Capital volume 2: An Interpretive Glossary

Transcription

1 Capital volume 2: An Interpretive Glossary [Note ike my glossary for volume 1, this glossary of volume 2 of Marx s Capital has been produced principally for purposes of self-clarification. It is thus not exhaustive of the terms and concepts Marx deploys in the volume, but it does try to deal with some of the most important, and sometimes the more difficult to grasp, of them. It is interpretative in the sense that the definitions given are my recapitulated interpretations of what I think the terms mean, rather than direct textual citations of what Marx says or implies they mean (even if, given that the glossary has been prepared from my own reading notes, I may in places more or less closely paraphrase Marx). At some point in the future I do intend to produce a textual glossary of some of these terms using Marx s own words the two glossaries, the textual and the interpretative, would then complement one another. Where there are supporting references to Marx, however, these are indicated in blue: the work cited is Karl Marx, Capital, vol. 2 (Harmonsdworth, 1978). Main entries appear in bold red, as do cross-references to this glossary; crossreferences to the glossary for volume 1 appear in bold green. Given that this glossary forms part of a longer term and ongoing project, I welcome being corrected on errors of fact, superfluity, omission, and interpretation; and I naturally welcome all other constructive comments.] annual rate of surplus-value The actual rate of surplus-value multiplied by the number of times the advanced is turned over in a year (throughout volume 2 Marx assumes an annual production period). The significance of the concept lies in the fact that the same value of variable advanced will yield quantities of surplus-value ever greater in proportion to the number of times this value turns over. [369-83] See also: turnover time buying time See: purchase time in circulation The movement of industrial through the phases of exchange in the cycle of, namely M C and C M, during which it assumes the forms of money and commodity. Central to Marx s critique of classical political economy was its conflation of in circulation and circulating. [274-6] See also: circulation time; fixed ; forms of ; purchase time; selling time circuit of See: cycle of circuit of commodity See: cycle of commodity circuit of money See: cycle of money circuit of productive See: cycle of productive 1

2 circulating Those elements of productive that are completely consumed in production, and which therefore transfer their entire value to the product without their turnover being interrupted (and which are therefore constantly renewed in kind), viz. objects of labour and labour-power (variable ). The contrast here is with fixed, which preserves its use-value form while its value is reproduced in the product; by contrast, circulating (Marx also uses the term fluid flüssiges, more properly liquid ) enters the product both materially and as value. [243-6] This distinction (between fixed and circulating ) is significant in that while a part of the value of fixed remains tied up ( fixed ) in its use-value form, the total value of the circulating circulates in the material form of the product; which leads, in the former case, to discontinuity in investment within reproduction. It should be noted that the opposition between fixed and circulating only exists for industrial when it assumes the form of productive, and not when it assumes the forms of money and commodity. These last two forms are certainly in circulation (contrasted with productive ), but this is not the same distinction. [246-7] Hence, Marx sharply criticises Adam Smith for his designation as circulating as it passes through the metamorphoses of the cycle of, thus confusing the movement of industrial as a whole with the distinct elements (fixed and circulating) that exist within productive, effectively conflating the distinction on the one hand between productive and in circulation and on the other that between fixed and circulating within productive. In Smith s conception, all was fixed when it was involved in production; and all was circulating when it underwent the changes of form between commodity and money in circulation. [274-6] circulation of See: in circulation circulation time The time circulates as commodity and money, in which it transforms itself from commodity form to money form and back again, transformations which are simple metamorphoses of commodities. The mutual exclusion of production time and circulation time is important for Marx s critique of classical political economy: circulation represents an interruption in production, during which does not function as productive and produces neither commodities nor surplus-value. [200-4] Given that circulation is composed of two acts, C M and M C, circulation time can be further broken down into selling time and purchase time. [326-33] See also: in circulation commodity Industrial when it assumes the form of the commodity product C, the result of the process of production P. As self-valorised value, C already embodies surplus-value. Commodity is one of the two forms assumed by industrial in its process of circulation (the other being money ). It is important to grasp that commodity as the form assumed by industrial is the commodity product C, and not the factors (forces) of production C< mp, labour power and means of production, purchased with the money advanced (although these too assume commodity form). These latter confront the ist as buyer merely as commodities, and not. The means of production may certainly be C, i.e. commodity, for their seller (in the act C M ); labour-power, on the other hand, is always just a commodity for the worker, and only becomes in the hands of its buyer, as a component part of the process of production. The 2

