic man is condemned ?

Marx the daecca, et po a a-ded aay o capta ad captalt techoogy, avod oth thee pta, tecoervatvey romatc a we a the hmay mechatc oe cac paage o the Gundsse he dere the cvzgd progree apect o cptam, t gat mpe to deveohe oca orce o prodcto, t reete earch or ew wayad mea to ecoome o aor, or ew eed ad ewector o ma prodcto, whch hep to od ma mtepote Bt mtaeoy he how how the spe apas o th deveopmet creae teod the hma otetaty o techoogy, machery ad echae-ae goea that , ecomg goal themelve Captam

ordate me to mache tea o g mache to ratee rom the rde o mechaca ad repette work t ordate a oca actvte to the mperatve o a ceatdrve or dvda echmet term o moey, tea gearg oca e to he deveopmet o rch dvdate ather oca reato Te cotadcto etwee evae echage-ae, heret every commodty, y od th cotradctory atre o apas machery Whe -

m ot overthrow oce t ha created the matera a ocrecodto or a cae ocety o aocated procer, t

S mong os Koss Axlos Marx peneur de Ia technque Pis,96

4 Kl x Grundre, Plicn x Liy pp 2 2·9 0


29/233

8 ntouction

contradiction implie the poibility of a teadly increang tnom ion o the oces o pouctio into oces o destuction the mo t teral ene of the ord no only force of etructonof ealth (crie and ar) of human ealth and human happ

ne but alo force of deructon of life tout cout

5 · THE MARX I ST LABOUR THEORY OF V AUE

N o part of Ma rx thory ha been more aaulted i n the academicorld durng te lat eventyve year than h theory of valueH bourgeo critic ho a harp cla intnct here for thitheory ndeed the cornertone of the hole ytem But no con

temporary intellectual endeavour ha been o obuly aedupon a bac munderanding a the repeated attack on theMarxt labour theor ofvalue5

at theory rognie to apect o f the problem o f alue aquattatve and a qaltative one From a quanttaive pont ove the value of a commt s the quantty of mple labor(kled labour being reduced to mple aour through a gvencoecient ocially neceary for t producton (tha at a genaverage productivity of labour) From a qualitatve point of viete aue of a ommodty determined by bstct human labourcommodtie hich have been produced by pivte labour bcoecommenurate only inamuch a ociety abtract from te concete and pic apect of eah individual private craf o brnchof indutry and equaie a thee aur a abtract ocalaour regardle of the pecc uevalue of each commodity

In order to undertand th theor it ucet to formulatethe queton to hich Marx tried to give an aer he problemi a folo. Man ha to ork in order to atif hi materialneed to produce hi materal lfe he ay n hih the labourof all producer n a given ociety i divided among dierentbranche of materia producton deterne the extent hich dierent need an be fullled Hence gven a certain et fneed a rough eilbrium beteen need and outp require a

e clacal a tack by BmBawe wa aweed by Hlfedig(t ae pted togete i Bm-Bawek op ct) Ote mla attackwee mae by Paeto op ct pp 0 f) cael vo gaBaaovky( heetishe Gdlagen des Marxisms epig 0 pp f) adote A moe ecet oe cotaied oa Robio op ct ad eectvely aweed by Rodolky op ct Vol 2 pp 2 0


30/233

ntoduton 39

distributio of labour (of 'abour inputs) between these variousranches of producton n a gien proporton and in that only In primitve · socety o n a fuly deveoped sociaist one this distribuon of abour inpts occurs in a consciosly panned way

in a primitive society on the bass of habits cstom traitionagicrtua processes decsions by eders etc. i a socai s oneo thebass of a democratc selecton of priortes by the mass of theassocated producers-consumers themselves. But under captalsm where labour has become private labour where products ofabour are commodities roduced independently from each otherby thousands of independent rms no conscous decision preestablishes such an equibrium of inputs of labour and socly

recognized needs (nder capitaism this impies of course thatony those needs expressed through etve demand are �ocialyrecognzed) Equibrm s reached ony accidentay through theoperaton of blind market forces Price ctations to whchacademic economsts remain glued are in the most avourabehypothesis only signas which ndicate whether this equilibrium isbeing shaken by whatpressre an n what direction They do notexpain what s being equlbrated and whih is the drivng forcebehind all these myriad uctuations It is precisely his questiowhc Marx tried to answer with his perfected laur theory fvaue

