Essay on Modes of Production Determine Social Relations: Marxist Theory of Historical Materialism

Marxist theory of historical materialism states that the organization of a society's economy determines the social institutions. The mode of production is essential in this model, and it refers to how the organizations align itself economically (Anderson, 2016). The alignment includes the machines, tools, factories, resources such as land as well as human resources. The production model also includes the relations between the people and the economic production. This involves, for example, the factory owner or who works for which company. Marxist theory of historical materialism can be applied in the great depression, which is referred to as the most severe economic crisis in the capitalist economy.

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The claim in this concept is that the character of the social relations of production is determined by the forces of production (Anderson, 2016). Forces of production refer to society's capacity to produce. The capacity to produce depends on scientific and technological knowledge as well as equipment. It also depends on how the labor force is organized. The relations of production are the result of the production process. It also involves the ownership of the means of production. There are three modes of production, namely domestic, tributary, and capitalist.

Industrial production was realty affected by the great depression, and the country's ability to produce was significantly impaired. Between 1929 and 1933, the production in the industries decreased by approximately 47 percent. Additionally, the gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by approximately 30 percent, and many people as well became unemployed (Temin, 2016). The decline led to decrease spending, also referred to as the aggregate demand, and made the merchandisers and manufacturers produce less. Organizations also noticed that their inventories were rising. This meant that they had purchased more goods than they were selling. This can be attributed to a lack of income because people had lost jobs. There was a need for the companies to, therefore, stop the production in order to manage the cash balance.

The mode of production was significantly affected during the great depression as workers lost their jobs. Approximately 25 percent of all the workers and 37 percent of non-farm workers could not work (Temin, 2016). Some of the people starved, and others lost their possessions, such as homes and farms. People moved from where they were to other states with the hope of securing employment. The organizations, therefore, had to align themselves in response to the economic decline. The organizations also had to align their tools and resources to facilitate the production of goods.

Class is defined by property ownership, and the person has the power to exclude others from using it, thus using the property for his/her personal gains (Roth, 2019). In the context of the property, there are three classes, namely the bourgeoisie, landowners, and proletariat. The bourgeoisie is the people who own the means of production, which includes the factory buildings as well as the machinery. People in this class earn their source of income from the profits from their factories. The landowners, on the other hand, get income from rent. The lowest class and largest class in the society is the proletariat who own labor and sell it for a salary or wage.

Marx's theory of class conflict focuses on the proletariat and the bourgeoisie as they are dependent on each other (Rummel, 2017). The proletariat produces goods, the goods and the bourgeoisie exploits them by selling the goods. In farming, for example, the proletariats are the farmers, while the bourgeoisie is the people who buy the produce cheaply and sell them at a higher cost, thus getting a lot of profit. In industrial production, however, things are different since it is the proletariat who exploits the bourgeoisie. Since the bourgeoisie is the owners of the means of production, they exploit the proletariat by making them work for many hours or under conditions that are not conducive and paying low wages.

Marx argued that capitalist societies were based on this arrangement, where the rich were exploiting the poor (Roth, 2019). During the great depression, both the proletariat and the bourgeoisie were affected. Since there was a decline in production, the proletariat significantly decreased the production of goods and thereby retrenched many workers. The unemployed bourgeoisie engaged in petty crimes as there was no other way of surviving.

During the great depression, proletarian resistance movements were formed. The agenda of the movements was to deal with unemployment. People embarked on hunger marches, as well as self-help groups. Later, labor conflicts started to protest against the pay cuts, which were as a result of decreased production in the factories. By 1930 the majority of the proletarians were jobless, and without the unemployment insurance, they were forced to constantly engage in both organized and unorganized protests (Hic Salta, 2018).

The Communist Party led the unemployed workers, and throughout the depression, they engaged in different protests. Apart from the protests, the unemployed workers engaged in hunger marches as well as organized looting. The World War I army was also under threat of unemployment, and they marched to demand their bonus that they had been promised. Since the protests had no long-term success, the workers organized self-help groups to help themselves deal with the challenges of living without a job.

