Mode Of Production

Mode of production refers to the different ways of producing the means of subsistence to enhance social being and survival by human beings. In Marxism, the mode of production holds a significant place and is defined as how a society is organised to produce services and goods. Relation of production includes the connection between the people and their relationship with the forces of production. Relations of production and forces of production are the two significant aspects covered under it. This concept was used in Marxist theory to demonstrate the differences between various societies’ economies. There are several modes of production, like the capitalist mode of production, discussed in this article.

What Is The Significance of This Concept?

Mode of production in Marxist theory is used to illustrate the differences between various societies’ economies. Marx saw the hunter-gatherers as the pioneering form of “primitive communism.” Until the arrival of agriculture and other advanced technologies, possessions were generally held by the tribe. According to Karl Marx, the secret of how a social order exists, and social because change must be found in society’s particular mode of production. Understanding the conditions under which wealth was produced was necessary to understand how this wealth was distributed and consumed eventually.

Different Mode Of Productions

The Karl Marx mode of production is discussed below.

Tribal and Neolithic modes of production

Primitive communism is referred to as Engels and Marx’s first mode of production. Horde or the tribal band were the two pioneering modes of production. Hunter-gatherers constituted the only form of existence in human history. Rituals, myth, and magic were seen as the most significant cultural forms, social stratification was restricted, and the stone age had plodding technological progress. There was a modest improvement in social stratification with the agriculture adoption and the advances in technology like brewing, pottery, weaving, and baking. Importance was now laid on gods of fertility rather than on Animism.

Asiatic mode of production 

Asiatic mode of production was used to explain pre feudal and pre slave earthwork construction in India, Nile valleys, and the Euphrates. This mode of production was considered a form of class society; in this class society, a small group took out social surplus with the use of violence aimed at unsettled or settled bands and villages. Labour that was exploited was extracted as forced corvee labour. Labour that was exploited was also brought out in the form of goods seized from the communities. Religious possession of direct communities is the primary property form of this mode of production. 

Antique or ancient mode of production

This is also referred to as slave society. Coinage, iron tools, alphabets, and labour division among industries were the technological improvements that helped in enabling large units to build in the form of the polis. The most common example of this mode of production is Roman society and classical Greek. The use of animals on a large scale, advanced agriculture trade networks, and industry are the forces of production associated with this mode of production.

Feudal mode of production

A world with poor roads and farming conditions was tormenting; authority was localised. This mode was dominated by the west’s systems, between the fall of the classical world and the rise of capitalism. Ancient empires were decentralised into nation-states nearby.

Capitalist mode of production

Smith called it the age of commerce; Marx called it the capitalist mode of production. This mode is associated with the arrival of the global market economy and industrial society. According to Marx, money as a commodity exchange was the central point to the idea of the capitalist system.

Socialist mode of production

According to Marx, this was the system considered succeeding capitalism. This was a mode of production, where the only criteria for the production were use-value and the law of value.

Communist mode of production

Historical forces were the reason that gave rise to communism from socialism. Communism is the final mode of production. Different modes, different communities would come up alongside each other, linked together economically.

Conclusion

We have discussed Karl Marx’s mode of production to make you understand this concept better. Karl Marx used this term of the mode of production to refer to some particular organisation of economic production. This concept includes means of production used by society like machines, factories, facilities, and raw materials. According to Karl Marx, history evolves through the interaction between the relations of production and the mode of production. 

The social relations of production are naturally hostile, giving rise to a class struggle that will result in the toppling of capitalism by the proletariat. The proletariat will replace capitalism with a mode of production on collective ownership of means of production(communism).