UPSC SOCIOLOGY – Paper 1 – SOCIOLOGICAL THINKERS – Karl Marx- Historical materialism, mode of production, alienation, class struggle.
- Mode of production refers to the varied ways that human beings collectively produce the means of subsistence in order to survive and enhance social being.
- Every mode of production has centrality of one thing.
- Marx has conceptualized the society in terms of six stages or six evolutionary modes of production.
- Every new mode of production displaces the earlier one because of various factors like inherent weaknesses of the system, contradictions and class struggle.
- When a set of forces and relations of production become obsolete, new ones come into picture.
SIX MODES OF PRODUCTION
Primitive Communism
- In this mode of production, all were equal and had equal access to forces of production and society was a hunting gathering society.
- Food was abundant and population was low.
- Relations of production was based upon cooperation.
- With invention of new tools, forces became sophisticated.
- Communal structure of society broke up as new form of social organisation emerged with emergence of private ownership.
- Those who held command over tools emerged as masters and those who became dependent became slaves.
Ancient Slave Mode of Production
- Some men have control over skills and tools. Others were subordinates to them.
- This mode symbolises ancient slavery in which slaves did not have control on their labours as well.
- As population increased slaves were pressurized to produce more and their exploitation increased.
- Slaves then revolted.
- New forces of production emerged in the form of agriculture and feudalism.
Feudalistic Mode of Production
- Society was divided into landowning feudal lords and landless serfs.
- Land was central to economic activity.
- Serfs were forced to cultivate on the land of feudal lords and had to pay tax and service.
- The serfs revolted and new mode of production in the form of capitalism emerged.
Capitalistic Mode of Production
- This is the current mode of production.
- Capital is central to production.
- Society is divided into haves and have nots.
- Only labour produces wealth, yet wages paid are too low.
- Workers start feeling alienated.
- Exploited workers will unite and revolt heralding new mode of production – socialistic mode of production, eventually leading to communism.
FUTURISTIC MODE OF PRODUCTION
According to Marx, the future stages in the dialectical process will be:
Socialistic Mode of Production
- It is a transitory mode of production.
- Proletariat will control forces of production.
- Marx calls it dictatorship of proletariat.
- However Marx believes that control by workers shall also come to an end to realise the true potential of human beings.
Advanced Communism
- It is the final mode in which forces of production will be communally owned as workers too will renounce their rule and everyone will carry on his or her own creative pursuit.
- There will be no class in society.
- This will be the last mode of production as the contradictions and class struggles will be resolved in this mode.
CRITICISM
- Reductionist in approach.
- He predicts that dialectic process will cease without giving adequate reasoning.
- Ignored the feminist dimension of production.
- Asiatic mode of production runs counter to Marx’s generalized mode of production thesis.
- Proletariats have never taken a leading role in stopping capitalism and intellectuals have filled the void by coming forward for the cause of the proletariat.
