In Marxian economic discourse the
capitalist mode of productionIn the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
refers to the socio-economic
baseBase and Superstructure constitute the dialectical synthetic pair that is explicitly and implicitly common to every form of socialism. As used by Karl Marx, the pair function as a gestalt for the figure of a given stage of a human culture and the ground of its mode of production and distinguishes...
of
capitalistCapitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
society which began to grow rapidly in Western Europe from the end of the eighteenth century, and later extended to most of the world. It is characterised by the predominantly private ownership of the
means of productionMeans of production , are things used byhuman labourers to create products. They include two broad categories of objects: instruments of labour and subjects of labour...
, distribution and exchange in a mainly
market economyA market economy is economy based on the division of labor in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system set by supply and demand....
. The owners of capital are the dominant capitalist class (
bourgeoisieHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
). The working class (
proletariatThe proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. Originally it was identified as those people who had no wealth other than their sons...
) who do not own capital must live by selling their labour power in exchange for a wage.
The capitalist mode of production may exist within societies with differing state systems (e.g.
liberal democracyLiberal democracy is the dominant form of democracy in the 21st century. During the Cold War, liberal democracies were contrasted with the Communist People's Republics or "Popular Democracies", which claimed an alternative conception of democracy...
,
fascismFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
), and different social structures.
Basic distinctions
The existence of “capital” presupposes only property relations which make it possible to make money from
tradeTrade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious...
in goods, money and services, and to
accumulateMost generally, the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth...
that money.
“Capitalism” as a money-making activity could exist in the shape of merchants and bankers who acted as intermediaries between non-capitalist producers engaging in
simple commodity productionSimple commodity production is a term coined by Frederick Engels to describe productive activities under the conditions of what Marx had called the "simple exchange" of commodities, where independent producers trade their own products...
(hence the reference to “
merchant capitalismMerchant capitalism is a term used by economic historians to refer to the earliest phase in the development of capitalism as an economy and social system. The earliest stages of merchant capitalism were developed in the medieval Islamic world from the 9th century, and in medieval Europe from the...
” – an economic system of banks and trading houses or trading companies in which factory industries play only a minor role, if at all).
What is specific about the “capitalist mode of production” is that all or most of the inputs and outputs of
productionIn microeconomics, industrial organization is the field which describes the behavior of firms in the marketplace with regard to production, pricing, employment and other decisions...
are supplied commercially through the market (i.e. they are
commoditiesIn classical political economy and especially Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is any good or service produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g...
).
This has the important consequence that the whole organization of the production process is
reshaped and reorganized in line with the economic rationality of capitalism, which is expressed in price relationships between inputs and outputs (costs, sales, profits).
That is, the whole process is organized and reshaped in order to conform to “commercial logic”. Another way of saying this is that
capital accumulationMost generally, the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth...
becomes the driving motive for production.
In this context, Marx refers to a transition from the “formal subsumption” of production under the power of capital to the “real subsumption” of production under the power of capital. In what he calls the “specifically capitalist mode of production”, both the
technologyTechnology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment...
worked with and the social
organizationAn organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment...
of labour have been completely refashioned and reshaped in a
commercialCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
(
profitIn economics, economic profit is the difference between a company's total revenue and its opportunity costs. It is the increase in wealth that an investor has from making an investment, taking into consideration all costs associated with that investment including the opportunity cost of...
and
marketA market is any one of a variety of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby persons trade, and goods and services are exchanged, forming part of the economy. It is an arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to exchange things...
-oriented) way; the “old ways of producing” (for example, crafts and cottage industries) have been completely displaced by modern industrialism.
Origins
Marx argued that
capitalIn economics, capital or capital goods or real capital are factors of production used to create goods or services that are not themselves significantly consumed in the production process. Capital goods may be acquired with money or financial capital...
existed incipiently on a small scale for centuries, in the form of merchant and lending activities, and occasionally also as small-scale industry with some wage labour (Marx was also well aware that wage labour existed for centuries on a modest scale before the advent of capitalist industry). Simple
commodityIn classical political economy and especially Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is any good or service produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g...
exchange, and consequently
simple commodity productionSimple commodity production is a term coined by Frederick Engels to describe productive activities under the conditions of what Marx had called the "simple exchange" of commodities, where independent producers trade their own products...
, which form the initial basis for the growth of capital from trade, have a very long history. The "capitalistic era" according to Marx dates from the 16th century, i.e. it began with
merchant capitalismMerchant capitalism is a term used by economic historians to refer to the earliest phase in the development of capitalism as an economy and social system. The earliest stages of merchant capitalism were developed in the medieval Islamic world from the 9th century, and in medieval Europe from the...
and relatively small urban workshops.
