The victories that followed the American civil war and the 1960s civil rights era are once again under attack, echoing earlier efforts to roll back equality and redefine democracy, says JOE SIMS
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What are the ‘organic composition of capital’ and the ‘tendency for the rate of profit to fall?’
A whole host of damaging measures, from cuts to casualisation, outsourcing and raising the retirement age, are deployed for one reason: to fight the inevitable decline of profits, explains the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY
In 2010, faced with the closure of their local library, a Buckinghamshire town’s locals turned to an unconventional tactic – borrowing every single book – to defend a cherished community space. MAT COWARD tells the story
The indictment of Nicolas Maduro after a deadly US assault is just the latest phase in a long campaign against the Bolivarian government, warns FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ
Journalist STEVE SWEENEY talks to Roger McKenzie about narrowly surviving an Israeli air strike last week while documenting the mass displacement of civilians – and explains why the real story goes far beyond the attack on him
After 27 years in Holyrood, the former first minister urged unity and respect — but, says NEIL FINDLAY, her time in power told a very different story
The Employment Rights Act 2025’s focus on individual rights forces workers into slow and costly litigation to assert rights, rather than empowering unions. A Campaign for Trade Union Freedom-Strike Map rally at the weekend called for a more radical sequel, reports BEN CHACKO
AT first glance perhaps just jargon to confuse the uninitiated and demonstrate the assumed superiority of those who know the answers, particularly because they involve measures and ratios. However, they are useful terms for understanding capital and capitalism.
First, the “organic composition of capital” (OCC). Capital is the means whereby production takes place and (for the capitalists, who own it) enables profit to be made. At its simplest, it consists of two elements, which Marx labelled “constant” and “variable.” The distinction is important, because ultimately only human labour can create new value.
In Capital, Marx illustrates the distinction in terms of a factory producing a particular commodity. Constant capital is the monetary value of components and materials, together with the fixed assets (such as plant and buildings) “used up” (as measured by depreciation or maintenance costs) during production and effectively embodied in the product when it is sold.
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