Das Capital Chapter 9 Section 1 The Production of Surplus Value

This is video recording of a google meet on the above chapter - It is a paragraph by baragraph recording with a discussion. The participants are Achyut Karve, Surajit Das and Vishnu Sharma.

[achyutkarve]

Those who are viewing are requested to comment so that those who listen will be able to further crystalize the arguments in each paragraph.

[mullraerae]

It can become a little confusing with Marx when c=commodity, c=constant capital, c=commodity capital, as long as one realises in this chapter C capital advanced is made up of c= constant capital (machinery, fuel, materials of production ) and v = variable or the wages laid out for the buying of labour power. One thing if members not talking would mute themselves then there'd be less or no echoing of sound.

In M-C-M or M-C-M' in simple commodity exchange the C stands for commodities (shoes, chairs, hats etc) and is totally different to C Capital Advanced money to buy mp = means of production and v = variable capital = wages.

In his formulas used later in vols II and III M, C, C', M' are part of the circuit of capital through the circuit of productive capital and from that point of view shouldn't be confused with C-M-C or M-C-M used earlier to express simple commodity exchange.

Marx certainly didn't make it easy for the reader, but then again the whole project was a mass undertaking and he should be applauded for showing how capitalism works and cannot work without the exploitation of the workers labour power, labour power being the commodity the worker has to sell in order to exist.