Marx’s Capital, Volume One (1867)
I. Preface & Afterword
a “scientific” inquiry
England as environment of observation
Marxist vs. Hegelian dialectic (pg.301 “…the ideal is nothing else than the material world reflected by the human mind, and translated into forms of thought.”
II. Part I. Commodities and Money
commodity as the basic unit of capitalism
use-value (i.e. utility of a thing) [qualitative] vs. exchange-value [quantitative]
use-value represents substance of all wealth (pg. 303)
“Value” = “common substance that manifests itself in the exchange-value of commodities, whenever they are exchanged” (pg. 305) – i.e. the abstraction of human labour contained in the commodity as defined by the social unit of “labour-power”
“ The value of one commodity is to the value of any other, as the labour-time necessary for the production of the one is to that necessary for the production of the other. ” (pg.306)
Value of commodity varies according to state of science, skill of workmen, etc.
Commodities, as such, must be transferred to another for whom they will serve as use-values
Labour has a use-value & exchange-value and the division of labour is necessary for production of commodities
“ To resume, then: In the use-value of each commodity there is contained useful labour, i.e., production activity of a definite kind and exercised with a definite aim. Use-values cannot confront each other as commodities, unless the useful labour embodied in them is qualitatively different in each of them. In a community, the produce of which is general takes the form of commodities, i.e., in a community of commodity producers, this qualitative difference between the useful forms of labour that are carried on independently by individual producers, each on their own account, develops into a complex system, a social division of labour. ” (pg. 309)
Useful labour is a necessary condition for human life
Value of a commodity can be reduced to the quantity contained within of “simple unskilled labour”
For the use-value of a commodity the labour contained within counts qualitatively, but for the Value, it counts quantitatively
Commodities have two forms – physical and value; the value form manifests itself in the social relation of commodity to commodity
Expression of value requires a relative form and an equivalent form – e.g. 20yds. of linen (relative) = 1coat (equivalent); the value of the relative form is expressed by the use-value of the equivalent form; the same quantity of congealed labour is expressed in both forms
Both the value of a commodity & its relative expression may vary according to changing circumstances (i.e. reduction of labour-time in process, etc.)
Mystery of Commodities: their value is drawn from definite social relations; “ The equality of all sorts of human labour is expressed objectively by their products all being equally values; the measure of the expenditure of labour-power by the duration of that expenditure, takes the form of the quantity of value of the products of labour; and finally, the mutual relations of the producers, within which the social character of their labour affirms itself, take the form of a social relation between the products. ” (pg. 320)
Fetishism attaches itself to the products of labour so that relations between persons are material while relations between things are social.
Labour of the individual must satisfy a definite social want; hence objects begin to rule social action
Secret of commodities is that Value = Labour-time
Money is simply the common expression of commodities’ value; as a mediator it conceals the social character of private labour
Exchange-value is socially determined, not a Natural law
III. Part II. The Transformation of Money into Capital
Circulation of commodities is the starting point of capital; Money is the final result of this circulation
Two forms of circulation of commodities: selling commodities for money in order to buy more commodities (C-M-C, “selling in order to buy”) vs. using money to buy commodities so that one might sell these commodities for more money (M-C-M, “buying in order to sell”)
Aim of C-M-C is consumption (use-value); Aim of M-C-M is exchange-value or more accurately the “surplus-value” (the change in M)
M-C-M is the conversion to “capital”; a limitless end or an “art” of making money for its own sake; the “capitalist” or “capital personified and endowed with a will” seeks this end.
Value is the active factor in the M-C-M process; money is the form that allows this expansion of value – money taking the form of a commodity to create “capital”
The change in M-C-M takes place in the commodity – namely in its consumption; this commodity must be of a sort whose use-value is a source of value and whose consumption is an embodiment of labour; “Labour-power” – “the aggregate of those mental and physical capabilities existing in a human being, which he exercises whenever he produces a use-value of any description” (pg. 336) – is such a commodity
New Historical (not Natural) Epoch of Capital is announced when labourer – short of any other commodity - freely offers his labour-power for sale to the capitalist
Value of Labour-power = value of the means of subsistence required by labourer (culturally determined) + procreation (fresh labour pool) + education; minimum limit of labour-power = value of commodities necessary for the labourer’s subsistence
“ This sphere…within whose boundaries the sale and purchase of labour-power goes on, is in fact a very Eden of the innate rights of man. There alone rule Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham. Freedom, because both buyer and seller of a commodity, say of labour-power, are constrained only by their own free will. They contract as free agents, and the agreement they come to, is but the form in which they give legal expression to their common will. Equality, because each enters into relation with the other, as with a simple owner of commodities, and they exchange equivalent for equivalent. Property, because each disposes only of what is his own. And Bentham, because each looks only to himself. The only force that brings them together and puts them in relation with each other, is the selfishness, the gain and the private interests of each. Each looks to himself only, and no one troubles himself about the rest, and just because they do so, do they all, in accordance with the preestablished harmony of things, or under the auspices of an all-shrewd providence, work together to their mutual advantage, for the common weal and in the interest of all. ” (pg.343)
