The Capitalist Economy

Abstract

We begin with the capitalist economy. The aim of this chapter is to present as simply as possible some basic propositions of historical materialism and Marxist political economy in order to lay the basis for our subsequent analysis of the welfare state under capitalism. Though much of this is not original, current problems and debates will not be shirked, and I shall try to make my position clear. We begin by looking at the basic concepts of exploitation and class and then move on to consider the capitalist mode of production. This permits us to analyse the dynamics of the economic system under capitalism, which in turn forms the basis for our investigation of its implication for social policy. We look here at the way capitalist development creates new ‘requirements’ for state intervention in the welfare field. This is only a starting point, however, for it does not follow that these requirements will necessarily be translated into social legislation and social provision. This is a much larger question which we tackle in Chapters 3 and 4. Nevertheless our starting point is not accidental and it determines the route we must travel.