Surplus Value

Surplus value, in the context of Historical Materialism, refers to the difference between what workers are paid and the value they produce through their labor. Karl Marx argued that workers create more value than their wages, and this excess value is appropriated by capitalists as profit. This concept highlights the exploitation inherent in capitalist systems, where the labor of workers generates wealth for owners while they receive only a fraction of that value in the form of wages. Surplus value is central to understanding economic inequality and the dynamics of class struggle in society.