Social formation () is a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

concept (synonymous with '

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

') referring to the concrete, historical articulation between the

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

mode of production In the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production (German: ''Produktionsweise'', "the way of producing") is a specific combination of the: * Productive forces: these include human labour power and means of production (tools, ...

, maintaining pre-capitalist modes of production, and the institutional context of the economy (disambiguation). This theory of the capitalist mode of production can be found in

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

's ''

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

''. Marx used the term in his analysis of society's economic and political development. Karl Marx did not postulate that the issue of socio-economic formations was finally resolved and distinguished different formations in different works. Although Marx did not formulate a complete theory of socio-economic formations, a generalization of his statements became the basis for Soviet historians to conclude that he distinguished five formations in accordance with the prevailing industrial relations and forms of ownership: *

Prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

Slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

Feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

Marx took a paradigm for understanding the power-relationships between capitalists and wage-labourers: "in pre-capitalist systems it was obvious that most people did not control their own destiny—under feudalism, for instance, serfs had to work for their lords. Capitalism seems different because people are in theory free to work for themselves or for others as they choose. Yet most workers have as little control over their lives as feudal serfs."Peter Singer, ''Marx: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) irst published 1980 p. 91.

References

Bibliography

* Cohen, G. A. 1978. Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Expanded ed., 2000. *

: '' Die deutsche Ideologie'' (1844). In: MEW 3, Berlin: Dietz 1956 ff. * Karl Marx: '' Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei'' (1844). In: MEW 4, Berlin: Dietz 1956 ff. * Karl Marx: '' Zur Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie'' (1859). In: MEW 13, Berlin: Dietz 1956 ff. * Konrad Lotter, Reinhard Meiners, Elmar Treptow: ''Marx-Engels-Begriffslexikon''. Beck, München 1984, , S. 135 ff. *

György Lukács György Lukács (born Bernát György Löwinger; ; ; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, literary critic, and Aesthetics, aesthetician. He was one of the founders of Western Marxism, an inter ...

: '' Geschichte und Klassenbewußtsein'' (1923), Berlin: Luchterhand 1973. *

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

, Rainer-Olaf Schultze (Hg.): ''Lexikon der Politikwissenschaft. Theorien, Methoden, Begriffe''. Bd. 1, 2005, S. 301. Marxist terminology Historical materialism {{Socio-stub