For the capitalist
mode of production to emerge as a distinctive mode of production dominating the whole production process of society, many different social, economic, cultural, technical and legal-political conditions had to come together.
For most of human history, these did
not come together. Capital existed, commercial trade existed, but it did not lead to industrialisation and large-scale capitalist industry. That required a whole series of new conditions, namely specific technologies of mass production, the ability to independently and privately own and trade in means of production, a class of workers compelled to sell their
labor powerLabour power is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist political economy. He regarded labour power as the most important of the productive forces of human beings...
for a living, a legal framework promoting
commerceCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
, a physical infrastructure making the circulation of goods on a large scale possible, security for private accumulation, and so on. In many
Third WorldThe term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned or neutral with either capitalism and NATO or communism and the Soviet Union...
countries, many of these conditions do not exist even today, even although there is plenty capital and labour available; the obstacles for the development of capitalist markets are less a technical matter and more a social, cultural and political problem.
A
societySociety or human society is the manner or condition in which the members of a community live together for their mutual benefit. By extension, society denotes the people of a region or country, sometimes even the world, taken as a whole....
, region or
nationA nation is a body of people who share a real or imagined common history, culture, language or ethnic origin. The development and conceptualization of the nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries,...
is “capitalist” if the predominant source of incomes and products being distributed is capitalist activity; even so, this does not yet mean necessarily that the capitalist
mode of productionIn the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
is dominant in that society.
Defining structural criteria
Marx never provided a complete definition of the capitalist mode of production as a short summary, although in his manuscripts he sometimes attempted one.
In a sense,
Das Kapital is an extensive treatise on political economy written in German by Karl Marx and edited in part by Friedrich Engels. The book is a critical analysis of capitalism. Its first volume was published in 1867....
as a whole provides his “definition”. Nevertheless, it is possible to summarise the essential defining characteristics of the capitalist mode of production as follows:
- The means of production (or capital goods) and the means of consumption (or consumer goods) are mainly produced for market sale; output is produced with the intention of sale in an open market; only through sale of output, can the owner of capital claim part of the surplus-product of human labour, and realize profits. Equally, the inputs of production are supplied through the market, as commodities. The prices of both inputs and outputs are mainly governed by the market laws of supply and demand (and ultimately by the law of value
The law of value is a concept in Karl Marx's critique of political economy, first expounded in his polemic The Poverty of Philosophy against Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, with reference to David Ricardo...
). In short, a capitalist must use money to fuel both the means of production and labor in order to make commodities. These commodities are then sold to the market for a profit. The profit once again becomes part of a larger amount of capital which the capitalist reinvests to make more commodities and ultimately more and more capital.
- Private ownership of the means of production ("private enterprise") as effective private control and/or legally enforced ownership, with the consequence that investment and management decisions are made by private owners of capital who act autonomously from each other and, because of business secrecy and the constraints of competition, do not co-ordinate their activities according to collective, conscious planning. Enterprises are able to set their own output prices within the framework of the forces of supply and demand manifested through the market, and the development of production technology is guided by profitability criteria.
- The corrolary of that is wage labour
Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour under a contract , and the employer buys it, often in a labour market.It is the effort that people devote to a task for which they are paid The products of labour become the...
(“employment”) by the direct producers, who are compelled to sell their labour powerLabour power is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist political economy. He regarded labour power as the most important of the productive forces of human beings...
because they lack access to alternative means of subsistence (other than being self-employed or employers of labour, if only they could acquire sufficient funds) and can obtain means of consumption only through market transactions. These wage earners are mostly "free" in a double sense: they are “freed” from ownership of productive assets, and they are free to choose their employer.
- Being carried out for market on the basis of a proliferation of fragmented decision-making processes by owners and managers of private capital, social production is mediated by competition for asset-ownership, political or economic influence, costs, sales, prices, and profits. Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, nations, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or allocation of resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same...
occurs between owners of capital for profits, assets and markets; between owners of capital and workers over wages and conditions; and between workers themselves over employment opportunities and civil rights.
- The overall aim of capitalist production, under competitive pressure, is (a) to maximise net profit
In economics, economic profit is the difference between a company's total revenue and its opportunity costs. It is the increase in wealth that an investor has from making an investment, taking into consideration all costs associated with that investment including the opportunity cost of...
income (or realise a net superprofitSuperprofit , is a concept in Karl Marx's critique of political economy, subsequently elaborated by Lenin and other Marxist thinkers.-The origin of the concept in Marx's Capital:...