From this approach t is immediatey cear that, contrary t wha so many of hs critics starting with the Austrian BhmBawek assumed, Marx never intended o expain short-term prce uctations on the market with his theory of vaue 3 6 (Probably

he intended to rase some of te poblems invoved in short- er price uctuations n the neverwritten Volume 6 of the origin _pan for Capitl.) Nor does it make any sense to spea of thelabour theory of value, as explained n Voume 1 of Capita s a ' microeconomic theory alegedly in contrast with the ' •economc aur theory o value in Voume 3. What ar tr ie to discover was a hide key behind price fuctuations, the asnsde te molecle so to speak He moved the whole eco

anaysis to a derent and higher evel of abstraction His qutiwas not : how does Sammy run (wha movements do is les abody make whl runnig), but what makes Sammy rn.

t follows that 99 per ent of the criticism irectd agains t wk o c 290 Smlso o. ct. 20 g

ovsy op ct


31/233

40 ntodution

Marxist aor theor of vae s entrey eside the onteseciay when it trie to ' refte the rst ages of Chater ofaptal ome I which have sometimes een onstred as a roof of that theory. 3 7 To say tat commodities have qaites

in common oter than the fact that they are rodcts of socaaor transforms an anaysis f soia reations ito a ogicaaror game. Oviosy these 'other qaities have nothing todo with the nexus etween memers of society in an anarchicmarket economy. The fact that oth read and aeroanes are' scarce does not make them commensrae. Even whe thosands of eoe are dying of hnger ad the 'intenity of needfor read is certainy a thosand times greater than the 'intensity

of need for aeroanes the rst commodity wi remain immensychear than the seond ease mch ess sociay ncessaryaor has een sen o n its rodction

The qestio has often een asked why o ther at a with thistye of inqiry ? Why can one no t restrict economics to the anayis of what actay occrs in daytoday econom fe ndercaitaism it gs withot saying) the s and dons of riceswages interest rates rots etc instead of trying to discovermysterios ' forces eneath the srface of the eonomy whch res osed to goern acta economic events t on on a ve ry hgheve of astraction and in the very na anaysis?

This eositivst aroach is criosy and tycay nscietic. Noody deaing with medicine not to seak of othehysica sciences wod dare for fea of ecoming a aghing stockto ask 'Why other to oo for the "deeer cass of diseases

when one can coect symtoms to estaish a diagnosis? Oiosy no rea nderstanig of economic deement iossie one o es not try to dscover recsey what es ehd imediate aearances aws aot immediate shortterm tations of rces on the arket cannot exain wh to give an teresting exame one kiogram of god ys n 4 near twceas many give askets of merican consmer omodtes assevety years ago t average onsmer rice nex has risen

somewhat more than vefod comared to 90 whereas therie of god on the free arket has risen nine times. Oviosthis asc movement of rices in the ong rn has somethng to dowith the dierent dynamics of the ongterm socia rodctivi of

mwk op. c pp 65-80; Joseph Shumpeter, Captalsm,Salsm and Demra, Londn, 1962 pp 2


32/233

ntodution 4

labour n the various consumer industries on the one hand and in

the gold-mining industry o the other ; that is , wth the las of

value as formulated by Marx. Once we unersnd h he mous 'invisibe hnd which s

suosed o regue suy nd demnd on he mrke is nohingbu h oeion o h sme o vue we cn ie ogeher whoe series o economic rocesses which ohewise remin disconneced ieces o nysis Money born ou o exchnge cnserve s univers euiven o he vue o commodiies ony becse i is ise commodiy wih is own inrinsic vue or in hecse o er money rersens commodiy wih is own nrinsic vue) Monery heory is reunied h he heory o

