Marxism: Social Revolution, State, and Modes of Production
Marxism: Social Revolution, the State, and Modes of Production
Update: With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it would seem that the prophecy that Marx’s philosophy was the end of prehistory also fell to the ground. This was to be the end of the capitalist mode of production and the bourgeois establishment, replaced first by a socialist society under the dictatorship of the proletariat, and then finally by a communist society. The bourgeois mode of production not only has not succumbed to its own contradictions but seems to enjoy better health than ever before, thanks to the globalization of the market economy. Those communist regimes that could have served as alternative economic models and counterpoints have become extinct or are endangered. Marx and Engels stated in the Communist Manifesto that the bourgeoisie had created the weapons and those who would wield them (workers) to bring about its end. In line with the more humanistic aspects of Marx’s philosophy, there is a great desire to end the exploitation of man by man, to overcome the alienation of capitalist society, and to resolve social consciousness. By opening horizons and the mentality to understand the historical, material, and economic roots of many of society’s ills, we can assign validity and timeliness to their approaches.
Era of Social Revolution
The Era of Social Revolution is the period that opens when the development of productive forces leads them into conflict with the relations of production that had previously fostered their development. This period is characterized by the confrontation of the new productive forces with the legal system (property relations) that guarantees the hitherto dominant relations of production. The new productive forces and the legal system are defended by various social classes. The class struggle becomes more acute until the oppressed classes manage to seize political power and destroy the old relations of production. This conscious process also leads to the violent destruction of the class defending those relationships.
The State
The state is a political institution that is not subject to any other political institution; that is to say, it has sovereignty. It should possess a permanent population, a defined territory, and a government. For Marx, it is the culmination of the legal and political superstructure of any society dominated by social relations of exploiter-exploited. Its function is to maintain the dominant position of the exploiting class, to defend their property, and to control the other classes, even with force. Therefore, the state monopolizes “legitimate violence.” Through the state, the dominant economic class also becomes politically dominant, gaining new means to exploit. Precisely because of this role, after the dictatorship of the proletariat, this structure will disappear in the social confrontation, as it will no longer have a function.
Hegel’s vision of the state, as opposed to Marxism, is reflected in “forms of state.”
Social Relations of Production
Social relations of production are the relationships involved in the process that individuals establish among themselves, depending on the type of ownership relationship they have with the means of production (raw materials and tools). These relations divide the agents into workers who own the means of production and non-owners who have to work for the former. There are two types of social relationships:
- A] Exploiter-exploited relationships: When owners receive the added value for the work of non-owners. They occur in the relations of slavery, servitude, and capitalism.
- B] Mutual partnerships: There is social ownership of the means of production, and no one exploits another. They are common in primitive communities and in communist society.
Technical Relations of Production
Technical relations of production are the ways in which those involved in the work process are related and control the means of work (when work begins and ends, hours of rest, what the product does, etc.). These relations divide workers into direct workers (who directly manipulate the media) and indirect workers (with organizational, monitoring, and control functions).
Modes of Production
The history of society is the history of development and succession, subject to the laws of the modes of production. There are five different modes:
- Primitive society: The first mode of production in the history of mankind. According to Marxist theory, it represents a stage of economic and social relations characterized by the low level of development of productive forces. People were organized in gangs engaged in hunting, fishing, gathering, and agriculture. Human labor was based on simple cooperation. This way of life was common during the Paleolithic period. Their instruments were stone tools, wood, etc. They lived in families.
- Slave society: This is itself the level of development of pre-industrial productive forces. It was the first mode of production based on exploitation that appears in history. It arises from the decomposition of the system of the primitive community. Metals and cities are born, and society engages in commerce.
- Feudal mode of production: This mode of material goods is based on feudal ownership of land and partially on the property of workers (peasants and servants). Feudalism emerged as a result of this mode of production.