IV. Part III. The Production of Absolute Surplus-Value
Labour is the control of man of the material reactions between himself and Nature; this control requires man’s self-control over his body and will
Labour-Process is composed of the personal activity of man (the work), the subject of that activity, and the instruments of the activity
Using instruments, man transforms Nature (material); here the process disappears in the product – a use-vale or nature transformed to the wants of man; hence labour incorporates itself with its subject – i.e. labour is materialized as its subject is transformed
Products are essential conditions of labour
Means of production = the instruments and the subject of labour
Use-values of products are determined by their function in the labour-process – be they raw material, instruments, or end products
Labour is a process of consumption – i.e. material factors, subjects and instruments are used up in the labour-process
Labour-process is “ human action with a view to the production of use-values, appropriation of natural substances to human requirements; it is the necessary condition for effecting exchange of matter between man and Nature; it is the everlasting Nature-imposed condition of human existence, and therefore is independent of every social phase of that existence, or rather, is common to every such phase .” (pg. 349)
Capitalist consumes labour-power (the commodity) by causing the labourer to consume the means of production; capitalist purchases the use-value of the labourer – imbues the labourer with lifelessness of product – hence, labour-process is merely a process between “things” for the capitalist
Object of the capitalist: Production of a use-value that has an exchange-value [a commodity] whose value is greater than the sum of commodities used in production (means of production + labour-power) – i.e. the creation of “surplus-value”
Surplus-value is created by a quantitative excess of labor – a lengthening of the labour-process from a half-day’s labour (necessary for the labourer’s subsistence) to a whole day’s labour; hence the value which labour creates in one day is double what capitalist pays for it
Rate of surplus-value = surplus working time / necessary working time
Working day is a variable quantity; minimum = part of day necessary for worker’s subsistence (not possible in capitalism to work only this min.); maximum is determined by physical and social/moral boundaries
Length of a working day is arrived at by the struggle between the buyer (capitalist) and seller (labourer) of a commodity and mirrors the struggle between collective capital and collective labour
Greed for surplus-labour (since capital can’t lie fallow) leads to: small thefts of moments of workers’ time (lunch hours cut short, etc.), over-work, night-shfts, etc.
Capitalism’s extension of the working day leads to the deterioration of human labour-power’s development (i.e. deprivation of education, repose, etc.) and extends labourer’s time of production during a given period of time by shortening his actual life-time (equation of practices of capitalism with slavery in that there’s the constant excess of population to pick from)
Embryonic capitalism accrues the help of the State to lengthen the work day; as it develops it loses a bit of the work day (via State reform and regulation), but by this point has convinced the free labourer (via social conditions) to sell his active life in its entirety.
V. Part IV. Production of Relative Surplus-Value
Length of work day as equation: a_____b_____c where length from a to b represents necessary work time and b to c represents surplus-work
Lengthening b to c creates absolute surplus-value (discussed above); shortening a to b creates relative surplus-value; the latter is accomplished by diminishing the necessary work time via a revolution in the mode of production; this, in turn, reduces the value of labour-power
Relative surplus-value best created in branches of industry involved in the customary means of subsistence
New modes of production yield greater value upon first introduction, but this value decreases as the mode becomes generalized
Increased productivity yields a decrease in a commodity’s value but an increase in the relative surplus-value created (the latter being the true goal of the capitalist)
Starting point of capitalism: individual capital employs large number of labourers who yield large quantities of a particular commodity; this can be seen as an enlargement of the mediaeval master’s workshop
Large scale requires control of capital and the coordination of labour; this yields the capitalist as “despot” – must control antagonism between himself and the exploited labourer – aided by his managers and supervisors (sergeants and lieutenants)
Situation of capitalism is such that the workers have no relation with one another, but only with the capitalist (i.e. by the time the workers interact with one another their humanity has been stripped)
Cooperation of free labourers is a form peculiar to capitalism and is fundamental to its development; the power of cooperation lies in the hands of the capitalist
Manufacturing proceeds in one of two forms: 1) various independent (i.e. differently skilled) artisans are assembled in one workshop to create a product or 2) the same “type” of artisan is assembled in the workshop and their labour-process is divided
Manufacture produces the skill of the detailed labourer (an attempt to lessen productivity gaps created by variations in task); the collective labourer is divided according to skill but includes even the unskilled (previously excluded in history)
Division of labour in manufacturing presupposes a certain degree of development in the social division of labour, but once realized the former affects the latter
Detailed labourers produce no commodities in and of themselves – lends itself to dependence on the capitalist
Division of labour in society tends toward equilibrium (“real” laws of supply and demand, etc.) but division of labour in manufacture is according to whim of capitalist
