Strategy and Political Concepts in Accumulation Theories

Abstract

This chapter contrasts feudalism and capitalism, highlighting capitalism's key features: high commodity production, labor commodification, and the social relations between owners and non-owners of production means. Capitalism is characterized by “generalized commodity production,” where even labor power is traded. The chapter explores the production relations, focusing on how owners and non-owners interact to generate surplus value and concentrate property among capitalists. It examines the state's role in regulating these relations, discussing the “form of value” as a core social relation in capitalist development and the state's role in capital accumulation. The chapter addresses simple and extended reproduction mechanisms, production element mutations, and their historical evolution. It contrasts Marxist and Keynesian wage theories, emphasizing value as key to accumulation. It also covers Marx's value categorizations, the “transformation problem,” and macro-level value-form, highlighting regulation's role in factor mobilities and international profit transfers.