vue nd he heory o ci ccumuion The us nd dowso he rde cyce er s he mechnism hrough which uhevs in he vue o commodiies end by ssering hemseveswih he inu devorizion (oss o vue) his enis no oyor he 'infnry o he commodiy rmy he individu mss onished consumer goods sod on dy-o-dy bsis bu so ois hevy riery h is rgesce mchinery xed ciThe heor o economic growh o he 'rde cyce o ciiscises he heory o he re o ro nd o is endency o decine everyhing ows in he s nysis ro his oerio ohe w o vue So he uesion weher i hs ny se ineconomic nysis is hereore s meningess s he uesiowheher you need he conce o bsic ices (oms ec) ihsics ndeed o coheren nd consise nysis o heciis economy in is oiy exining he bsic ws o

moin o h sysem is ossbe wihou ' eemery rincies orgnized round he vue ocommodiies Mrxis economic heory he 'w o vue us i

unin he rs ce i gons which does no me h deermines here nd now) he exchnge eions ween cmmodiies; h is o sy i esbishes he xs round wich on�tm hangs i reive rices o commodiies oscie (T :udes u nder cism so he exchnge reion bewee

nd n exrem imorn oin t which we sh urn reseny) n he second ce i determines he reive rorions o o soci bou nd his im ies in he s ss o mri resources o sociey) devoed o he ou of dieegrous o commodiies n his y he w o vue d isribues nhe n nysis eri esores over dieren brnches o


33/233

nouion

production and of socia ac vi y in genera accordig o edivision of eective demand for dieret groups of commodities,it being aways understood tat tis occurs witin te famework ofantagonistic cass reations of production and distribution In t

tird pace it rues economic growt, y determining te averagerate of prot and directing nvestment owars ose rms andsectors of production were prot is aove aveage, and a way fromtose rms and sectors w ere pro is beow average Again, tesemovements of capita and investment correspond in te nal anaysis to conditions of economy and waste of socia abour,tat is to te workings of te aw of value

Marxs abour teory of vaues a furter deveopment and per

fection of te abour teory of vaue as it emanated from te cassica scoo of poitca economy, and espeiay of Ricardo sversion But te cang Marx brougt into tat teory weremaifod One especay was to be decisive te use of te conceptof absra soial labour as te foundaion of is teory ofvaueIt is for tis eason tat Marx cannot be considered s in any way ·an avanced neo -Ricardian Labour quantities as te essence ovaue is someting quite dierent from labour quantities asnumai' a common easuring rod of te value o f al comities Te distinction between concrete labour, wic determines e use-aue of commodities, and abstract labour wicdeermines teir vaue, is a revoutionary step forwar beondRicardo of wic Marx was very proud; indd e considered itis main acievement, tgeter wit te discovery of te generalcaegory of surps-vaue, encompassing pro, rent and intees

It is based on an undersanding of te peculiar srcture of asocie of commodity-roducers, tat is of e key probem ofow to relate to eac oter te segments of te goba aourpotential of society wic ave taen te form of rivate aborIt represents, terefore, togter wit Marxs concept of necessaylabur and surpus labour necessary product and surpls rduct, te key nexus between economi teory and te science ofsocia evoution, istorial materiaism

e way in wic te Marxist abour teor o aue srp excudes usevaue from an dire determination o vaue nd excagevalue as oen bn interpreted as a reection by Max ofusevalue beyond e boundary of econoi analysis and teoryaltogeter Tis does not corespond at al to te ric diaectialcmpexity of apia We e dea it te problems of rep


34/233

ntroduion

dcion, i the introdction to ome , we sal ave occasion towe on the specic way in wich the contradiction between sevle and exchangevae has to be bridged ner capitaism, inoder to make economic growth at all possible ere, we onl

want to stress hat, for Marx, the commodity was nderstood asncoasing boh a nity and a contradiction between se-vaand exange-vae: a good with no se-vale for an potentiabyer cod not reaize its exchangevae and te specic usevalue· of two categories of commodites, means of prodction andabor-power, payed a key roe in his anaysis of the capitaistmde of prodctio As has aready been stated, the aw of vae fndamentay ex

