Lefebvre clearly sees that surplus production beyond the realm of necessity exists in all societies that aim at increasing productivity. “A society without surplus product, in which labour allows for nothing more than the survival of its workers, will quickly disappear” (CEL2, 320). Scientific-technological progress is always connected to the question of how to create surplus. In capitalism, surplus-value production becomes and end in itself that serves the capitalist class’ interests. The capitalist class owns the means of production, surplus-value, capital, profit, commodities, and compels the working class to sell its labour-power as commodity. In all class societies the ruling class owns the surplus product. The capitalist economy is specific in that workers are compelled to sell their labour-power and produce commodities, surplus-value and profit that are owned by the capitalist class. Lefebvre argues that in capitalist society, the accumulation of capital comes along with the accumulation of rationality and knowledge in culture and political action in bureaucracies (327). Lefebvre stresses that in capitalist society, the logic of accumulation extends beyond the economy into society at large.
Uneven development, the atomisation of the individual, and the segregation of individuals into groups with polarised interests in respect to the division of labour, education, influence, and so forth are the consequences of capitalist accumulation. Lefebvre argues that capitalism implies an uneven development of everyday life so that general upheaval benefits the ruling class and creates a “backward sector” where humans are exploited and oppressed (CEL2, 316). Lefebvre sees uneven development as a central feature of capitalism. He does, however, not see it, as Marx does, as identical with accumulation (Marx 1867, 776).
From Marx, we can take the insight that the logic of accumulation includes the alienation of workers from the control of the means of production, commodities, capital, surplus-value, and their own lives. From Lefebvre, we can take the insight that in capitalist society, accumulation is both an economic and a non-economic process.
In my own model that is based on these insights, society is the totality of social production processes. We can distinguish between social production in the economy, politics, and culture. In capitalism, we find the accumulation of capital in the economy, the accumulation of decision-power and influence in politics, and the accumulation of reputation, attention, and respect in culture. The key aspect is not that there is growth, but that there is the attempt of the dominant class and dominant groups to accumulate power at the expense of others who as a consequence have disadvantages. Capitalist society is therefore based on an economic antagonism of exploitation between classes and social antagonisms of domination.
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Theorists