資本論 PART 7: THE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL

The

conversion

of

a

sum

of

money

into

means

of

production

and

labour-power,

is

the

first

step

taken

by

the

quantum

of

value

that

is

going

to

function

as

capital.

This

conversion

takes

place

in

the

market,

within

the

sphere

of

circulation.

The

second

step,

the

process

of

production,

is

complete

so

soon

as

the

means

of

production

have

been

converted

into

commodities

whose

value

exceeds

that

of

their

component

parts,

and,

therefore,

contains

the

capital

originally

advanced,

plus

a

surplus-value.

These

commodities

must

then

be

thrown

into

circulation.

They

must

be

sold,

their

value

realised

in

money,

this

money

afresh

converted

into

capital,

and

so

over

and

over

again.

This

circular

movement,

in

which

the

same

phases

are

continually

gone

through

in

succession,forms

the

circulation

of

capital.

The

first

condition

of

accumulation

is

that

the

capitalist

must

have

contrived

to

sell

his

commodities,and

to

reconvert

into

capital

the

greater

part

of

the

money

so

received.

In

the

following

pages

we

shall

assume

that

capital

circulates

in

its

normal

way.

The

detailed

analysis

of

the

process

will

be

found

in

Book

II.

The

capitalist

who

produces

surplus-value

–i.e.,

who

extracts

unpaid

labour

directly

from

the

labourers,

and

fixes

it

in

commodities,

is,

indeed,the

first

appropriator,

but

by

no

means

the

ultimate

owner,

of

this

surplus-value.

He

has

to

share

it

with

capitalists,

with

landowners,

&c.,

who

fulfil

other

functions

in

the

complex

of

social

production.

Surplus

value,

therefore,

splits

up

into

various

parts.

Its

fragments

fall

to

various

categories

of

persons,

and

take

various

forms,

independent

the

one

of

the

other,such

as

profit,

interest,

merchants'

profit,

rent,

&c.

It

is

only

in

Book

III.

that

we

can

take

in

hand

these

modifed

forms

of

surplus-value.

On

the

one

hand,

then,

we

assume

that

the

capitalist

sells

at

their

value

the

commodities

he

has

produced,without

concerning

ourselves

either

about

the

new

forms

that

capital

assumes

while

in

the

sphere

of

circulation,

or

about

the

concrete

conditions

of

reproduction

hidden

under

these

forms.

On

the

other

hand,

we

treat

the

capitalist

producer

as

owner

of

the

entire

surplus-value,

or,

better

perhaps,

as

the

representative

of

all

the

sharers

with

him

in

the

booty.We,

therefore,

first

of

all

consider

accumulation

from

an

abstract

point

of

view

–

i.e.,

as

a

mere

phase

in

the

actual

process

of

production.

So

far

as

accumulation

takes

place,

the

capitalist

must

have

succeeded

in

selling

his

commodities,

and

in

reconverting

the

sale-money

into

capital.

Moreover,the

breaking-up

of

surplus-value

into

fragments

neither

alters

its

nature

nor

the

conditions

under

which

it

becomes

an

element

of

accumulation.

Whatever

be

the

proportion

of

surplus-value

which

the

industrial

capitalist

retains

for

himself,

or

yields

up

to

others,he

is

the

one

who,

in

the

first

instance,

appropriates

it.

We,

therefore,

assume

no

more

than

what

actually

takes

place.

On

the

other

hand,

the

simple

fundamental

form

of

the

process

of

accumulation

is

obscured

by

the

incident

of

the

circulation

which

brings

it

about,

and

by

the

splitting

up

of

surplus-value.

An

exact

analysis

of

the

process,

therefore,

demands

that

we

should,

for

a

time,

disregard

all

phenomena

that

hide

the

play

of

its

inner

mechanism.