Capitalist Exploitation: Its Forms, Origin, and Fate

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter studies capitalist economic structure through the lens of historical sociology. It kicks off by exploring the idea of capital—as monetary title to subsumed labour—through a series of historical examples. It then extends the model of capitalist accumulation introduced in chapter 2 by asking how exploitation becomes possible under capitalism and what historically specific forms it takes. Sophisticated answers to these two questions—of origin and form, respectively—have been provided by Karl Marx in volumes I and III of Capital. This chapter studies Marx’s answers, drawing extensively upon the contemporary debate on the origins of capitalism. It then shows how that debate can shed light on discussions about precarity and the ‘gig economy,’ as well as on post-capitalist democratic futures, including contemporary discussions on market socialism and the democratic firm.