presses the fact that in a society bae pon private property andpriate labor (in wic economic decisionmaking s fragmentedbetween thosands of indpedent ms and miions of independent econoic agents social abor cannot immediatey recognized as sch If Mr ones has his workers prodce 00000pairs of shoes a year he knows that peope need shoes and bythem he even knows, if he bothers to do his omework, that theanal nmber of shoes sod in the United Kingdom (an althose contries to which he intends to export s otpt astyotdistances the modest gre of 00000 pas Bt he as no wayof kowng whether e spe 00000 pairs of shoes e owns wind specic stomers wiing and abe to b tem nly aferseing his soes and receiving teir eqivaent can he say rovided he as reaized the average rate of prot on is investecapital : my workers have try spent socia ly necessar abor i

my factory If part of the prodced shoes remain sold, o teare sod at a oss o at a prot signicanty ess than te aeraethis means that part of the lbor spent on their prodctio has obeen ecognized b society as sociay ncessary labo, as in fabeen wasted abor from the point of view of society as a whoe Bt tis recognition of or refsal to recognze a given quity of abor by society occrs excsivey in fnction of ee eective demand on the maret that is it is indeendent o te u

vale or social sefness of the specic psical qaies o given commodity Society recognizes qantities o abor spet its prodction, making abstraction of these consideations at wy Marx caed tes qantities, qatities of astract socianecessary abor I a pod of oim, a box o dmdm ets or a portrait of ier nd cstomer on e market, the


35/233

nouion

lbur which hs been spent n their output is scill necessrlbur ; its production hs been vlueproduction I n the cn�trr, n exquisite piece of chin o new phrmceuticl pro-duct for some reson does not nd customers, its producton hs

creted n vue, hs been equivent to wste of soci bour even in soe distnt future teir crets wi be ceebrted sgeniuses or benefcts o mnknd The bour theor of vuehs nothing to do with judgements on the usefuness ofhings fromthe pint of view of humn hppiness or soci prgress t hseven less to do with estblishing conditions for justice in ex-chnge ' It simpl recgnizes the deeper mening f the ctul cf exchge nd of e utput f cmmodities under cpitlism

nd wht governs the distributin f income beteen scil clsseshich resuts from these cts, independent of mothetic or tc judgement Indeed, f one were to ook fosuch judgements ' one oud hve to tht Mrx, whie uner-stnding wh the w of vue hs to operte s it does undercommdit production, did not t strive to defend ' tht lw,but n the contrr t bild sciet in whic its pertionswuld be totll bolished

One f the mos commn nd nncuous objections mde ginstMx lbour heor o vlue runs long these lies if prices regverned in the lst nlsis b vlue (socill necessr qunti-ties of bstrct bour) how cn goods hve prices if the re ntproducts of bur, tht is if the hve o vue? Mrx himsefin fct nswered tht objection ong befre drfing apalVoume 3 8 Products of nture ( free goods ') , which hve indeed

o vlue since no socil lbour hs been spent on their productioncn et price throuh privte pproprition, thrugh he scilinstitutin of privte prpert Lnd on which no humn hnd hsever wrked to increse its fertilit hs no vlue But it c get prie it is surrouned b fence upon which is put plcr Pivte propet : Trespssing frbidden' , nd if peple re redto p tht price becuse the need tht nd s source of livei-hood Ths prce w in reit be the cptztion of the net

incom (nd ret) ccruing to ts owner, ncome produced bthose who w frm it nd drw mter resources (goods forsefconsumptio or cmmodities) frm it though their til 39

8 See A Contbuton to the Crtque of Polital Eonomy p 6239 Aga ad aga the ojecto has ee rased agas the arxst

aor theo ovae that t asses aor to e the oy scarce factor of


36/233

nroduion 4

In reactio against a those who mistakeny caime thatVome of apa as concerned with showing that commodities actay exchange nder capitaism according to he qanti-ies of absract sociay necessary abor they contain some ahors

ave contended that the abor theory of vae is concerned onywith a quaav probem and not with a quanav on tesociay necessary' abor content of commodities being n-easrabe. his bends the stick too fr i the oher directionIt is tre that the qantitaive measrement of te ar qantiies in commodities is dict t the dicty is not s mch aconcept one one cod for exampe stat frm macro-economic aggregates, the tota sm of manhors spen in the

