economic determinism
economic determinismA philosophical and theoretical position most commonly associated with the Marxist assertion that social phenomena have their roots in the relations of production.
According to Karl Marx the relations of production constitute the base upon which a legal and political superstructure rests. They also structure social relations between classes, producing corresponding forms of social consciousness. Thus, as Marx puts it, ‘the mode of production of material life conditions the social, political and intellectual life process in general’ (‘Preface’ to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1859). This and similar propositions have been the source of much debate about the nature and degree of economic determinism. At one extreme, it might be argued that all social, political and cultural life can be...
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