Background
I was discussing the course literature of ”Philosophy of Science and Research Methods (MEE125)” (Part of the Master Sustainability at the University of Stavanger), and I thought that one of the texts on the list would make for a good blog post.
In this blog post, I’ll explain the main arguments of Marx in simple terms and provide explanations of the (difficult) terms he uses. I put some questions at the end that you can use to check if you understand the text well enough.
About the text
1859 was a productive year for the sciences. While Darwin published On the Origin of Species, forever changing how we understand biological evolution, Marx published A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Darwin explained how species adapt or perish; Marx explained how societies transform or collapse. Both texts, published in the same year, offered frameworks for understanding change that remain relevant today.
The preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy is a key text for understanding how societies change over time. For sustainability studies, this is highly relevant as sustainability is not only about the environment in isolation; it is about how economies, politics, and cultures are structured around production, consumption, and the use of resources. Marx offers a framework for linking material production with social organisation, and in doing so provides tools for analysing why societies emerge, transform, or collapse.
The text itself is written in a dense, scientific style. About half of the preface is taken up with Marx’s explanation of how the book came to be, while the other half, little more than a single page, presents his central argument on the relationship between production and social organisation. Because Marx does not pause to explain the key concepts he uses, the reader is quickly confronted with a specialised vocabulary that requires clarification. To follow his train of thought, it is helpful to work with the original German terms alongside their established English and Norwegian translations.
Key Concepts Glossary
| Term (English → German → Norwegian) | Definition (how Marx uses the term) |
|---|---|
| Bourgeoisie → Bourgeoisie → borgerskap | The capitalist class that owns the means of production. In Marx’s framework, they dominate in the modern mode of production, extracting surplus value from workers. |
| Consciousness → Bewusstsein → bevissthet | Refers to people’s ideas, beliefs, and self-understanding. |
| Forces of production → Produktivkräfte → produksjonskrefter | The tools, technology, labour power, skills, and knowledge that enable material production. |
| Relations of production → Produktionsverhältnisse → produksjonsforhold | The social and property arrangements that organise production: ownership of land, capital, labour relations, class structures. |
| Social forces of production → gesellschaftliche Produktivkräfte → samfunnets produksjonskrefter | Emphasises that production is not just individual but collective: cooperation, division of labour, and societal capacity to produce. |
| Base (economic base) → Basis/ökonomische Basis → økonomisk basis | The underlying economic structure of society, consisting of productive forces and relations of production. This base supports and shapes the legal, political, and ideological superstructure. |
| Superstructure → Überbau/Superstruktur → overbygning | The institutions, laws, politics, culture, religion, and ideology built upon the base. Shaped by the base but also feeds back into it. |
| Fetters → Fesseln → lenker/bånd | Literally: chains or cuffs. When relations of production, once useful, turn into restrictions that prevent further development of productive forces. |
| Antagonistic → antagonistisch → antagonistisk | Characterised by opposition or conflict. |
Summary of Marx’s Argument in the Preface
After his introductory remarks, Marx sets out his main thesis: the way people produce their material life shapes the structure of society. The economic foundation, the forces of production (technology, resources, labour power), together with the relations of production (ownership, property rights, class relations), form the base on which everything else rests. Law, politics, religion, philosophy, art, and culture make up the superstructure, which grows out of this base. Marx adopts a deterministic perspective on the understanding of consciousness. Human ideas and consciousness are not the driving force of history; instead, they are shaped by the material conditions of life.
Marx argues that history moves forward when the forces of production develop to a point where they no longer fit the old relations of production. At first, those relations help society to grow, but eventually they become fetters, restrictions that hold back further development. When this conflict deepens, societies enter periods of crisis and transformation. These are the moments when revolutions become possible, and the whole social structure, from the economy to politics and culture, is transformed.
Importantly, Marx stresses that such transformations cannot happen at will. No social order disappears until it has fully developed its potential, and no new order arises until the material conditions for it already exist within the old one. In other words: revolutions only succeed when the groundwork has already been laid by changes in production.
He then outlines the broad stages of history: Asiatic (early agrarian societies), ancient (slave-based), feudal (medieval society), and modern bourgeois (capitalist). Each stage represents progress, but also contains contradictions that eventually push it aside. Capitalism is, for Marx, the “last antagonistic form” of society: it generates immense productive forces, but it also produces deep social conflicts. At the same time, capitalism creates the material basis for overcoming class divisions altogether. For that reason, Marx sees all of human history up to this point as “prehistory,” with true history beginning only when these antagonisms are resolved.
Reflection Questions
- What does Marx mean by the terms base and superstructure, and how are they connected?
- How do the forces of production and the relations of production come into conflict, and why does this matter?
- What does Marx mean when he says relations of production can become fetters?
- Why does Marx argue that a new social order cannot appear until the material conditions for it are already present?
- How might this framework help us analyse sustainability challenges today?
Let me know whether this was helpful in the comments!
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