3 factors of production can thus never function in the the cycle of as commodity but only function within the cycle as in commodity form, and, as such, only more or less fleetingly. In effect, in the movement M C< mp... P, C< mp, as factors of production, is subsumed into the process of production as productive, rather than assuming a fixed form in itself. [167-9] See also: cycle of commodity cycle of A sum of money (M) which is advanced to function as industrial will be used to buy the commodities necessary for production to take place, namely means of production and labourpower (M C< mp ). These commodities are deployed in production (P), which yields a commodity product (C ) with a value (if all has gone according to intention) greater than that originally advanced. This commodity product is sold for money (M ). We can represent this movement like this: M C< mp... P... C M In the course of this movement, the industrial value has assumed the functionally distinct forms of money (M), commodities (factors of production) (C< mp ), the process of production (P), commodity product (C, i.e. C + ΔC) and money (M, M + ΔM) again; the value undergoes a sequence of metamorphoses. Of course, if reproduction is to take place, the money yielded from this sale (M ) is used depending on the scale of the reproduction, in whole or in part as new M to buy more means of production and labour-power. This cycle (Marx uses the term Kreislauf, frequently translated as circuit ) thus repeats itself, in principle ad infinitum, and can be represented like this: M C< mp... P... C M. M C< mp... P... C M. M C< mp... P... etc. Given this, that the movement of industrial describes an indefinitely repeating circular path, it is possible to view it from different points of view (as different cycles), taking in each a different element as the starting point, each corresponding to a distinct phase in the movement of (viz. M C; P ; and C M ); respectively: M C... P... C M the cycle of money (M... M ) P... C M C... P the cycle of productive (P... P) C M C... P... C the cycle of commodity (C... C ). (We should note that industrial in the form of factors (forces) of production C< mp, labour power and means of production, is subsumed into the process of production, rather than assuming a fixed form in itself.) To each cycle corresponds a particular form of, respectively money, productive, and commodity. Nevertheless, the overall movement of industrial, and its characteristics, cannot be reduced to either one of these cycles; rather, it is the product of their overall imbrication (and the same remark may be made with respect to industrial itself, and its forms). [109; 142-3; 180] This said, however, precisely because each cycle describes the movement of in a one-sided and partial way, each in turn offers a privileged insight into different aspects of ist production and reproduction. Hence the cycle of money is the appropriate site for the analysis of turnover; the cycle of productive that most appropriate for the analysis of reproduction; and the cycle of commodity that for the analysis of the overall movement of social. 3

4 See also: forms of cycle of commodity The movement of industrial examined from the point of view of commodity as its start (and hence end) point, i.e. C M C... P... C. Marx notes that, insofar as commodity production is generalised, all commodities (except labourpower) are commodity in the hands of their sellers. As such, the cycle of commodity describes the movement of industrial in its totality, i.e. in terms of total social. Marx complements the Physiocrats for having selected this cycle of as an object of analysis over the others. [176-9] See also: cycles of ; cycle of money ; cycle of productive cycle of money The movement of industrial examined from the point of view of money as its start (and hence end) point, i.e. M C... P... C M. Given that the cycle expresses that the money with which it begins is not simply expended as money but advanced as the cycle expresses as its determining aim valorisation: money breeding money. Although Marx gives expositional precedence to this cycle over the others (for this reason), he also notes that analysis of the movement of exclusively through the cycle of money appears to suggest that valorisation is a function of money, and not of. Marx associates this view to Mercantilism, and the cycle of money to its ideological standpoint. [ ] See also: cycles of ; cycle of commodity ; cycle of productive cycle of productive The movement of industrial examined from the point of view of productive as its start (and hence end) point, i.e. P... C M C... P. Contrasted with the case of the cycle of money, in which production mediates circulation, here circulation mediates production. As such, P... P suggests industrial in a form in which it must continue to function as productive ; the cycle thus suggests the inevitability of reproduction (and, as such represented the ideological standpoint of classical political economy). [144-66] See also: cycles of ; cycle of commodity departments of production At the end of the volume, investigating the question of reproduction, Marx divides the total social commodity product into two categories: that produced as articles of productive consumption (i.e. means of production, produced in Department I ), and that as articles of unproductive consumption (i.e. means of consumption, produced in Department II ). [471-3] (At one point, discussing simple reproduction, Marx introduces a subdivision within Department II between that part which produces necessary means of consumption ( Department IIa ) and that which produces non-necessary luxury items ( Department IIb ).) [478-87] Taking into account that the product of Department I is bought and consumed (productively) by the ists of both departments, and that of Department II unproductively by the ists and workers of both departments, Marx then traces the exchanges both within and between the departments that would be necessary to ensure, first, simple reproduction, and, second, a balanced (his word) expanded reproduction. It is necessary here to grasp that, while the division between departments in terms of their product is a functional one, i.e. one founded on use-value (subsequent Marxists have developed economic models based on more than two departments, introducing, for example, departments dedicated to the production of gold (i.e. money), armaments, and so on), the exchanges that Marx goes on to discuss are dealt with exclusively in terms of value. 4

