HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
Marx’s general ideas about society are known as his theory of historical materialism. Materialism was the basis of his sociological thought. Marx’s theory of society, i.e., historical materialism, is historical. It is historical because Marx has traced the evolution of human societies from one stage to another. It is called materialistic because Marx has interpreted the evolution of societies in terms of their material or economic basis. He explained the societies in terms of the future of humankind. His sociological thinking concerns the mechanism of change.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels stress the scientific nature of their views of history. In German Ideology, Marx and Engel assert their opinions of history based on observation and exact descriptions of actual conditions.
The terms are mentioned in Marx’s theory of Historical materialism.
Social Relation, over and above Individuals:
Marx’s principles ways that the production of the material requirement of life, which is a fundamental necessity of all societies, compels individuals to enter into definite social relations independent of their will. This is the basic idea of Marx’s theory of society.
Infrastructures and Super Structure:
Social relations are defined in terms of material conditions, called infrastructure. The economic base of society forms its infrastructure. The superstructure includes the educational and political institution, values, cultural ways of thinking, religion, ideologies, and philosophies.
Forces and Relations of Production:
According to Marx, details of production appear to be the capacity of society to produce, which means a function of scientific and technical knowledge, technological equipment, and organization of labour. Relation of production should not be entirely identified with relations of property.
Social Change in Terms of Social Classes:
Marx developed the idea of social change resulting from internal conflicts in a theory of class struggles. Social changes are viewed as a regular pattern, according to Marx. Marx described infrastructure's significance by tracing principal social classes' formation.
Dialectical Relationship between the Forces and Relations of Production:
In revolutionary periods, the new relations of production do not create distances in developing forces of production. They encourage the maximum growth of those forces. This is the obstructing formation of Marx’s ideas of class struggle.
Revolution and History of Societies:
The theory of revolution starts with the dialectical relationship between the forces of production and relations of production. Revolutions are necessary manifestations of the historical progress of societies. It occurs when conditions are matured. The French revolution happened when the capitalist relations of production reached maturity in Europe.
Social Reality and Consciousness:
Reality is not determined by human consciousness. According to him, social reality determines human consciousness. This results in an overall conception of the ways of human thinking that must be explained in terms of the social relations they are a part of. Marx described stages of human history into four modes of production, i.e., Asiatic, Ancient, Feudal, and Capitalist.
Thus, we can see that for Marx, it is the growth of new productive forces which outlines the course of human history. The productive forces are the powers society uses to produce material conditions of life. So, for Marx, human history is an account of the development and consequences of new forces of material production. This is why his view of history is given the name of Historical Materialism.
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