It serves as a ready reference for economic terms we have used in this book.Ībsolute surplus-value: Surplus-value produced by extending the length of the working day beyond the necessary labour-time and so increasing surplus labour-time.Ībstract labour: Labour in its general or quantitative form as a producer of value, abstracted from its particular qualities as labour of a specific kind.Ĭapital: That part of wealth used to exploit human labour-power in the creation of more wealth, with a view to private profit.Ĭapital accumulation: The reinvestment (or capitalisation) of a portion of surplus-value in new elements of constant and variable capital, thus increasing the scale of production also termed ‘extended reproduction’ and ‘concentration of capital’.Ĭentralisation of capital: The combination of individual capitals to form larger capitals, for example through mergers and takeovers.Ĭommodity: A product of human labour which is produced in order to be exchanged.Ĭommodity fetishism: The mistaken idea that the value of a commodity is an intrinsic property of the commodity as an object.Ĭomposition of capital: The division of capital into that part which purchases means of production (constant capital) and that part which purchases labour-power (variable capital) in terms of use-value: the ‘technical composition of capital’ in value terms, the ‘value composition of capital’.

The following glossary is a compilation of brief definitions of the economic terms used by Marx in volume one of Capital.

Das kapital volume 1