5 expanded reproduction Reproduction of production in which, either in whole or in part (in the real world, in which ists too consume unproductively, always in part), surplus-value is accumulated as new in the following production period (rather than being consumed unproductively), thus ensuring, independently of physical output (which is a function of the productivity of labour) that production in this period is on a greater scale in value terms than in the preceding one. See also: simple reproduction fixed That part of the constant fixed in production as instruments of production, which, by interposing themselves between the producer and the objects of production, mediate the action of the former. What is specific to fixed is that it circulates not in its use-value form, but rather as value. Fixed is to be distinguished from circulating since the former circulates only to the degree in which its value is transferred to the product, which then circulates as a commodity (it is thus the function of a commodity in the production process, and not its intrinsic nature, that allows us to classify it as fixed or circulating ). Insofar as they continue to function, part of the value of the elements of fixed remains fixed in the production process, distinct from the products to whose production it contributes (those components of constant which also do not enter materially into the product, but which are by their nature completely consumed in every labour process in general ancillaries : power for machines, energy for lighting and heating, etc. form, for this reason, a part of circulating, not fixed, ). [237-43] There occurs as a consequence and herein lies the significance of the distinction between fixed and circulating a discontinuity in the investment in fixed within reproduction, a discontinuity which results from the fact that the reproduction period of the elements of fixed can coincide with any given production period only through happenstance. In practice, in the analysis of the reproduction of, those components of fixed whose life is shorter than a single given production period, which therefore only need to be replaced during the production period, can be treated analytically in the same way as circulating would be. [524-6] It should be noted that the opposition between fixed and circulating only exists for industrial when it assumes the form of productive, and not when it assumes the forms of money and commodity. These last two forms are certainly in circulation (contrasted with productive ), but this is not the same distinction. [246-7] Hence, Marx sharply criticises Adam Smith for his designation as circulating as it passes through the metamorphoses of the cycle of, thus confusing the movement of industrial as a whole with the distinct elements (fixed and circulating) that exist within productive, effectively conflating the distinction on the one hand between productive and in circulation and on the other that between fixed and circulating within productive. In Smith s conception, all was fixed, when it was involved in production; and all was circulating when it underwent the changes of form between commodity and money in circulation. [274-6] forms of One way of understanding as self-valorising value is as value in motion [185], i.e. value which undergoes a series of transformations of form metamorphoses as it moves through its process of self-valorisation. As it traverses the cyclical movement M C< mp... P... C M, industrial value in turn assumes the functionally distinct forms of money advanced as, factors of production, process of production, commodity product, and money realised by the sale of this product. Aside from production, which is a process, each of these forms is distinct in virtue of its function in the self-valorisation of value, i.e. is distinct in terms of use-value; but each is in virtue not of its use-value form but of the place of this form within the overall movement of in its 5

