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In Marxist Theory human society consists of two parts: the base and superstructure; the base comprehends the

forces and relations of production employer-employee work conditions, the technical division of labour and property relations into which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life. These relations determine societys other relationships and ideas, which are described as its superstructure. The superstructure of a society includes its culture, institutions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state. The base determines (conditions) the superstructure, yet their relation is not strictly causal, because the superstructure often influences the base; the influence of the base, however, predominates. In Vulgar Marxism the base determines the superstructure in a oneway relationship. However, in more advanced forms and variations of Marxist thought their relationship is not strictly one-way, as some theories claim that just as the base influences the superstructure, the superstructure also influences the base. Relations of production is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their theory of historical materialism and in Das Kapital. It is first explicitly used in Marx's published book The Poverty of Philosophy although the concept is already defined in The German Ideology. Basically Marx and Engels meant the sum total of social relationships which people necessarily have to enter into, in order to survive, to produce and reproduce their means of life. Because people necessarily have to enter into these social relationships, i.e. because participation in them is not voluntary, the totality of these relationships constitute a relatively stable and permanent structure, the "economic structure". The term "relations of production" is somewhat vague, for two main reasons: The German word Verhltnis can mean "relation", "proportion", or "ratio". Thus, the relationships could be qualititative, quantitative or both. Which meaning applies, can only be established from the context. The relations to which Marx refers can be social relationships, economic relationships, or technological relationships. Marx and Engels typically use the term to refer to the socioeconomic relationships characteristic of a specific epoch; for example: a capitalists exclusive relationship to capital and a wage workers consequent relation to the capitalist a feudal lords relationship to a fief and the serfs consequent relation to the lord; a slavemasters relationship to their slave; etc. It is contrasted and also affected by what Marx called the forces of production. In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production (in German: Produktionsweise, meaning 'the way of producing') is a specific combination of: Productive forces: these include human labour power and available knowledge given the level of technology in the means of production (e.g. tools, equipment, buildings and technologies, materials, and improved land).

social and technical 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, relations between people and the objects of their work, and the relations between social classes. Marx regarded productive ability and participation in social relations as two essential characteristics of human beings and that the particular modality of these relations in capitalist production are inherently in conflict with the increasing development of human productive capacities. Bibliography: www.Wikipedia.com www.Gradesaver.com www.Marxists.org www.Newworldencyclopedia.org

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