The theory of the productive forces, sometimes referred to as productive force determinism, is a variation of

historical materialism Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...

and

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

that places primary emphasis on technical advances as the basis for advances and changes in the social structure and culture of a given civilization. The relative strength assigned to the role of technical or technological progress in impacting society and social advancement differs among different schools of Marxist thinkers. A related concept is technological determinism. On a prescriptive level, this view places a strong emphasis on the necessity of strengthening the

productive forces Productive forces, productive powers, or forces of production (German: ''Produktivkräfte'') is a central idea in Marxism and historical materialism. In Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' own critique of political economy, it refers to the combinat ...

of the economy as a precondition for the realization of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, and within a nominally socialist economy, essential to achieving

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 s ...

. This theory was held by many

orthodox Marxist Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought that emerged after the death of Karl Marx (1818–1883) and which became the official philosophy of the majority of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the Firs ...

s as well as

Marxist–Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...

s, playing a crucial role in informing the economic policies of current and former

socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a Sovereign state, sovereign State (polity), state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The ...

Empirical support

The most influential philosophical defence of this idea has been promulgated by Gerald Cohen in his book ''Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence''. According to this view, technical change can beget

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...

; in other words, changes in the means and intensity of production causes changes in the

relations of production Relations of production (german: Produktionsverhältnisse, links=no) is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their theory of historical materialism and in ''Das Kapital''. It is first explicitly used in Marx's publish ...

, i.e., in people's ideology and culture, their interactions with one another, and their social relationship to the wider world. This view point is a foundation of

orthodox Marxism Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought that emerged after the death of Karl Marx (1818–1883) and which became the official philosophy of the majority of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the Firs ...

. In this view, actual socialism, being based on social ownership and a wide distribution of an abundant

surplus product Surplus product (german: Mehrprodukt, links=no) is an economic concept explicitly theorised by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. Roughly speaking, it is the extra goods produced above the amount needed for a community of workers to ...

, cannot come to pass until that society's ability to produce wealth is built up enough to satisfy its whole population and to support socialist production methods. Using this theory as a basis for their practical programmes meant that communist theoreticians and leaders in most

s, while paying

lip service Lip service may refer to: Idiom * Lip service, an idiom for insincere talk Film * ''Lip Service'' (1988 film), an American comedy TV film Television * ''Lip Service'' (TV series), a 2010 dramatic series broadcast on BBC Three * ''Lip Serv ...

to the primacy of ideological change in individuals to sustain a communist society, actually put productive forces first and ideological change second. The theory of the productive forces is encapsulated in the following quote from '' The German Ideology'':

Socialist states

Based on the theory of the productive forces and related perspectives, in the economic systems of the former

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

and the present-day socialist states, the State accumulated capital through surpluses from state owned enterprises for the purpose of rapidly modernizing and industrializing their countries, because these countries were not technologically advanced to a point where an actual socialist economy was technically possible, or where a socialist state could actually try to reach a

communist mode of production The socialist mode of production, sometimes referred to as the communist mode of production, or simply (Marxian) socialism or communism as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels used the terms ''communism'' and ''socialism'' interchangeably, is a specif ...

. The philosophical perspective behind the modernizing zeal of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

was based on the desire to industrialize their countries.

External links

The German Ideology by Karl Marx, Part I: Feuerbach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theory Of Productive Forces Communist theory Marxist theory Materialism

Empirical support

Socialist states

External links

See also

References