6 journey of self-valorisation and its relations with the other forms in which this journey consists. Industrial, even though it assumes these forms, cannot be reduced to any of them, but has to be conceived as the imbrication of them and the relations between them over the course of the movement of self-valorisation. See also: commodity ; cycle of ; money ; productive industrial Capital value, considered either individually or in general, deployed so that its self-valorisation occurs through in the ist process of production. As it moves through its cycle, industrial assumes the forms of money, commodity and productive. [135-6] See also: cycle of ; forms of money Industrial in money form; in the form of the money realised by the sale of the commodity product, and hence the money advanced to start a new cycle of money. Money is one of the two forms assumed by industrial in its process of circulation (the other being commodity ). See also: productive production period See: production time production time The total time industrial persists in the form of productive. Production time consists in working time, i.e. that time in which industrial is engaged in self-valorisation, creation of surplus-value (including that time in which it is engaged in self-valorisation while idle, for example in the case of buildings necessary for storage), and that time in which it is unproductive (in the case of interruptions in the process of production, for example), and no surplus-value is produced. [200-3; 241] See also: circulation time; purchase time; selling time; turnover time; productive Industrial in the form of process of production. Productive consists in the factors of production (labour-power and means of production; variable and constant ) in production. Productive is therefore a process. Money is converted into productive through the exchange M C< mp, in the purchase of means of production and labour-power; but while C< mp persists in commodity form, it assumes the form of industrial in commodity form (and is neither commodity nor productive ). [167-9] It is only when the factors of production are deployed in production as a process of their transformation into the commodity product can they be said to constitute productive, and it is only when productive is constituted are both commodities and surplus-value produced. It is important to note that the distinction between circulating and fixed pertains exclusively to industrial when it subsists in the form of productive. See also: circulation time; commodity ; cycle of productive ; money 6

7 purchase time The period in which industrial persists in money form, after the sale of the commodity product and before the purchase of the factors of production means of production and labourpower. Purchase time forms one part of circulation time (the other part is composed of selling time). [207-9; 331-3] reproduction Capitalist production, in addition to producing commodities, also produces the conditions for further production; reproduction in this sense refers to the periodic and repeated operation of productive and to the conditions under which this periodic and repeated function operates. [144] In this sense, Marx distinguishes between simple reproduction, and expanded reproduction. reproduction period In a general sense, the time an element of productive functions before it needs to be replaced. Specifically, the term is used with special reference in the case of fixed ; here, its significance lies in the fact that the lifetime for a particular element of fixed may be significantly longer than the turnover time for the overall value advanced, leading thus to a discontinuity in the investment in fixed compared to the production period for the overall value of productive operating. [524-6] reproduction time See: reproduction period selling time The period in which industrial persists in the form of commodity, i.e. the time between the completion of the production period and the sale of the commodity product. Selling time forms one part of circulation time (the other part is composed of purchase time). [207-9; 326-9] See also: in circulation simple reproduction Reproduction of production in which surplus-value produced is consumed unproductively in its entirety, such that in the following production period, independently of physical output, which is a function of the productivity of labour, production proceeds on the same scale in value terms as in the preceding one. Even though, insofar as its premises contradict the basic motive of ist production, the selfvalorisation of value, i.e. the production and accumulation of surplus-value, simple reproduction is an analytical fiction, Marx comments that insofar as expanded reproduction includes simple reproduction the latter forms a part of real accumulation and is thus a worthy object of analysis. [470-1] social What Marx in his correspondence and in the Grundrisse called in general : considered as an undifferentiated mass, or as one great, abstracting away from the relations between (including competition) individual s. The movement of the social is thus conceived of as the product of the totality of the movements of the individual s. [427] time of purchase See: purchase time 7

8 turnover time For a given the sum of its production time and circulation time; the overall time that elapses from the moment that a value is advanced in one of its forms until it returns to that form. [233] See also: cycle of ; forms of working period The time (measured as, for example, working days) required to complete a finished product. The significance of the concept lies in the fact that, in the case of products requiring a more continuous production process, more additional outlay on circulating is required, since the period during which this is unable to exist in a form capable of circulation in a finished commodity is longer. Hence, even if, considering different products with different working periods, equal s, divided equally into fixed and circulating, are invested, the reflux of these s is different. In addition, although the same amount of productive is may be applied in these two cases, the amount of invested is greater in the case of the longer working period than in that of the shorter. [306-15] See also: in circulation; circulation time working time That part of production time in which industrial, in the form of productive, is engaged in self-valorisation, creation of surplus-value (including that time in which it is idle, for example in the case of buildings necessary for storage). [200-3] 8