Historical Materialism: Production as Society's Basis

Historical Materialism

Historical materialism is a theory about society which posits that the basis of all social order lies in production. Humans differ from animals when they begin to produce their means of subsistence, thereby indirectly producing their material life. To achieve this, humans must work, with work being the cause of production. This work has always been social and collective, thus creating a series of links and relationships between all agents of production, known as social relations.

Production Factors

Production is the activity that creates material assets and is conditioned by the nature of the objects being processed. This production involves two key elements: the work process and the relations of production. These two elements constitute the factors of production.

The Work Process and Productive Forces

This refers to the set of activities humans undertake to transform natural objects and meet their needs. This process involves:

• Objects of labor
• Means of labor
• Labor power

The object of labor is that which is transformed. It can be of two types:

• Raw material: Naturally occurring and not previously manipulated.
• Processed material: Artificial or previously manipulated by humans.

The transformation converts the material into a useful product, involving human activity and the means of labor. The energy expended through human activity is called labor power, and the application of this power is called work. The means used to perform the work include utensils, tools, or machines. Therefore, the objects of labor and the means of labor together constitute the means of production.

The product obtained at the end of this process satisfies individual or collective needs.

The Relations of Production

In production, individuals do not work in isolation. The relations of production depend on the agents of production (all individuals involved in the process) and the means of production.

There are two primary types of production relations:

• Technical relations: Occur between the agent and the means of labor/environment.
• Social relations: Exist between the agents themselves.

Technical relations refer to the control production agents have over the means and methods of work. Different forms of control and organization exist, such as:

• Individual production
• Simple collaborative production
• Complex cooperative production