capitalist mode of production

(noun)

In Marx's critique of political economy, the capitalist mode of production is the production system of capitalist societies, which began in Europe in the 16th century, grew rapidly in Western Europe from the end of the 18th century, and later extended to most of the world. It is characterized by: the predominance of private ownership of the means of production and exploitation of wage labor, distribution and exchange in a mainly market economy (commodity production), and capital accumulation (production for profit).

Related Terms

Examples of capitalist mode of production in the following topics:

  • Marx's View of Class Differentiation

    • In Marx's view, social stratification is created by people's differing relationship to the means of production: either they own productive property or they labor for others.
    • In Marxist theory, the capitalist mode of production consists of two main economic parts: the substructure and the Superstructure.
    • In a capitalist society, the ruling class, or the bourgeoisie, owns the means of production, such as machines or tools that can be used to produce valuable objects.
    • The means of production would be shared by all members of society, and social stratification would be abolished.
    • " Marxism is associated with a view of stratification that pits the owners of means of production against the laborers.

  • Work and Alienation

    • Marx's theory of alienation is founded upon his observation that, within the capitalist mode of production, workers invariably lose determination of their lives and destinies by being deprived of the right to conceive of themselves as the director of their actions, to determine the character of their actions, to define their relationship to other actors, and to use or own the value of what is produced by their actions .
    • Alienation in capitalist societies occurs because the worker can only express this fundamentally social aspect of individuality through a production system that is not collectively owned, but privately owned.
    • The product's design and the manner in which it is produced are determined not by its actual producers, nor even by those who consume products, but rather by the capitalist class.
    • This kind of alienation refers to the patterning of work in the capitalist mode of production into an endless sequence of discrete, repetitive, trivial, and meaningless motions, offering little, if any, intrinsic satisfaction.
    • The fourth is the alienation of the worker from other workers, in which the capitalist system reduces the act of work to a simple economic practice, rather than recognizing the social elements of the act of production.

  • Class, Crime, and the Criminal Justice System

    • Of the classical founders of social science, conflict theory is most commonly associated with Karl Marx.
    • In Marxist theory, the class structure of the capitalist mode of production is characterized by the conflict between two main classes: the bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the means of production, and the much larger proletariat who must sell their own labor power.
    • Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime initially was defined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation. " A clear example of how deviance reflects power imbalances is in the reporting and tracking of crimes.
    • Those accused of crime have protections against abuse of investigatory and prosecution powers.
    • In Marxist theory, the class structure of the capitalist mode of production is characterized by the conflict between two main classes: the bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the means of production, and the much larger proletariat who must sell their own labor power.

  • The Disadvantages of Mixed Economies

    • In addition, unsuccessful regulations may paralyze features of production.
    • Another negative is that the government decides the amount of tax on products, which leads to people complaining about high taxes and their unwillingness to pay them.
    • Marxian socialists argue that because social democratic programs retain the capitalist mode of production they also retain the fundamental issues of capitalism, including cyclical fluctuations, exploitation and alienation.
    • Social democratic programs intended to ameliorate capitalism, such as unemployment benefits or taxation on profits and the wealthy, create contradictions of their own through limiting the efficiency of the capitalist system by reducing incentives for capitalists to invest in production.
    • The Democratic party in the United States is seen by some critics of contemporary social democracy (and mixed economies) as a watered-down, pro-capitalist movement.

  • Class Conflict and Marx

    • Together, the means of production and the relations of production compose a particular period's mode of production.
    • Marx distinguished different historical eras in terms of their different modes of production.
    • He believed that the mode of production was the defining element of any period in history, and he called this economic structure the base of that society.
    • By contrast, he believed that the ideas and culture of a given stage were derived from the mode of production.
    • Once the proletariat developed a class consciousness, Marx believed, they would rise up and seize the means of production, overthrowing the capitalist mode of production, and bringing about a socialist society.

  • Capitalism

    • Mercantilism was a system of trade for profit, although commodities were still largely produced by non-capitalist production methods.
    • In his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-1905), Max Weber sought to trace how a particular form of religious spirit, infused into traditional modes of economic activity, was a condition of possibility of modern western capitalism.
    • Means of production: All manufacturing aids to production such as tools, machinery, and buildings.
    • Production: The act of making goods or services through the combination of labour power and means of production.
    • In his book Capital, Marx argues that the capitalist mode of production is distinguished by how the owners of capital extract this surplus from workers: all prior class societies had extracted surplus labor, but capitalism was new in doing so via the sale-value of produced commodities.

  • Colonialism and Neocolonialism

    • Marx viewed colonialism as part of the global capitalist system, which has led to exploitation, social change, and uneven development.
    • From a Marxist perspective, colonies are considered vis-à-vis modes of production.
    • The search for raw materials and new investment opportunities is the result of inter-capitalist rivalry for capital accumulation.
    • Core countries (e.g., U.S., Japan, Germany) are dominant capitalist countries characterized by high levels of industrialization and urbanization.
    • By the end of the 19th century, most of the Americas were under the control of European colonial empires.

  • Two-mode factor analysis

    • Figure 17.10 shows the eigenvalues (by principle components) calculated by Tools>2-Mode Scaling>Factor Analysis.
    • With the caveat of pretty poor fit of a low-dimensional solution in mind, let's examine the scaling of actors on the first three factors (figure 17.11).
    • At one pole are Democrats and unions, at the other lie many capitalist groups.
    • Figure 17.12 shows the loadings of the events.
    • Figure 17.10 Eigenvalues of two-mode factoring of California donors and initiatives

  • Economic Systems

    • Alternatively, an economic system is the set of principles by which problems of economics are addressed, such as the economic problem of scarcity through allocation of finite productive resources.
    • Today the world largely operates under a global economic system based on the free market mode of production.
    • Decisions regarding investment and the use of the means of production are determined by competing business owners in the marketplace.
    • The means of production are owned primarily by private enterprises and decisions regarding production and investment determined by private owners in capital markets.
    • Capitalist systems range from laissez-faire, with minimal government regulation and state enterprise, to regulated and social market systems, with the stated aim of ensuring social justice and a more equitable distribution of wealth or ameliorating market failures.

  • A Mechanism for Electrophilic Substitution Reactions of Benzene

    • The cation may bond to a nucleophile to give a substitution or addition product.
    • The cation may transfer a proton to a base, giving a double bond product.
    • SN1 and E1 reactions are respective examples of the first two modes of reaction.
    • The second step of alkene addition reactions proceeds by the first mode, and any of these three reactions may exhibit molecular rearrangement if an initial unstable carbocation is formed.
    • In principle it could react by either mode 1 or 2, but the energetic advantage of reforming an aromatic ring leads to exclusive reaction by mode 2 (ie. proton loss).