HISTORICAL MATERIALISM

BY- MANAS NEMA

UID: UG19-62
HISTORICAL MATERIALISM

 It is the methodology used by some communist and Marxist historiographers

that focuses on human societies and their development through history.
 Dialectical Materialism
 Historical materialism is the application of principle of dialectical
materialism to the development and evolution of society of society.
 According to this theory progress in the society is a result of contradictions
and conflicts between the two classes over opposing material or economic
interests.
 THEORY OF CLASSES AND CLASS
STRUGGLE

 For Marx history is the story of human labor and struggle, the struggle
between one class and the other.
 Classes are originated on the basis of social relation to means of
production. If you own the means of production, you are the owner, you
belong to exploiters and if you don’t own it then you are
exploited(workers).
 During different historical phases, these two classes were known by different
names, and enjoyed different legal status and privileges; but one thing was
common that one class is exploited by the others.
 It is due to this exploitation there is always a struggle and between these
two classes.
IDEOLOGICAL SUPERSTRUCTURE

As the exploited class is always in majority and dominant class in minority then,
how do they control them despite of being in minority.
 The answer is by making ideological superstructure.
 Superstructure includes culture, ideology, norms and expectations,
identities that people inhabit, social institutions, the political structure, law
and religion.
 Function of ideological superstructure is to explain, justify and legitimize the
division of labour, class difference, and vast inequality by controlling the
thoughts, beliefs and ideas of working class.
EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY

According to Marx, history moved in distinct stages or epochs, and within each
epochs, one could find the contradictions between the classes that pave the
way to the next stage. Marx identified the following stage:

 PRIMITIVE COMMUNISM
• No class, no rule
• No relation to production
 SLAVERY
• It was defined in terms of slaves and land ownership.
• Conflicts arises between the slaves and slave owners due to over
exploitation.
• Eventually these conflicts led to the demise of slave society and
emergence of feudal society.
 FEUDALISM
• Land lords were the owners of the land and slaves produce everything but
they were not owners.
• People who owned the land becomes feudal lords and those who were
slaves become serfs.
• Two classes emerged and with the time lords started demanding more and
more. Serfs started feeling exploited as they were not even able to meet
their subsistence.
 CAPITALISM
• Due to conflict between the classes, the feudalist society was abolished
and capitalist society was emerged.
• Society with two classes bourgeoisie(owners) and proletariat(slaves).
• Economic exploitation and inhuman working condition leads to increasing
alienation of proletariat.
• Workers will revolt and attain victroy.
 SOCIALISM
• After the revolution, capitalism would vanish and dictatorship of proletariat
would be established.
• Private property will be abolished.
 COMMUNISM
• Communism is a political and economic doctrine that aims to replace
private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and
communal control.
• The working class or “proletariat” must rise up against the capitalist owners,
or “bourgeoisie”, according to the ideals of communism, and institute a
new society with no private property, no economic classes and no profits.
CONCLUSION

 Marx's emphasis on class conflict as constituting the dynamics of social

change, his awareness that change was not random but the outcome of a
conflict of interests, and his view of social relations as based on power were
contributions of the first magnitude.
 His concept of historical materialism changed the way of seeing the history
and its evolution.