Also known as “mode of production of material means” or “mode of production of society”. The mode of acquiring the material means necessary for social life, i.e., the mode of joint activity of men in the production process, is the contradictory unity of the productive forces and the relations of production. In Marx’s works, the term “mode of production” has been used differently on different occasions. As a fundamental category of historical materialism, mode of production includes two aspects, the productive forces and the relations of production, and is the unity of the two. Marx said that a mode of production appears both as a relationship between the individuals, and as their specific active relation to inorganic nature, a specific mode of working. The productive forces are the material content of the mode of production, and the relations of production are the social form of the mode of production. The relations of production directly define the nature of a mode of production, and the productive forces ultimately determine the existence, development and revolution of the mode of production. Together with the geographical environment and the population factor, the mode of production constitutes the conditions of the material life of society. The mode of production of material means is the most important condition among them and it is the main content of social existence…
Article Length: 5,356 characters
Own the print edition of The Great Dictionary of Marxism for unrestricted study and reference.
