* From: Jim Devine
Charles Brown wrote:
Jim, What do you make of the fact that Marx refers to slavery and
colonialism as the chief momenta of the primitive accumulation of capitalism
? Doesn't that mean that Marx's thesis is that capitalism started
both in the English countryside and in the colonies ? Both, not just in the
English countryside.
JD:
the now-ancient engine metaphor helps. In my interpretation of Marx
(and to a lesser extent of Brenner), slavery and colonialism provided
fuel for the capitalist engine. But the engine was created in the
English countryside. Once the engine started going (involving the
accumulation that Marx describes in much of CAPITAL), eventually it
didn't need fuel from slavery and colonialism. It could switch to
other fuel supplies, such as the surplus-value produced domestically.
^^^^^
CB: Interesting you use the engine metaphor because I often think of slavery
as turbo-charging the engine of capitalist accumulation at the beginning. Or
better, like the engines that are needed for takeoff of a rocket to get out
of the earth's atmosphere, and then dropped off after the rocket gets beyond
the pull of gravity to a certain point. I forget what you call those rockets
that dropoff after a certain height is reached. Boosters maybe
So, how about both areas of primitive accumulation are engines, but slavery
is a turbo-charger or liftoff/booster engine that gets dropped as too heavy
later.
Marx actually refers to slavery and colonialism as the "chief" momenta of
the primitive accumulation, which is a _slight_ implication that they are
"chiefly" important or more important than the alienation of the English
peasant farmers from their lands.
Further thoughts:
Accumulation of capital is M-C-M' and M-M' (M'>M). So, it's "mostly" in the
form of money (M). So, the gold and silver from the New World was in a form
that lent itself to one of the main forms of accumulation.
Oh,yes, I came up with a "compromise" last night:
Brenner's thesis focuses on the origin and primitive accumulation of
_variable_ capital, wage-labor . Wage-labor as a commodity is part of the
originating definition of capitalism.
There was also accumulation of _money_ capital, money as capital at the
origin of capitalism. There had been money before capitalism, but it was not
capital until capitalism. Colonialism and slavery were a main source of
money capital in the primitive or original accumulation of capitalism.
Slavery and colonialism are also sources of raw materials as fixed capital,
and the accumulation of capital in the form of fixed capital.
Both labor and money are transformed into new things with the beginning of
capital. They are forms of capital.
