Social formation (german: Gesellschaftsformation) is a Marxist 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. Soci ...

') 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 operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

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 Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's '' Capital''. 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 known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

Slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

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

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment 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 Elmar may refer to: * Elmar (given name) Elmar is a male given name. People named Elmar include: *Elmar Altvater (born 1938), German political scientist * Elmar Bakhshiev (born 1980), Azerbaijani footballer *Elmar Bolowich (born 1954), American ...

: ''Marx-Engels-Begriffslexikon''. Beck, München 1984, , S. 135 ff. *

György Lukács György Lukács (born György Bernát Löwinger; hu, szegedi Lukács György Bernát; german: Georg Bernard Baron Lukács von Szegedin; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, critic, and aesth ...

: '' Geschichte und Klassenbewußtsein'' (1923), Berlin: Luchterhand 1973. * Dieter Nohlen, Rainer-Olaf Schultze (Hg.): ''Lexikon der Politikwissenschaft. Theorien, Methoden, Begriffe''. Bd. 1, 2005, S. 301. Marxist terminology Historical materialism {{Socio-stub