whoe ream of materia prodction indsty, agctre adcomodity transpot in a given contry its diision betweendieent · branches of ndstry and key grops of comodites,teir interreationship throgh an inptotpt tabe te aborspent or the erage nit prodced in atarchic branches wheno raw matera has to be imported from foreign ands and socimb p towards an estimate of tota abr exnditre perbranch and per commodity prodced ) as one stemmin froma ack of accrate inormation. It wi be ncessary to open hebooks ' o a capitaist enterprises and to verify the gr on thebasis of opoor evidence in orde to approach a qantitative

podctio ad supposes either that land ad ·aches are abuda or tathey ca be exclded altogeter from value aalysis This is obviously o

sese Leoief akes te correct pot t�Jat Marx was pobabl the rsecooist to give xed capital a cetral mrtace the process of poductio, as gast, for example BhmBawek (op. ci p. Wat Marxdoes aume is that maches caot ad by themseves comad 'portios of the total aailale labor-wer of society t o b addtionalexpeded or move from oe sector of productio to aother a poposii1whc is rather selfvidet, besides havg bee scietcally proved b MOce oe uderstas hat for Marx, value is te last aalysis

assig nt

f portios of the socially available laborpower, total vale ewl producibeg equal to total expedite of livg labour i a give peri, oe sosthe riddle Icidetally, oe shold also drstad that Ma, advagyod classical ecoomy, did ot dissolve te vale of the aual pQdo wages ad srplusvale (prots, res ad iterests), bt added to tisthe vale o raw materials ad machey used u p the press of productio.Hs oly pot was tat tis pat of te aual products value did not icreas the pre of productio bt was oly mantaed, the oly souce of wvale beg ivg labour


37/233

noduon

measurement of th abou content of cmmoditie in capitalist ountrie.0

M A R ' S K E Y D S C O V E R Y : H I S T H E O R Y OF U R P L U S ·V A U E

he classical school of poitial economy, incuding Ricardo, saprots as a resiual net income, ce wages had bee paid Indee,so strict as thei adherence to ts oncept that Rcardo beevedthat ony increases or decreases in prodution osts in the gegood industries ould iuene the ate of prot Whatever apned to the luxury goods industry, o even to a mateals

would not at the gobal rate of rothis vew is incomplte and therefore inorrect, But it was atleast an attempt to ome to gips with the roblem of incme ditributin between ocia lasse as a funtion of hat happens the ourse of podution he ponents of postRicardinvugar economi theory, and especially the eoclassical marginalists, do not bother to ask the question ' why ? , they ar content just to answe the question 'ho?� hey simply note tat factors labou, apital, land get dierent ' prices on the market,an thmseves to a study of how thes pices uctuate oonsider the ogn of prot interest and ent; to ask whtheoes mu abandon pat of the prouct of thei labour whenthey work for an aien enteprneur; to examine the mechanismthrough hich this appropriation occus as a result of an honestto god act of echange, ithout any heating or potting it as

le to Mar to unravel thes basi questions about th apitaistmode ofprodutionh origin of the inom and onsumption of the ung lasse

in precapitalist societes is no matter o speculatin Anybodyknows that fro an economic point of vie, the were esultsof appropriaton of prt o f the fit of the producers laou bythe ruing cass When the medieval serf worked haf the week forhis ow lielhod on the landofhis mans, ad the other alf of

the week ithout emuneration on the estate of the no bl r thehurch, one could argue that, from a ' moral pint of view, h wasoering unpaid abour ' in echange for the serice of prfaneor divine potecton. But nobody oud onfuse this 'echngeih hat goes on in e maket pac t a s in fat no eonomi

Friedri Engels nser i Vol 3 pp 76


38/233

noduon

excange at al, n any sense of the ord, no gveandtake fnythng hch can be 'prced, n even the most ndrect ay he' servce of protecton s not ' bought by the erf any more than �smal hcago busnessan 'buy a servce from a gang of hood-

lums It s an etorton posed upon hm by the socal setup,hether he lkes t or not The orgn of the socal srplus productaccrung to the precaptast rulng cass s, therefore obvouslyunpad abour hether n te for o£ labour servces, or fphscal products of these labour servces, or even of moneyrentepended by the proucers

