From formal subsumption under capital to primitive accumulation of capital: On the separation of labour from the objective conditions of production in Marx’s Capital

Abstract

In contemporary Marxist studies, there has been a revival of two classic categories of the Critique of Political Economy, namely, ‘formal subsumption of labour under capital’ and ‘primitive accumulation of capital’. In contradistinction to traditional usages, Marxists authors consider that both belong, not to the historical past of capitalist production, but to its actuality. Regrettably, this recuperation has not been accompanied by a more thorough assessment of the methodological and political dimensions that are contained in both categories. This article aims to address this issue in the light of Marx’s use of the categories of formal subsumption of labour under capital and primitive accumulation of capital. In doing so, it will be demonstrated that they refer to the same process, namely, the separation of labour from the objective conditions of production, and that, given this internal connection, they co-evolve throughout Marx’s economic works, from Grundrisse to Capital, volume I. Moreover, it will be seen that the substitution of primitive accumulation for formal subsumption must be understood in Marx’s shift from a systematic to a historical approach to the historical process by which the capitalist mode of production came to life; and that Marx adopted this new perspective on both methodological and political grounds. The article also discusses the importance of contemporary Marxist scholarship of this examination of the methodological and political premises of Marx’s use of the notions of formal subsumption and primitive accumulation.