Marx’s
future-oriented perspective has its basis in his materialist conception of
history. He suggests that the ways societies provide for their material
well-being affects the type of relations that people will have with one
another, their social institutions, and the prevailing ideas of the day. Marx
uses the term “the forces of production” to refer to the ways in which people
provide for their needs. Marx uses the term “relations of production” to
describe social relationships that dominate the productive capacities of a
society. Under capitalism, the forces of
production lead to a set of relations of production which pit the capitalist
and the proletariat against one another.
To change the relations of production, Marx felt revolution was
necessary. Revolution arises from exploited classes agitating for change in the
relations of production that favor transformations in the forces of production.
More summaries of Marx's writings and ideas:
An Extended Summary of The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels (chapter 1, chapter 2, chapters 3 and 4)