I the case of slaver, the contet s as cear not clere,especaly n those extree exampes here een the mserabe

pttance of the save as not provded by the master, ut had tobe provded by te save hsef on the seventh day of the ek.Indeed, regardng these save plantatons, even the ost sceptcrtcs of hstorcal materals l nd t hard o doubt that ehole socal product, the part hch fed the saves as el as thpart hch fed the masters, had but one orgn socal abour epeded by the saves and by them alone

Wh, hoever, e ook at the captalst mode of producton,everythng sems much more compcated and much more obscure,to say te east No bruta force, personed by an oveseer th ahp or some group of armd men, appears to force the okerto gve up anytng he has produced or ons hmse. s relaon-shp th the captalst appears to be based upon an act of e-chang hch s dentcal to that of a sall artsan or a are,oners of commodtes they theseves have produced, h meet

n the market pace The orker appears to sell hs 'labour echange for a age he captast 'combnes that labour thmachnes, ra matera and the labour of other men t produnshed products As the captalst ns these machnes ad amaterals, as e a the money to pay the ages, s t not ' nauathat he shoud also on the nshed products hch esult fthe ' comnaton of these factors ?

hs s hat appas to occur under captasm o

pro bn lo the srface Marx comes up th a ser of strnobservatons hch ony be dened f one delberately sto eamne the unque soca condtons hch create he vepecular ad exceptona exchange beteen abour and captaIn the rst pace, thre s an nsttutonal neuaty of condtobeteen captasts and orkers he captalst s notfoe to bu


39/233

8 nouo

abourpower on a continuous basis. He does t only i it is prot-

able to hm. I not, he prefers to wait, to lay o workers, or even

to close his plant down till beter times. The worker, on the other

and (the word s used here i the social meaning ade clear

precisel b this sentence, and not necessarily in he stricter senseof manual labourer), is under economic compulsion to sel slabour-power. As he has no access to te means of production,

including and, as he has no access to any largescale free stock of food, and as he has no reserves o money which enable hm to sur-

vive for any length of time while doing nothing, he must se his

labour-power to the capitaist on a continuous basis and at the

curre rate. Without uch insttutionalized compulsion, a fully

developed capitalist society would ipossible. Indeed oncesuch coplsion is absent for eaple where large tracts o freeland subsist), capitaism will remain dwarfed unti l, by hook or by

crook, the bourgeois class suppresses access to that free land. Telast hapter of Capital Volume 1 , on colonization, develops thispoint to great eect. he history of frica especialy of Southfrica but also of the ortuguese Belgian rench and Britishcolonies striinly conrs this analysis.4 If people are livingunder conditions where there is no onomi coulsion to sellth laourpower then repressive juidia and polial copulsion has to deiver the necessary anpower to the entrepreneurs otherwise capitalis could not survie under these circustanes.

he function of trade unions be it said in passing is iediatelylaried in the light o this analysis. Worers who cobine to set

p a reserve fund can be freed at least for soe wees fro thecpulsion to sell their labourpower on a continuous basis at thegiven arket rate apitais does not lie tht at all. It is ontrary to nature i not to huan nature then at least to thedeer nature of bourgeois society. ht is why under robustnascent cpitalis trade unions were siply banned. hat is alsowhy under senile capitis we are gradually retuing to asituation which worers are denied the right to strie the

4 We fer hee to the lage-sale appopiation of land by white setlesand colonial ompanies, the hedng togethe f Afis into 'esevs thepositio of oney taxes n essentially nononetay eonoies foing thefians t selt aboupowe i ode to get the neessa oney to paytax the poston of lagesale oney nes, even dt foed laboupenalties fo inueable tansgessions of laws speially desied to fushhe setles with laboupowe et. et


40/233

ouio 9

rgt to abstain rom selling their abourpower at the oered pricwenever they e In ts instance, Mars insigt is cearly conred by the igest autorities of the bourgeois state: unercapitalis, labour is funaentaly fo labour. henever

possible, capitalists prefer hyocritically to coa te coplsionuner a soesreen of eua and jus ecange on the labourarkt . hen hypociy is no onger possibe, they return to watthe began with : nae coercin.

