Social order

Under the terms of social formation, corporate structure or system of society is understood in sociology, political science and history, the historically determined structure and social organization of societies. The coined especially Karl Marx's concept of social formation encompasses the totality of all social relations that distinguish a particular form of society from a different form of society. Examples of social formations are the ancient slave society, the medieval feudal society, modern capitalism, fascism or communism.

Term

The term is distinguished from the terms of the form of government and the political system. In contrast to these, which include only partial aspects of a society, the concept of society form is broader and includes social and cultural non-governmental practices, especially economic aspects.

Terms and concepts in Marxism

In particular, in the Marxist theory of historical materialism is " social formation " a central concept. He called there the entirety of historical- concrete fileformat socio-economic circumstances of a particular society. According to Karl Marx, a certain mode of production forms in all forms of society, the " economic base " of society. This base WOULD structuring and ultimately determinative on the other social phenomena which form the legal forms, political systems and "ruling ideas " social " superstructure". In a famous formulation, Marx writes:

In more recent Marxist theories - especially with Antonio Gramsci and Louis Althusser - as well as some representatives of the Post-Marxism, such as Ernesto Laclau, the focus is placed on the social superstructure and the culture more than with Marx. Particularly Marxism- Leninism is accused of " economistic " view of history here a shortened. Already in Marx is nevertheless not to be construed as absolutely the dominant role of the economic. On the contrary, it emphasizes the possibility of disjunctions and contradictions between base and superstructure, the material and the ideational. Nevertheless, it is clear to Marx:

Class struggle as the motor of social development

Except the classless primitive society, sometimes referred to by Friedrich Engels as " primitive communism " or " communism of poverty" - - According to Marx, every historical form of society is of class struggles marked:

Belonging to a social class is determined by the position of Marx doing in the production process, in particular by the ownership of means of production. Each class society is the contrast between two main classes it marked that were faced each other as oppressors and the oppressed, the former being the company exerted a defining influence as the " ruling class ". Since the dissolution of primitive society to fully draw the development and gradual replacement of social formations through which is considered central engine of social development class struggle: " Revolutions are the locomotives of history. "

Overall, is the Marxist conception of society in the Hegelian tradition of a stepped model of progress in history. Society is, only society at a particular stage of historical development. In contrast to Hegel, this development takes place for Marx but not as an abstract movement of the world spirit. Rather, it arose out of the contradictions inherent in any social formation and antagonisms. As a dialectical thinker, coined by Young Hegelianism, Marx stressed that this development is proceeding in dialectical jumps ( see dialectics of Marx and Engels).

For Joseph A. Schumpeter any methodological fixation on a pure type of society leads to the false problem: how can arise from one type to the other.

"Once we realize that pure feudalism and capitalism are both unrealistic pure creatures of our mind, is the problem of what it was, the one turned into the other, are no longer a problem "

Rosa Luxembourg has worked out in The Accumulation of Capital, that industrial capital to continue the accumulation process constantly new markets outside the existing class system need and, therefore, instructed by the beginning of his historical existence of an agricultural sector and a global market with colonial possessions, ie non- capitalist sectors is.

Important social formations

Important historical social formations are according to Marx, a classless primitive society of the early tribal societies, the suburb was once farming and despotic dominion " Asiatic mode of production ", the slave society of antiquity, of feudalism of the Middle Ages and the bourgeois- capitalist mode of production, by their trends the end of the history of the einläute humanity.

In capitalism, the Post's own property independent of the individual's work has historically been replaced by capitalist private property, according to Marx, which is based on the exploitation of the labor of others. With the progressive division of labor, development of productive forces and the growing exploitation of the concentration of the means of production and socialization of labor reach a point at which they would increasingly incompatible with their capitalist integument.

In the course of a communist revolution finally private property shall be replaced by " social property " or collective ownership on the basis of the technical achievements of the capitalist era. However, such a society was developing from a concrete company out, and was therefore first " in every respect, economically, morally, and intellectually, still stamped [ ... ] with the birthmarks of the old society. " This stage was different than socialism, low developed communism or dictatorship of the proletariat refers. Only in a higher stage of development, the classless society could achieve final:

Lenin coined the term imperialism as the highest and last stage of capitalism and the eve of the socialist revolution. Imperialism was coined in contrast to the capitalism of free competition among other things, the formation of monopolies, the merging of banking and industrial capital to financial capital as well as the primacy of capital exports in relation to the export of goods. Imperialism is - just as fascism - not have their own social formation, but is treated in Marxism as part of the capitalist mode of production.

The historical attempts of building a socialist society, particularly in the European Eastern Bloc are usually called real socialism by some critics as state capitalism.

Other theories

In non- Marxist theories, instead of " social formation " or "social form " often used the term " social system ". The individual names vary from theory building to theory building ( one speaks about instead of " civil society " or " capitalism " rather of "democracy" ), the idea of ​​a sequence of stages of social systems, which goes back to Hegel, however, to be found in almost all schools of thought. Also, it is of course criticized by some, particularly in the area of structuralism and post-structuralism, as ethnocentric.

In the sociological systems theory of " social systems " is mentioned, but in which, in contrast to the notion of corporate form no historical separation of different systems takes place, but only the evolution from a social system by increasing functional differentiation.

In the Nazi era, it was next to the aggressive, vulgar populist propaganda also theorizing explanations of social studies education or society. Then they differed social formations as naturally grown communities and as artificially formed companies. Races and peoples are history-making units of mankind. The " National Socialist doctrine " was based on the people's research, racial science and folklore. After that defined a national community than on excessive blood ties, common destiny and common political faith -based community, the class and class antagonisms are alien to a people.