) as much as possible, through cutting production costs, increasing salesA sale is the pinnacle activity involved in selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity.A sale is completed by the seller, the owner of the goods...
, and monopolisation of markets and supply, (b) capital accumulationMost generally, the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth...
, to acquire productive and non-productive assets, and (c) to privatize both the supply of goods and services and their consumption. The larger portion of the surplus productSurplus product is a concept explicitly theorised by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. Notions of "surplus produce" have been used in economic thought and commerce for a long time , but in Das Kapital and the Grundrisse Marx gave the concept a central place in his interpretation of...
of labor must usually be reinvested in production, since output growth and accumulation of capital mutually depend on each other.
- Out of preceding characteristics of the capitalist mode of production, the basic class structure of this mode of production society emerges: a class of owners and managers of private capital assets in industries and on the land, a class of wage and salary earners, a permanent reserve army of labour
Reserve army of labour is a concept in Karl Marx's critique of political economy. It refers basically to the unemployed in capitalist society. It is synonymous with "industrial reserve army" or "relative surplus population", except that the unemployed can be defined as those actually looking for...
consisting of unemployed people, and various intermediate classes such as the self-employed (small business and farmers) and the “new middle classes” (educated or skilled professionals on higher salaries).
- The finance of the capitalist state
A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
is heavily dependent on levying taxes from the population and on credit; that is, the capitalist state normally lacks any autonomous economic basis (such as state-owned industries or landholdings) that would guarantee sufficient income to sustain state activities. The capitalist state defines a legal framework for commerce, civil society and politics, which specifies public and private rights and duties, as well as legitimate property relations.
- Capitalist development, occurring on private initiative in a socially unco-ordinated and unplanned way, features periodic crises of over-production (or excess capacity). This means that a critical fraction of output cannot be sold at all, or cannot be sold at prices realising the previously ruling rate of profit. The other side of over-production is the over-accumulation of productive capital: more capital is invested in production than can obtain a normal profit. The consequence is a recession (a reduced economic growth rate) or in severe cases, a depression
In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen as part of a normal business cycle....
(negative real growth, i.e. an absolute decline in output). As a corollary, mass unemploymentUnemployment occurs when a person is available to work and seeking work but currently without work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed...
occurs. In the history of capitalist development since 1820, there have been more than 20 of such crises; nowadays the under-utilisation of installed productive capacity is a permanent characteristic of capitalist production (average capacity utilisation rates nowadays normally range from about 60% to 85%).
In examining particular manifestations of the capitalist
mode of productionIn the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
in particular regions and epochs, it is of course possible to find exceptions to these main defining criteria. But the exceptions prove the rule, in the sense that over time, the exceptional circumstances tend to disappear. Michael Evans,
Karl Marx, has information on this point:
We need to distinguish between a mode of production and a socio-economic formation. The first concept involves an abstract economic model: for instance the model of pure capitalism Marx constructs in Capital. The second concept involves reference to a concrete society, such as Great Britain in the mid-nineteenth century, within which a particular mode of production holds a dominant position. A specific socio-economic formation may well have within it, not only a dominant mode, but also survivals of previous modes; or, in periods of transition, no dominant mode, but only competing ones.
State capitalist interpretation
As mentioned, Marx never explicitly summarised his definition of capitalism, beyond some suggestive comments in manuscripts which he did not publish himself. This has led to controversies among Marxists about how to evaluate the "capitalist" nature of society in particular countries.
Supporters of theories of
state capitalismState capitalism, for Marxists and heterodox economists is a way to describe a society wherein the productive forces are owned and run by the state in a capitalist way, even if such a state calls itself socialist...
such as the
International SocialistsInternational Socialists is the name of the number of Trotskyist organisations.Most organisations using this name are in the International Socialist Tendency...
reject the definition of the capitalist mode of production given above. In their view, claimed to be more revolutionary (in that true liberation from capitalism must be the self-emancipation of the working class - "socialism from below"), what really defines the capitalist mode of production is:
- means of production which dominate the direct producers as an alien power;
- the existence of a wage-earning working class
Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in lower tier jobs as measured by skill, education, and compensation....
which doesn't hold or have power;
- the existence of an elite or ruling class which controls the country, exploiting the working population in the technical Marxist sense.
If true, then
ownershipOwnership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. An ownership right is also referred to as title. The concept of ownership has existed for thousands of years and in all cultures...
relations generally and private ownership in particular are irrelevant to the definition of capitalism. The existence of
commercialCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
relations and commodity production are also irrelevant.
