The Generation and Accumulation of Surplus Value

These flashcards cover key concepts and definitions from Marx's economic theories as discussed in the lecture notes.

Surplus Value

The value added by labor that exceeds the cost of labor power, leading to profit for capitalists.

Dialectical Method

A philosophical approach that emphasizes the contradiction and change in social and economic processes.

Historical Materialism

A theory that history is primarily driven by material conditions and economic factors.

Commodity

Any good or service produced for exchange rather than for direct use.

Use Value

The usefulness of a commodity to fulfill a human need.

Exchange Value

The quantitative value of a commodity expressed in relation to other commodities.

Value

The social labor-time required to produce and reproduce a commodity.

Labour-Power

The capacity or ability of workers to perform useful work.

Constant Capital

The value of means of production that does not change during the production process.

Variable Capital

The part of capital that is invested in labor power, which can create value through the labor process.

Exploitation

A relationship where the welfare of the exploiter increases at the expense of the welfare of the exploited.

Reserve Army of Labour

A surplus population of workers that can be drawn upon when needed, helping to maintain low wages and high profits.

Social Wage

The total value of support and services provided to the working class by the state.

Unpaid Labour

The portion of labor performed that does not receive compensation, contributing to surplus value.

Necessary Labour

The amount of labor required to produce the means of subsistence for workers.

Feminist Scholarship

A body of work that critiques the relationship between gender and labor in society, especially as it pertains to unpaid domestic labor.

Class Oppression

The systemic subordination of one social class by another through exploitation.

Non-Class Oppression

Forms of oppression that do not arise from labor exploitation, such as racial or gender discrimination.

Qualitative Aspects of Value

Aspects that address what kind of labor creates value and how to distinguish between productive and unproductive labor.

Quantitative Aspects of Value

Aspects that focus on measuring the value created by labor in economic terms.

Appropriation of Labour

The process by which exploiters take the fruits of labor from workers without equivalent compensation.