“ By decomposition of handicrafts, by specialization of the instruments of labour, by the formation of detail labourers, and by grouping and combining the latter into a single mechanism, division of labour in manufacture creates a qualitative gradation, and a quantitative proportion in the social process of production; it consequently creates a definite organization of the labour of society, and thereby develops new productive forces in the society. In its specific capitalist form – and under the given conditions, it could take no other form than a capitalistic one – manufacture is but a particular method of begetting relative surplus-value, or of augmenting at the expense of the labourer the self-expansion of capital – usually called social wealth, “Wealth of Nations”, &c. It increases the social productive power of labour, not only for the benefit of the capitalist instead of for that of the labourer, but it does this by crippling the individual labourers. It creates new conditions for the lordship of capital over labour. ” (pg. 400)
Division of labour in manufacture yields machination
Machinery in capitalism meant to increase production of surplus-value
Modern industry begins with revolution of instruments of labour – machinery
Machinery: 1) appropriates women and children as labour [whole family now produces surplus] 2) lengthens work day [by disposal of labour and creation of surplus labour class] 3) intensifies labour [more work done in shorter time]
Factory allows increased interchangeability of machine operators and increases dependence by insuring that skills learned are menial (i.e. machine operation); hence man becomes appendage of machines and is led to life of drudgery and self-depletion
Factory creates need for barracks-type discipline – punishments are enacted as wage reductions
Factory creates new struggle between labourer (man) and his instrument (machine
Modern industry yields constant change in technical basis of production and in functions of labourers and hence revolutionizes the social division of labour; this emphasis on change yields positive effects of end of the detailed labourer, creation of schools, and dissolution of sexist family construction
Modern industry subsumes agriculture and the soil causing the probable ruin of lasting sources of soil’s fertility (i.e. exploitation of immediacy)
VI. Part V. The Production of Absolute and of Relative Surplus-Value
Capital consists of value of constant capital (means of production) and value of variable capital (labour-power, sum total of wages)
Material composition of capital consists of mass of means of production employed (value-composition) and mass of labour necessary for those means’ employment (technical-composition)
Organic composition of capital = the value-composition of capital so far as it is determined by its technical-composition and mirrors the changes of the latter
Growth of capital relies on the reproduction of forms of labour-power; hence, capital yields a growing proletariat
Correlation between the accumulation of capital and rate of wages = correlation between unpaid labour (transformed into capital) and additional paid labour necessary for setting in motion the additional capital
“ If the quantity of unpaid labour supplied by the working-class, and accumulated by the capitalist class, increases so rapidly that its conversion into capital requires an extraordinary addition of paid labour, then wages rise, and, all other circumstances remaining equal, the unpaid labour diminishes in proportion. But as soon as the diminution touches the point at which the surplus-labour that nourishes capital is no longer supplied in normal quantity, a reaction sets in: a smaller part of revenue is capitalised, accumulation lags, and the movement of rise in wages receives a check. The rise of wages therefore is confined within limits that not only leave intact the foundations of the capitalistic system, but also secure its reproduction on a progressive scale. ” (pg. 421)
Capitalism creates the surplus-population (the “Industrial Reserve Army”) through the accelerated relative diminution of the variable constant (the labour contained within); this surplus-population allows the constant expansion of capital (projects such as new railways, etc.)
Capitalist sides with over-working the few and leaving the many idle
Movements of wages are determined by expansions and contractions of the surplus-population, not the expansions and contractions of the wotking population as a whole
Increase in capital doesn’t yield increase in demand for labour; “The demand for labour is not identical with increase of capital, nor supply of labour with increase of the working class. It is not a case of two independent forces working on one another…Capitalism works on both sides at the same time. If its accumulation, on the one hand, increases the demand for labour, it increases on the other the supply of labourers by the “setting free” of them, whilst at the same time the pressure of the unemployed compels those that are employed to furnish more labour, and therefore makes the supply of labour, to a certain extent, independent of the supply of labourers.” (pg. 428)
Relative surplus-population contains the throes of pauperism – of those able to work, of their children, orphans, and those unable to work; paupers form the “dead weight” of the reserve army
Increase in social wealth/functional capital yields an increase in the mass of the reserve population (and hence an increase in pauperism); increase in productiveness of labour yields an increase in the precariousness of the labourer’s position
VII. Part VIII. The So-Called Primitive Accumulation
Secret of primitive accumulation is the myth of the diligent acquiring wealth over the lazy; in reality wealth was acquired via conquest, enslavement, etc.
Polarization of owners of money/means of production and free labourers is the source of capital (which then perpetuates this polarization)
Primitive accumulation (primitive because of its prehistoric relation to capital) took place as the producer became divorced from his means of production – e.g. dissolution of feudalism by divorce of peasant from soil
England (beg. of 16 th century) – feudal wars led to driving of peasants from estates and usurping of common lands in order for feudal lords to garner money on rising wool prices; system expands to include English participation in slave trade to accumulate capital
Genesis of the industrial capitalist contained in colonialism and usage of force
Historical tendency of capital as follows: small units of private property are usurped by force and transformed into large estates (seed of capital); once in place this centralizing tendency continues (i.e. capitalists kill off other capitalists); the increase in capital yields an increase in misery which, in turn, yields the increase in tendencies for the masses to revolt; while capital negates individual private property it yields social private property via the expropriation of a “few usurpers” by the masses