Mar, of course, was perfectly wel aware of te fact that inorer to organize production in moern factories, it was otenoug to cobine the socia abourpower of manual an intelectul worers It was necessary to provie for lan, buiings

eerg astructra eeens lie roas and water, acner, agen fabc o orgazed soety, eans of counication, etc.u t is obiosy absur to presue tat, because actor proucton s possbe wtout tese conitions of prouction,roas an canas therefore produce value. It is no more ogiclto assume that macines produce any vaue, in and by themseves.Of all tese actors it can be said oy that their gven vaue hasto mataed an reprouce, trough incorporation of partof t the current output of living labour, during te productionprocess

We come nearer to te truth wen we ote tat property titles(vte appropaton rghts) to and an maciner lea to a stuaton where these factors' wil not ·be incorporated into te process of prouction witout their proprietors receiving an ex, pecte retur ' over and above the compensaton for te wear and

tear of te factors . This is obvious true But it oes not folo t all tat such eturns ' are then prouce ' by the roperty ttes. Nor does t ly tat owners of suc propert tites meete oners of abour-power o an equal fooing Ony i we werein a catastc save soet ', whee owners of slaves hire outlaourpower to owners of factories renting and fro land pro-petor:, cou one sa tat instiutional equait existe betwen all owners toug, of course, not betwn owners an slaes !

Obviously, in tat case, he save owners would ire out tei saves onl if tey received a net return ' over and above the upkeep of h slavs

te secod place, th social situation in which a small part ofsocet has monooled proert an access to te eans of roucton, to te ecluson of al or eary al irect roucers, is in


41/233

0 nouion

no y poduc of ' nul ieuly of len nd inclinion mong humn being Indeed it did no exi f n of houndo ye of ocil life on he p of homo apin Even in heelively ecen p y 10 ye go nneenh of he po

duce on hi plne ho ee in hei ovehelming moiygicultul poduce did hve diec cce in one y onohe o hei men of poducion nd livelihood he epion of he poduce fom hi men of poducin ong ndbloody hioicl poce nlyed i deil by Mx in P Eighof apial Volume 1 olled Pimiive Accumulion

In he hid plce he oe doe no ell e cpili hibou bu hi laboupo hi cpciy o ok fo given

peiod of im hi lboupoe become commodiy unecpilim2 A uch i h pecic vlue (exchnevlue) nyohe cmmodiy doe he uniy of ocil lbou necey o epoduce i h i o y he vlue of he conume goodnecey o eep he oe nd hi chilen in condiion ooninue o o given level of ineniy of eo Bu i h

42. Obviously Mx did not 'transform men nto 'comodities, as so

any of his etical opponents accuse im of dong He noted tat capalshad operated suc a transformation and therefore condened apitalsmPopper sinicantly contends that ' the value theory [of Marx] . consiershuman labour as fundamentally derent from all other processes n nature,for example fr te labor of animals This sows clealy tat te theory isased ultiately pon a oral heory, the dtrine tat man suerig anda hman lifetie spent is a tng [ ! fundamentally deet fro all naturalprocesses • do not dey tat ts teory is rigt in te moral sense . . But also hk tat an econoic analysis shold not be based pon a moralor metaphysical or elios doctrne of whic the older is unconsciousThe Open ce ol. 2 32. te st place, Max was not at allunconscious of e dierences between han labour nd the endeavours ofanimals suc as ants ; he comments on it the rst chaper of Caal ol te second place, there i s notng metaphysical about the fact tt, wenen engg n mutual social relations n order to poduce te livelihood,hey wl crtainly consider huan abour, as te ba si s of this social orgnza-tion, quite dieently o natural processs, fetilit f te soil or o ttle,tc Tere is notng etapysical about te istincton, ans pn ew beteen ceical pocesses n trees and te neear arrangements to

divide the total labor tme available te coni between derentpes of uma activity. Two thousand years ago, defenders of the institutionof slavery used to eate slaves ith 'speakng nstments, o speakgbeasts o toil. We know very well that Popper does not condone slavery.ould he ten say hat this condenation of slavery is purely 'metapysical,or would he adt tat it is based upon a scientic, antropological distio etween man and aimals?


