1. material conditions or economic factors affect the structure and
development of society.
2. material conditions --> essentially comprise technological means of production
3. human society is formed by the forces and relations of production.
4. Historical because Marx has traced the evolution of human societies from one stage to another
5. materialistic because Marx has interpreted the evolution of societies in terms
of their material or economic bases.
6 Materialism = matter or material reality, which is the basis for any change.
7. The earlier view, that of Hegel, was that ideas were the cause of change.
Matter à Ideas (by Marx) ( ideas were a result of objective reality)
8. Followers of Hegel’s ideas came to be known as the Young
Hegelians. Marx was also one of them.
9. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Historical Materialism ‘guiding thread’ of all their works.
10. Marx rejected Hegel’s faith in Idealism but adopted and adapted Hegel’s
use of the dialectical methodology
11. According to Hegel, each thesis has its antithesis. The thesis represents
the positive view and the antithesis represents the opposite or negative
view. It means that each statement of truth has its opposite statement.
The antithesis or the opposite statement is also true. In course of time,
the thesis and antithesis are reconciled in the form of synthesis. The
synthesis is the composite view. As history progresses, the synthesis
becomes a new thesis. The new thesis then has an antithesis, with
eventual prospect of turning into a synthesis. And thus goes on the
process of dialectics.
12. Marx’s theory is known as historical
materialism while Hegel’s system is called dialectical idealism
13. You may ask what is materialism? Materialism seeks the scientific
explanations of things, including even religion. The idea of materialism
may be opposed to the concept of idealism. Idealism refers to a theory that
ultimate reality lies in a realm of transcending phenomena. Materialism,
on the other hand, contends that everything, that exists, depends upon
matter.
Assumptions:
14. Marx views human society as an interrelated whole. The social groups,
institutions, beliefs and doctrines within it are integrally related.
15. Marx views society as inherently mutable, in which changes are produced
largely by internal contradictions and conflicts,.
16. According to Marx there is no permanent persistence of
human nature. human
nature is potentially revolutionary.
17. It is not that people produce out of material greed or the greed to accumulate
wealth. But the act of producing the essentials of life engages people into
social relationships that may be independent of their will. In most of human
history, according to Marx, these relationships are class relationships that
create class struggle.
The Theory
1. His thought is essentially confined to interpreting the capitalist society of his times. He shows contradictory or antagonistic nature of capitalist society.
2. actual basis of society is its economic structure.
3. economic structure of society is made of its relations of production.
4. The legal and political superstructure of society is based on relations of production.
5. relations of production reflect the stage of society’s force of means of production.
6. His contention is that the process of socio-political and intellectual life in Historical Materialism general is conditioned by the mode of production of material life. On the
basis of this logic, Marx tries to constructs his entire view of history
7. New forces of production gives rise to new relations of production.
8. He says that new developments of productive forces of society come in
conflict with existing relations of production. When people become
conscious of the state of conflict, they wish to bring an end to it. This
period of history is called by Marx the period of social revolution. The
revolution brings about resolution of conflict. It means that new forces of
production take roots and give rise to new relations of production. Thus,
you can see that for Marx, it is the growth of new productive forces which
outlines the course of human history. The productive forces are the powers
society uses to produce material conditions of life. For Marx, human history
is an account of development and consequences of new forces of material
production. This is the reason why his view of history is given the name
of historical materialism. In a nutshell, this is the theory of historical materialism.
1. Marx recognised that without culture there can be no production possible.
2. For him, mode of production includes social relations of production which are relations of domination and subordination into which men and women are born or involuntarily enter.
3. An understanding of working class culture contributes to an understanding of the mode of production
4. Class is an ‘economic’ and also a ‘cultural’ formation. It is impossible to reduce class into a pure economic category.
1. Historical materialism is a materialist interpretation of social, cultural
and political phenomena. It propounds that social institutions and
related values are determined by the mode of production processes rather than ideas in the explanation of history.
2. Forces of Means of Production Both the materials worked on and the
tools and techniques employed in production of material goods. These
material-technical aspects should not be confused with social relations of production.
3. Relations of Production Social relationships that directly or
indirectly arise out of the production of material conditions of life.
4. Mode of Production The actual relationship between the
relations of production and the forces of production.
5. Infrastructure Metaphor to express the basic theoretical priority of the mode of
production in relation to the rest of society. It includes the means of production and relations of production.
6. Superstructure Metaphor to represent the social conditions of the existence of the
infrastructure. It includes state, schools, religions, institutions, culture, ideas, values and philosophy, etc.
