Chapter 4 - Social Thinkers: Working Major Perspective and Context Famous For Period Contribution Methods Used Karl Marx
Chapter 4 - Social Thinkers: Working Major Perspective and Context Famous For Period Contribution Methods Used Karl Marx
A Biographical Sketch
Karl Marx was born in Trier, Prussia, on May 5, 1818. His father, a lawyer,
provided the family with a fairly typical middle-class existence. Both parents
were from rabbinical families, but for business reasons the father had
converted to Lutheranism when Karl was very young. In 1841 Marx received
his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Berlin, a school heavily
influenced by Hegel and the Young Hegelians, supportive, yet critical, of
their master. Marx’s doctorate was a dry philosophical treatise, but it did
anticipate many of his later ideas. After graduation he became a writer for a
liberal-radical newspaper and within ten months had become its editor in
chief. However, because of its political positions, the paper was closed
shortly thereafter by the government. The early essays published in this
period began to reflect a number of the positions that would guide Marx
throughout his life. They were liberally sprinkled with democratic principles,
humanism, and youthful idealism. He rejected the abstractness of Hegelian
philosophy, the naïve dreaming of utopian communists, and those activists
who were urging what he considered to be premature political action.
MODE OF PRODUCTION
Man produces to satisfy his needs which are ever growing and according to
Marx – ‘Man is a perpetually dissatisfied animal’. Once a set of needs is
satisfied, new ones are created. Thus, production continues and history
proceeds. In order to produce, man must enter into ‘relations’ with others.
Apart from relations, some ‘forces of production’ are also required which
includes tools, techniques etc.
A. FORCES OF PRODUCTION
Forces of Production, according to Marx, have two aspects – men and things.
Men are further categorized into – ‘the haves’ and ‘the have nots’. Things
include – tools, techniques, equipments and skills etc. Major changes in
society occur when new forces of production are evolved (which also create
new relations of production) which replace the older ones and create a new
mode of production.
Forces of production help in transforming the things which are available in
nature into things which can be exchanged in market. The forces of
production are the ways in which material goods are produced. They include
the technological know-how, the types of equipment in use and goods being
produced for example, tools, machinery, labour and the levels of technology
are all considered to be the forces of production.
B. RELATIONS OF PRODUCTION
In Marx’s writings, the stages of social history are differentiated not by what
human beings produce but by how, or by what means, they produce the
material goods for subsistence.
In this way, we can say that historical periods are founded and differentiated
on the basis of the modes of material production. Marx has given four
different modes of production, namely-
1) PRIMITIVE MODE OF PRODUCTION
Aristocracy (Masters) and slaves; Ancient Greece and Rome ; Salves did
most of the work; Concept of private property started to develop
Dark ages of European society; Feudal lords and serfs came to forefront;
Exploitation of peasant class; changing technology; Renaissance came into
being
Marx did not give any systematic presentation of history of India. He set
down his observations on certain current questions related to India which
attracted public attention, or drew materials from India’s past and present
conditions to illustrate parts of his more general arguments. The concept of
Asiatic Mode of Production is therefore inadequate for an understanding of
Indian history and society.