Many of the state capitalist theories, (which actually originated in Germany, where they were already criticised by Frederick Engels), define "capital" only as a
social relationA Social relation is a concept in social science referring most generally to a relationship between two or more people, but that relationship can exist without those people actively and deliberately relating, communicating or associating with each other....
of
powerPower is a measure of an entity's ability to control the environment around itself, including the behavior of other entities. The term authority is often used for power, perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the exercise of power is accepted as...
and
exploitationThe term "exploitation" may carry two distinct meanings:# The act of using something for any purpose. In this case, exploit is a synonym for use.# The act of using something in an unjust or cruel manner...
.
This idea is based on some passages from Marx, where Marx emphasized that capital cannot exist except within a
powerPower is a measure of an entity's ability to control the environment around itself, including the behavior of other entities. The term authority is often used for power, perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the exercise of power is accepted as...
-relationship between social classes which governs the extraction of surplus-labour. It is this power-relationship that is most important for the proponents of theories of state capitalism; everything else is secondary.
The underlying argument is that:
- Calling societies such as the USSR, China
China is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
and VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
etc. genuinely "socialist" or "communist" makes no sense and is confusing - because those societies have been just as oppressive and exploitative as capitalist societies.
- True socialism would mean workers' power, which would consist precisely in eliminating the exploitation and oppression of workers, and is impossible without workers' democracy.
- Trotskyist attempts to explain their oppressive nature by viewing them as "degenerated" or "deformed" workers' states are rejected for various reasons. For example, the spread of the same system to Eastern Europe without an indigenous "organic" revolution "from below" (except Yugoslavia), and the continuity of many of the same people in power before and after the collapse of the USSR and its satellite regimes, are said to prove that one variety of state capitalism just led to another.
- Other Marxist explanations that posit a new mode of production
In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
in Soviet-type societies, neither true socialism nor capitalism, such as "bureaucratic collectivismBureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. It is used by some Trotskyists to describe the nature of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, and other similar states in Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere ....
", are rejected as implausible.
- It is claimed that despite their autarkic policies, these countries of "actually existing socialism" effectively competed in the international (capitalist-dominated) market anyway through the arms race, as well as limited direct international trade, and thus were still subject to capitalist pressures, even although most of the weaponry was not commercially traded. This international competition it is claimed, forced them to function much like giant corporations, and so, it is argued, they shared key characteristics of capitalism anyway.
- Therefore, the USSR, China, Cuba, Vietnam etc. must be state capitalist, just as much as Western "state capitalisms."
Criticism of the state-capitalist interpretation
The "state cap" interpretation of the capitalist mode of production, however, has been held only by a minority of socialists. Its Marxist and socialist critics argue that:
- For the Western and Oriental bourgeoisie
Historically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
or capitalist class, capitalismCapitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
is fundamentally about private enterprise based on private propertyPrivate property is the tangible and intangible things owned by individuals or firms over which their owners have exclusive and absolute legal rights, and can only be transferred with the owner's consent. Private property can take the form of real estate, homes, factories, automobiles, capital,...
and freedom for commercial trade on private initiative.
- The majority of Russian, Chinese, Cuban etc. people have viewed their own societies as being some kind of socialism
Socialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a method of compensation based on...
. Why can there be only "one true socialism"? Why can there not be many different kinds of socialism?
- "State-cap" interpretations cannot in truth be reconciled with Marx's own texts. They are very selective interpretations of those texts, which try to find analogies between particular quotes from Marx and particular features of Soviet-type societies. This, it is argued, is essentially a theological interpretation, not a scientific analysis. Because of that, there is nothing that could refute or falsify it, the interpretation is an article of faith.
- "State-cap" theorists make their interpretation true by definition, by running together characteristics from very different historical epochs and forms of society. By the same token, they fail to identify what is specific about the socio-economic structure of different societies. The implication is that any society which is not socialist must be capitalist, and if not capitalist in Marx's own sense, then state-capitalist, i.e. just a "different kind" of capitalism than Marx envisaged.
- The "state-cap" interpretation makes it difficult to understand how a transition from capitalism to socialism could possibly occur, beyond general rhetoric about "workers power" and the danger of bureaucracy
Bureaucracy is the collective organizational structure, procedures, protocols, and set of regulations in place to manage activity, usually in large organizations and government...
. There is no real economic analysis, only a statement about who holds power.
- The "state-cap" interpretation is essentially a moral-political condemnation of Soviet-type societies, but not a serious objective explanation of the real functioning of those societies and the real progress they made.