The Marxist theory of historical materialism helps us understand the great depression and how the great depression affected people of different social groups in America (Cottrell, 2019). The Marxist theory argues that people have formed social groups based on their income and the amount of money that they spend purchasing commodities. There are people who can afford to live expensive lives forming the upper social class in society while others are unable to survive, and they have little money to spend. The great depression affected the economy of the United States, where the economy crashed, affecting people from all social classes in the United States. The lower social class was the most affected by the great depression because they did not have reserves to use during challenging times.

The upper social group in American society was also affected by the great depression, where they lost their jobs from the depression as the companies closed down due to lack of business. The social life of the upper class was the most affected by depression because they are the ones who used to interact and have social events where they have fun (Silva, 2016). The economy affected the companies that we're unable to continue with their productions and the people the customers were unable to purchase the commodities. The theory of Marxist historical materialism focuses on human societies and the conditions that were significant to society. The great depression affected American society by making the lives of the people difficult.

The Marxist theory group's people according to their social class hence people of the same social class where they face similar challenges in their lives. The lower social class relies on the stability of the economy because they earn their wages on a daily basis (Cottrell, 2019). The great depression can be understood using the Marxist theory, where the theory helps us understand the models of production and the factors that caused the great depression. The cause of the great depression is associated with the crush of the stock market that created panic in the market. The social classes were destroyed, and the people faced the consequences regardless of their social class. There was no need to continue producing because the companies were incurring losses, and the consumers were not able to purchase the commodities produced.

The ideological superstructure includes the way of life of the people in terms of the organization of the social life of the people, such as the political structure, rituals, and norms. The Marxist theory of historical materialism argues that the economic status of the people influences their ideological superstructure (Temin, 2016). The great depression affected the economic status of different social groups where they were unable to sustain their lifestyles that they used to love. The religious grouping of the people was affected because the people fund the religious groups, the lack of resources challenges their social life where they were unable to continue with their normal lives. The Marxist theories argue that social structures are rooted in their economic status; therefore, the great depression made the people live differently.

The political class at the time was at a dilemma of solving the challenges affecting the people. The people put pressure on the government to come up with policies that would improve the economy and save the people from economic depression (Marsh, 2018). The people could no longer afford to pay their mortgages and rents, and the landlords evicted them, leading to a rise in homelessness among the people. The Marxism theory argues that different classes struggle differently; hence the leaders come up with different strategies for different social classes in the societies. Different social classes have different sources of income; hence the state focused on the most vulnerable social group in the society.

Karl Marx argued that for society to end its conflict, society has to unite towards fighting the challenge that society is suffering from. The ideological perspective of the people has to change, and the people think differently towards ending the challenge (Cottrell, 2019). The great depression affected all the people; hence the people in the society focused on ending the depression and helping the economy recover. The president at that time president Franklin D. Roosevelt come up with a policy of the new deal to end the depression where financial institutions got supported to regain their operations. The relief also supported the local people, such as the farmers, to resume their work.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Marxist theory of historical materialism helps us understand the great depression on how it affected people's lives and how societies can deal with similar challenges in the future. The theory helps us understand the challenges that the people go through during challenges and the variance in challenges between different social groups in society. The economic base and political and ideological superstructure influences on how challenges happen between different people. The great depression affected class relations and created class conflict as people tried to survive during the depression. The Marxist theory explains the different challenges experienced by different social classes, which is influence by how people live.

References

Anderson, P. (2016). In the tracks of historical materialism. Verso Books.

Cottrell, A. (2019). Social classes in Marxist theory (Vol. 17). Routledge.

Hic Salta. (2018). The US proletariat during the Great Depression | Hic Salta - Communisation. Retrieved 6 May 2020, from http://www.hicsalta-communisation.com/histoire/the-us-proletariat-during-the-great-depression

Marsh, C. (2018). Social Class and Occupation 1. Key variables in the social investigation (pp. 123-152). Routledge.

Roth, G. (2019). Marxism and Class Theory: A Bourgeois Critique.

Rummel, R. (2017). MARXISM AND CLASS CONFLICT. Retrieved 6 May 2020, from https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CIP.CHAP5.HTM

Silva, J. M. (2016). High hopes and hidden inequalities: How social class shapes pathways to adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 4(4), 239-241.

Temin, P. (2016). Great Depression. In Banking Crises (p...