Beginning and Termination of Primitive Accumulation

Abstract

The objective of this study was to clarify the theory of primitive accumulation. One clue was the comment made by Professor Seiji Mochizuki that one must read “Configurations of Pre-capitalism” as an introduction to the primitive accumulation theory. This comment enabled the author to perceive primitive accumulation as a historical process that negates the “principle of survival ” of a pre-capitalistic community. The principle of survival means that the purpose of economic activities in a society is to ensure the survival of its members and their reproduction over generations. A pre-capitalistic community is a society that thrives on the basis of the principle of survival. In contrast, primitive accumulation, which leads to the disintegration of a society, is characterized by two stages. First, shared land is confiscated in the initial step of primitive accumulation. Then, primitive accumulation is realized through “the establishment of mechanisms to supply labor force through the production of a relative surplus population, which is driven by the advancement of the organic composition of capital, ” and is equal to the “practical subsumption of labor in capital. ”