Capital accumulation is the generation of assets, typically money, in a capitalist system. This is achieved through the growth of the rate of profit or through investments. Over-accumulation occurs when there is more capital than can be profitably invested back into the economy, causing unemployment and wage reduction. In addition to typical capital accumulation, Harvey writes about accumulation through dispossession, which is when capitalists create private markets for investment by appropriating public goods, such as collective land or national industries.

In Marxist theory, capital is the wealth generated from the exploitation of labor. Capital is created when workers are paid less than the value of the goods and services they generate. Capitalists are the class of people who own the means of production, and capitalists accumulate capital by paying workers less for their labor than the actual value that their labor generated.

Class is a group of people who share the same position in the economy. Harvey focuses on the elite economic class (capitalists, or the wealthy people who own businesses, make investments, and drive public policy through control of civil institutions) and the working class (wage laborers). He describes neoliberalism as a form of class struggle. Harvey’s class distinctions are broader than those in popular discourse; for example, anyone who works for a wage, including both white-collar and blue-collar workers, would be considered working class under Harvey’s schema.