Accumulation of Capital and Relative Surplus Population

Abstract

In this chapter, Otani looks at the influence capital accumulation has on the working class. A rise in the ratio of constant capital to variable capital is called a heightening of the composition of capital. The ratio of the increasing labour-power employed through the increase in overall capital is always becoming smaller vis-a-vis the overall increase in capital as a result of the heightening of the capital composition. This heightening leads to workers being let go due to the concentration of capital and the replacement of fixed capital. A relative surplus population is generated because the increase in the demand for labour through capital accumulation is not able to fully absorb the additional workers resulting from the increase in the working class and the workers who are let go due to the concentration of capital and fixed capital replacement. For capitalist production, the relative surplus population is a control valve for the working population that makes it possible to supply labour-power needed for sudden capital accumulation and to absorb the excessive working population.