From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Tue Apr 20 2004 - 09:38:24 EDT
> Since accumulation of capital must include increasing the number of > workers subject to exploitation, penetration of non-capitalist modes of > production must be included in moments of accumulation of capital, but I > don't know where, in your five moments, you intend to include that. Hi Paul Z. First, an abstract, hypothetical question: Suppose the wages of productive workers has gone up by 10% and there is an increase in v of 10%. In this case, the increase in v would not necessarily cause a increase in the quantity of exploited workers. Supposing also that c goes up -- and thus c & v simultaneously rise -- would this by your understanding represent an increase in the accumulation of capital? A more concrete question: the presumption of the penetration of capital into areas of the globe where non-capitalist modes of production have dominated is that the quantity of wage-laborers exploited by capital will increase. In recent decades, though, the percentage of the population who are wage-earners employed by capital in many places in the world has _not_ grown. Instead, what has grown significantly is the percentage of non-wage-earners employed in the petty commodity sector (the 'informal sector'). Whether one conceives of this group as part of the industrial reserve army or in some other way, if we take your definition of the accumulation of capital and _if_ it is true that the quantity of wage-earners who are employed by capital and who produce surplus value has _not_ grown in recent decades, then has the accumulation of capital increased during this time period? Under what circumstances would there be a de-accumulation of capital? In solidarity, Jerry
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