Marxist Theory of History: A Scientific Approach to Understanding Societal Change
Marxism as a Scientific Theory of History
Unlike other philosophies that interpret history, Marxism distinguishes itself by presenting a scientific theory of history. Similar to Darwin’s discovery of the laws governing species evolution, Marx aimed to uncover the laws driving societal change and movement over time. However, it’s crucial to understand that Marx did not develop general, abstract laws of human evolution. Instead, he focused on identifying the laws governing the transition from one mode of production to another, recognizing that each society is defined by its specific mode of production.
Since modes of production are primarily economic structures based on the material production of work and wealth, the laws of history, according to Marx, are essentially the laws of economics. In his seminal work, Capital, Marx identified the inherent characteristics of production methods and the mechanisms that drive their evolution and transformation into new modes.
Marx’s assertion of a scientific history stems from his belief that societal movements can be explained by objective, material, and measurable factors such as labor, capital gains (derived from the exploitation of industrial labor by the bourgeoisie), and clearly defined concepts like productive forces and relations of production.
Consequences of a Scientific Theory of History
One fundamental consequence of Marxism’s scientific approach is that Marx’s prediction of capitalism’s downfall and the rise of a communist society is not merely a possibility but a statement with the character of a scientific law. Marx believed that since objective laws govern societal change, communism must necessarily follow the inevitable collapse of capitalism. Scientific laws, after all, predict what will inevitably happen.
Furthermore, Marx believed that 19th-century industrial and bourgeois society in Europe possessed the objective material conditions necessary to trigger the revolution that would ultimately end capitalism and establish communism, following an intermediate stage known as socialism.
Marx’s Conception of History
Marx’s scientistic and economistic view of history was a radical concept at the time. He argued that each society is shaped not by its geniuses, scientists, writers, creators, ideals, or laws, but by the way it organizes and perceives material production—that is, work and the creation of wealth. Each society is a product of its mode of production, which forms the infrastructure that determines the rest of its intellectual, scientific, and ideological products (the superstructure). However, Marx also acknowledged that elements of the superstructure can influence and condition the infrastructure (e.g., science, a superstructural element, can impact the economic production of the infrastructure through technological applications).
Understanding societies as modes of production, essentially as economic institutions, reduces history to the succession of various modes of production over time. For Marx, explaining history meant explaining the transition from one mode of production to another, driven by objective laws (specifically, the dialectical contradictions between social classes).
Because Marx emphasized the material over the intellectual in characterizing modes of production and, consequently, societies, his theory of history is known as historical materialism. To understand history from a Marxist perspective is to understand the economic and social conditions that shaped the organization of work and wealth production at any given time, and how these conditions eventually led to contradictions that would ultimately destroy them through revolutionary change.
Social Change and the Transition to Communism
A key concept in Marxism is social change, often (but not always) a violent revolutionary transformation from one mode of production to another. This transformation involves a radical shift in how society organizes work, leading to the emergence of new social classes and a new set of political systems and institutions. In essence, a revolution reshapes all social forces and components.
Social change is inevitable because it is not dependent on individual will but on the state of development of productive forces and the contradictions that arise within the existing mode of production. These contradictions create class struggles that ultimately lead to the overthrow of the ruling class and the establishment of a new mode of production.
In the case of the transition from bourgeois society to communism, Marx believed that the inherent contradictions of capitalism, such as the exploitation of the proletariat and the concentration of wealth in the hands of the bourgeoisie, would inevitably lead to its downfall. The proletariat, through revolutionary action, would seize control of the means of production and establish a classless, communist society.
Marx’s theory of history provides a framework for understanding the dynamics of social change and the forces that drive historical development. While subject to ongoing debate and interpretation, it remains a powerful tool for analyzing the complexities of human societies and their evolution over time.