In the terminology of Marxism, a mode of production (in German: Produktionsweise, meaning 'the way of producing') is a specific combination of:

• productive forces: these include human labor-power, tools, equipment, buildings and technologies, materials, and improved land
• social relations of production: these include the property, power and control relations governing society's productive assets, often codified in law, cooperative work relations and forms of association, and the relations between social classes.

According to Marx, the combination of forces and relations of production means that the way people relate to the physical world and the way people relate to each other socially are bound up together in specific and necessary ways. People must consume to survive, but to consume they must produce, and in producing they necessarily enter into relations which exist independently of their volition.

For Marx, the whole 'secret' of why/how a social order exists and the causes of social change must be discovered in the specific mode of production that a society has. He further argued that the mode of production substantively shaped the nature of the mode of distribution, the mode of circulation and the mode of consumption, all of which together constitute the economic sphere. To understand the way wealth was distributed and consumed, it was necessary to understand the conditions under which it was produced.

A mode of production is historically distinctive for Marx because it constitutes an 'organic totality' (or self-reproducing whole) which is capable of constantly re-creating its own initial conditions, and thus perpetuate itself in a more or less stable way for centuries, or even millenia. By performing social surplus-labor in a specific system, the laboring classes constantly reproduce the foundations of the social order. When new productive forces or new social relations develop that conflict with the existing mode of production, this mode of production will either evolve without losing its basic structure, or else begin to break down. This then gives rise to a transitional era of social instability and social conflict, until a new social order is finally consolidated with a new mode of production.

Contents

1 The modes of production in history 2 See also 3 References 4 External link

The modes of production in history

In a broad outline, Marx recognized seven distinct epochs of human history, each corresponding to a particular mode of production:

1. Primitive communism. Human society organised in traditional tribe structures of less than 50 people per productive unit, typified by shared production and consumption of the entire social product . As no social surplus is produced, there is no possibility of a ruling class coming into existence. As this mode of production lacks differentiation into classes, it is said to be classless. Paleolithic and neolithic tools, pre- and early-agricultural production, and rigorous ritualised social control are the typifying productive forces of this mode of production.
2. The asiatic mode of production . This is a controversial contribution to Marxist theory, initially used to explain pre-slave and pre-feudal large earthwork constructions in China, India, the Euphrates and Nile river valleys (and named on this basis of the primary evidence coming from greater "Asia"). The asiatic mode of production is said to be the initial form of class society, where a small group extracts social surplus through violence aimed at settled or unsettled band communities within a domain. Exploited labour is extracted as forced corvee labour during a slack period of the year (allowing for monumental construction such as the pyramids, ziggurats, ancient Indian communal baths or the Chinese Great Wall). Exploited labour is also extracted in the form of goods directly seized from the exploited communities. The primary property form of this mode is the direct religious possession of communities (villages, bands, hamlets) and all those within them. The ruling class of this society is generally a semi-theocratic aristocracy which claims to be the incarnation of gods on earth. The forces of production associated with this society include basic agricultural techniques, massive construction and storage of goods for social benefit (grainaries).
3. The slave mode of production. It is similar to the asiatic mode, but differentiated in that the form of property is the direct possession of individual human beings. Additionally, the ruling class usually avoids the more outlandish claims of being the direct incarnation of a god, and prefers to be the decendents of gods, or seeks other justifications for its rule. Ancient Greek and Roman societies are the most typical examples of this mode. The forces of production associated with this mode include advanced (two field) agriculture, the extensive use of animals in agriculture, and advanced trade networks.
4. The feudal mode of production. It is usually typified by high feudalism in Western Europe. The primary form of property is the possession of land in reciprical contract relations: the possession of human beings as peasants or serfs is dependent upon their being entailed upon the land. Exploitation occurs through reciprocated contract (though ultimately resting on the threat of forced extractions). The ruling class is usually a nobility or aristocracy. The primary forces of production include highly complex agriculture (two, three field, lucerne fallowing and manuring) with the addition of non-human and non-animal power devices (clockwork, wind-mills) and the intensification of specialisation in the crafts--craftsmen exclusively producing one specialised class of product.
5. The capitalist mode of production. It is usually associated with modern industrial societies. The primary form of property is the possession of objects and services through state guaranteed contract. The primary form of exploitation is wage labour (see Das Kapital, wage slavery and exploitation). The ruling class is the bourgeoisie, which exploits the proletariat. The key forces of production include the factory system, mechanised powered production, Taylorism, robotisation, bureaucracy and the modern state .
6. The socialist mode of production. Since this mode of production has not yet come into effect, its exact nature remains debatable. Some theorists argue that prefiguring forms of socialism can be seen in voluntary workers' cooperatives, strike committees, labour unions, soviets and revolutions. The socialist mode of production is meant to be a society based on workers' control of all production, with a property form equating consumption with productive labour. The key forces of production are similar to those in capitalism, but changed in their nature due to workers' control and collective management. Additionally, the merging of mental and manual labour is meant to increase the level of productivity and quality of the productive forces. The primary ruling class of this mode is meant to be the working class. The primary form of exploitation is meant to be self-exploitation - in other words, the exploitation of some people by others (the "exploitation of man by man") is meant to be abolished.
7. The communist mode of production. Since it refers to the far future, it is a highly debated theoretical construct. Some theorists argue that prefiguring forms of communism can be seen in communes and other collective living experiments. Communism is meant to be a classless society, with the management of things replacing the management of people. Particular productive forces are not described, but are assumed to be more or less within the reach of any contemporary capitalist society. Despite the immanent potential of communism, some economic theorists have hypothesised that communism is more than a thousand years away from full implementation.

An example of a mode of production which is lying dormant alongside capitalism, is the prefiguring form of socialism indicated by the free software movement. The enhanced productivity of the productive force of the internet for software programming and white collar work is combined with the relation of production indicated in the property form of the GNU GPL or GNU FDL, to produce a highly valuable form of economic production outside of the direct control of capitalism.

See also

• Anarchism
• Noosphere
• Free software

References

• George Novack, Understanding History: Marxist Essays
• Charles Woolfson, The Labour Theory of Culture
• Ernest Mandel, Marxist Economic Theory
• G.E.M. De Ste Croix, The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World: From the Archaic Age to the Arab Conquests
• Chris Harman, A People's History of the World
• Perry Anderson, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism
• Perry Anderson, Lineages of the Absolutist State
• Ellen Meiksins Wood, The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View
• Fritjof Tichelman, The Social Evolution of Indonesia: The Asiatic Mode of Production and its Legacy
• W.M.J. van Binsbergen & P.L. Geschiere, ed., Old Modes of Production and Capitalist Encroachment.
• Harold Wolpe, ed. The articulation of modes of production
• Michael Perelman, Steal This Idea: Intellectual Property Rights and the Corporate Confiscation of Creativity

External link

• Howard Rheingold : Smart mobs : the next social revolution (2001)