42/233

noduon 5 1

pel uliy pecil uevlue for he cpili hen hecpili conume lbourpower i he proce of producionhe woke podue alue Hi lbour h he double cpciy oonee alue h i o rnfer ino e nhed produc he

vlu of he rw meril nd of frcion of he mcinery uedup in hi proce of producion nd o ee ne alue bypending ielf he whole myery of he origin of pro nd reni over once one undernd in he proce of productionhe worer cn (nd mu oerwie he cpili would nohire hem produce vlue over nd bove he vlue of heir ownlbourpower over nd bove he euivlen of e wge whichhey rceive e re bc where we red n precpili

ocieie, nd we hve been ble o elimine e cobweb of ppren exchnge euliy lie feudl ren or he lveowner livelihood cpili pro inere nd ren origine from hedeene beeen a e oke podue and a ey eeieo ei upkeep nder cpilim hi derence pper in efom of vlue d no of phyicl oupu hi fc preven eproce from being immediely rnpren Bu i doe no me fundmenlly ieren from he exchnge ing lce beween feudl lord nd erf

I i herefoe incorrec o e doe Blug following ohecdemi criic of Mrx h Mrx heory of urpluvlue i heory of ' unerned incremen 3 I i n appopiaon or deduion eoy of he cpili income w he clicl lbourheory of vlue pili pproprie vlue which he worerhve redy produced prior o e proce of circulion of co

modiie nd of diribuion of income o vlue cn be dirbued from mcroeconomic poin of viw in oer wordviewing bourgeoi ociey whole which h no been riouly produced

Mrx imelf conidered he dicovery of he concep of urlue epreening he u ol of pro inere nd re l pr of he bourgeoi cl h min heoreicl e

43 Mark Blau ' Technical Chane and Maan Economics Vol 3 60 quoed n Horowizop ci p 227

44. 'Ds Bese a meinem Buc is darau ber aes ersnis erfacs) dr leic m Esen Kapiel ervoreobne Dppelchaae eAbe nachdem sie sich Gebraucswer oder Tausc we ausdrck 2die Beandlun des Mehwe unbhg n sen besen orme alsPro Zns Grundrene ec Namenlich in 2 Band wd dies sich zeie(Marx eer o Enels of 24 Aus 868 MEW 3 326


43/233

noduion

I ie ogeher he hioric cece of ociey d he cece ofhe cpiiecoomy expiig boh he origi d coe ofthe c rugge d e dymic of cpii ociey45

or oce e uderd h urpu-e i produd by

orer h urpuue i ohig but he e-od oci upu poduc n mon form i the form of ue e uderdhe ioric ep hc ocurred he h soc urpu produc o oger ppered e ey i he for of uxury good ofhich coumpio i eceriy mied ee uder condnsof uh exreme exrgce duig he om mpre or he eighhceury re!h cour bu i e orm of moeyMore moey me o oy ddiio purhig poer for uc

uxury good bu ddio purching poer for more mch,ore r meri ore bour-poer Here oo Mrx dscoered ecoomic compuio rie propery he frgeio of oci bour mog riou frms, h i he eure o geeried comodiy producio cpiim mpie compuio to compee for hre of he mre he eedto ccuue cpi he eed o icree he exrco of urpuue the uuechbe hir or urpu-ue hc chcerie cpiim i i here he ccumuo of cp= herformio of urpu-ue io ddio cpi

gi for ue e hou e h hi bou comd oer frcio of he o dipobe uiy of ocbour I i ucie o rec hi bic fc o uder hoipced re crici f he heory of urp-ue hich peou the pruciiy of cpi cpi beig uerod

chie4 chie c eer i d by hemee hre y5 Poper (he Oen Siet Vo. 2 p 6 contends tat arx did ot

dscover te genera category of surpusvaue at a, ut nerted t fromRcardo He uotes nges ntroducton to Vo. 2 o Caita n ta

ernest mandel, introduction to capital

Documents