The absolute capital gain is the profit that is obtained by means of the extension of the working day. This is one of the techniques that employers use to increase the profit obtained from the workers. The absolute surplus value procedure achieved its maximum expansion in the initial phases of capitalism, when manual labor still predominated in companies.
Marx argued that there were systematic processes in a capitalist economy that made the value of labor power less than the value created during the working day. The first of these processes was the extension of working hours beyond pre-industrial levels, to twelve or fourteen hours a day.
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This lengthening of the working day, which is called absolute surplus value, was the main source of profit during the first invasions of capitalist production in the economic sector. During this phase, production technology was comparatively static, still relying on hand tools.
The real revolution in production came with mechanization, which allowed the generation of relative surplus value. Individual capitalists then had an incentive to introduce new machinery, because this gave them a competitive advantage.
characteristics
The generation of absolute surplus value is obtained by lengthening the working day beyond the point at which the worker limits himself to producing what corresponds to the value of his labor power, causing this additional work to be taken over by the employer.
This trend was the main one in the initial stage of capitalism, but it is still important today, even in many social formations dominated by imperialism.
The creation of absolute surplus value corresponds to the productivity of social work, which is the value of labor power. This designation is used to show that the extraction of a surplus is the essence of capital accumulation.
In absolute surplus value, the working day appears in advance divided into two fragments: necessary work and surplus work.
This surplus value is called absolute, because it is the only productive form of capital accumulation. So far, history has not produced any additional form of productive surplus value.
Step up work
The creation of absolute surplus value entails an increase in the amount of total value produced, generally increasing the working hours of workers, but also intensifying the work carried out, limiting breaks, supervision by management, etc.
Because this surplus is based on inducing workers to expend much more labor power than is required for their support, a capitalist hegemony of the political and ideological superstructures is needed to enforce this relationship between capital and labor.
Increasing the intensity of work in companies, which is equivalent to prolonging the working day, is a way to achieve absolute capital gain.
When this increases, the consumption of labor increases per unit of time. Therefore, the amount of unpaid work rises in an absolute way, which the employer takes over.
The fundamental means for employers to impose the maximum possible consumption of the workforce include:
- The extension of the working day.
- The setting of wages so that the worker is forced to work more hours.
Limitations
Currently, the employer seeks to gain absolute capital gain by resorting to jobs performed in overtime, implementing an astonishingly long working day for most workers, as well as greatly increasing the intensity of the work to be done during this time.
This form of increased surplus value is limited in its usefulness, since it has natural limits, such as 24 hours a day, but also social limits, such as the motivational well-being of the working population.
The capitalist accumulation of absolute surplus value is limited by the need to preserve the working class. History constantly teaches, eloquently enough, the flexibility of that limit.
As soon as competition is introduced into the labor force, and if the organization of the working class is weak, the balance of forces becomes quite unfavorable for the working class.
On the contrary, the organized resistance of the working class can reduce the ability of the capitalists to accumulate absolute surplus value.
Marxist vision
According to Marx, absolute surplus value is obtained by increasing the amount of time worked per worker in an accounting period. Marx mainly talks about the length of the day or the working week, but in modern times the concern is about the number of hours worked per year.
The generation of surplus value is directly related to the rate of exploitation of workers in the workplace: total surplus value divided by wages.
When large mechanized industry appeared and developed, it was possible to increase surplus value by mainly increasing the productivity of labor.
This is the general foundation on which the capitalist system rests, and it is also the starting point for the generation of relative surplus value.
In a tenacious struggle to reduce the working day, the workers have achieved that, by means of the law, it is considerably delimited in the advanced capitalist countries.
Thus, May Day with the struggle of the working class for an eight-hour workday was a popular and democratic struggle.
Examples
Suppose four hours of labor are required to manufacture a product. For this reason, the employer hires a worker to work eight hours.
During that day, the worker produces two units of this product. However, the capitalist only pays him what corresponds to one unit, the remainder being the surplus value created by the worker.
Graphic example
The absolute surplus value occurs when the employer extends the worker's workday from, for example, ten hours to eleven hours, making him work an additional hour, which is then appropriated by the capitalist.
Suppose that the total value produced in the 10 hours of labor is divided equally: 5 hours for the value of labor power (V) and 5 hours for surplus value (P).
By lengthening the working day an additional hour, an additional capital gain (p ') is also generated, the employer then earning what was produced in 6 hours of work, instead of the 5 hours that he previously earned, as can be seen in the image:
References
- Klaas V. (2013). Absolute and relative surplus value. Anti-Imperialism. Taken from: anti- imperialism.org.
- Jan Makandal (2015). Two Forms of Surplus Value. Taken from: koleksyon-inip.org.
- Eumed (2019). Dictionary of political economy. Taken from: eumed.net.
- Webdianoia (2018). Karl Marx. Taken from: webdianoia.com.
- Descuadrando (2011). Capital gain. Taken from: descuadrando.com.