- The "state-cap" interpretation fails to distinguish between different kinds of markets, functioning in a very different way, and benefiting different groups and social classes.
- The supporters of a "state cap" interpretation fail to appreciate the difference between a state apparatus which has an autonomous economic base (because it owns the means of production) and a state apparatus which depends mainly on taxes and credit to finance its activities.
- The supporters of the "state-cap" interpretation keep changing their arguments about why Soviet-type societies are state capitalist, making their case true by definition. Initially, it was argued that state capitalism in Russia was a more advanced stage of capitalism, later that viewpoint was revised.
This does
not mean, according to the Marxist critics, that
state capitalismState capitalism, for Marxists and heterodox economists is a way to describe a society wherein the productive forces are owned and run by the state in a capitalist way, even if such a state calls itself socialist...
cannot exist; of course it can, if the state plays a very big role in an otherwise capitalist society, or monopolizes a strategic resource of major economic importance. Examples might be Myanmar, Suriname, Egypt or Libya. But it does mean that the concept of the capitalist
mode of productionIn the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
shouldn't be used indiscriminately, as, it is claimed, "state-cap" theorists do.
Post-Marxist views
The difficulties in this Marxist debate have been both that most participants did not speak Russian, East European languages, Vietnamese, Korean or Chinese, and that dissident Russian or Chinese Marxists seeking to analyse their own country independently were typically silenced in one way or another by the regime.
Thus, the political debate has been mainly from a
Western point of view, and based on secondary sources, rather than being based directly on the experiences of people living in "actually existing socialist countries." And that debate has typically counterposed a socialist
ideal to a badly understood
reality.
In turn, this has led to the accusation that Marxists cannot satisfactorily specify what capitalism and socialism really are, nor how to get from one to the other - quite apart from failing to explain satisfactorily why socialist revolutions failed to produce the desirable kind of socialism. Behind this problem, it is argued, are:
- a kind of historicism
Historicism refers to philosophical theories that include one or both of two claims:# that there is an organic succession of developments, a notion also known as historism , and/or;...
according to which Marxists have a privileged insight into the "march of history"; the doctrine is thought to provide the truth, in advance of real research and experience. Evidence contrary to the doctrine is rejected or overlooked.
- a uni-linear view of history, according to which feudalism leads to capitalism, and capitalism to socialism.
- an attempt to fit the histories of different societies into this schema of history, on the basis that if they are not socialist, they must be capitalist (or vice versa), or, if they are neither, that they must be in transition from one to the other.
None of these stratagems, it is argued, are either warranted by the facts or scientifically sound, and the result is that many socialists have abandoned the rigid constraints of Marxist orthodoxy, in order to analyse capitalist and non-capitalist societies in a new way.
See also
- capital accumulation
Most generally, the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth...
- capitalism
Capitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
- mode of production
In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
- natural capitalism
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution is a 1999 book co-authored by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins. It has been translated into a dozen languages and was the subject of a Harvard Business Review summary....
- primitive accumulation of capital
The concept of original accumulation or previous accumulation or primitive accumulation of capital, was a central concern of classical political economists...
- simple commodity production
Simple commodity production is a term coined by Frederick Engels to describe productive activities under the conditions of what Marx had called the "simple exchange" of commodities, where independent producers trade their own products...
- state capitalism
State capitalism, for Marxists and heterodox economists is a way to describe a society wherein the productive forces are owned and run by the state in a capitalist way, even if such a state calls itself socialist...
- state monopoly capitalism
The theory of state monopoly capitalism was initially a Marxist doctrine popularised after World War II. Lenin had claimed in 1916 that World War I had transformed laissez-faire capitalism into monopoly capitalism, but he did not publish any extensive theory about the topic...
- surplus labour
Surplus labour is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, first introduced in a polemic against Pierre-Joseph Proudhon called The Poverty of Philosophy. It means labour performed in excess of the labour necessary to produce the means of livelihood of the worker . According...
- relations of production
Relations of production is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx in his theory of historical materialism and in Das Kapital. It is first explicitly used in Marx's book The poverty of philosophy. Beyond examining specific cases, Marx never defined the general concept very exactly...
- Wage labour
Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour under a contract , and the employer buys it, often in a labour market.It is the effort that people devote to a task for which they are paid The products of labour become the...
- Wage slavery
Wage slavery refers to a situation where a person is dependent for a livelihood on the wages earned, especially if the dependency is total and immediate. The term is used to draw an analogy between slavery and wage labor. Some uses of the term may refer only to an "[un]equal bargaining situation...