PRODUCTION MODES: HIGHLIGHTS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The modes of production refer to the way in which a society organizes its economic activity, including the distribution of the goods and services that are produced.

That is, the modes of production have to do with the people who produce goods and services and how these elements are distributed in society. This term originated in the work of Karl Marx (1818-1883) and his concept has played an important role in subsequent Marxist theory.

Karl Marx

Marx believed that human history could be characterized by the dominant modes of production or economic system: socialist or capitalist. This means that the means of production can be owned by different people in different ways in different societies.

Capitalism occurs when the media have private owners; capitalist societies have a market where things can be bought and sold. On the other hand, societies can be socialist. This means that the means of production have common owners, which can be the workers themselves or the State.

The means of production

Marx used this term to refer to the specific organization of economic production of a society.

The means of production include everything that is used by a society to make products, such as factories, machines, and raw materials. It also includes work and work organization.

Basically a means of production is anything that is used to produce. Clearly this is a very broad term: it includes everything from factories to the human brain and muscles.

On the other hand, Marx also defined the relations of production with reference to the relations between those who own the means of production (capitalists) and those who do not (proletariat).

The methods of production constantly evolve towards the realization of their full productive capacity, but this evolution creates an antagonism between the classes of people defined by the relations of production: the owners and the workers.

History

Background

During the 19th century, society had a change in how goods were manufactured. Until the mid-1800s, most individuals wove their own clothing and manufactured other materials on a small scale.

Few means of production were required to produce small sets of goods, and workers had a close relationship with their tools and resources, as well as with anyone who bought those goods.

These goods and services served human needs and could be exchanged for other objects of value or for money.

As factories developed and industrialization came, larger operations that could produce more goods and services in less time began to employ individuals who used to work in smaller operations.

These larger factories were able to create products that could be sold at a lower price and that could bring greater profit to the owners of these larger means of production.

As a result the work became more segmented on a smaller scale. For example, if a person was a blacksmith before industrialization, they probably did many different types of work.

But once employed in a factory, skills as a blacksmith might not be required or were only useful for a specific task.

Additionally, the workers no longer owned the means of production but were given a salary for those who owned the factory.

Origin

Even before the shift to industrialized society, the main means of production were typically in the hands of a few individuals.

Throughout history a minority has owned the greatest amount of wealth; the means of production tend to be concentrated in a small number of people.

The economist Karl Marx proposed these terms. If you owned a means of production, such as a factory, you were a member of the capitalist or wealthy (bourgeois) class.

On the other hand, if you were a worker you were a member of the proletariat, or someone who sold his work because it was the only way to survive.

The 2 main production modes

1- Capitalism

Capitalism refers to a society in which the modes of production are private; the owners are a small class (bourgeois) who benefit from the work of the working class or proletariat.

Capitalists produce amenities for the market, and to stay in competition they must extract as much labor as possible at the lowest cost. In theory, the economic interest is to pay the worker the minimum.

2- Communism

In this case, no one owns the society's modes of production since they are shared.

In his theory, Marx thought that at some point the communist or socialist societies of the future would find a new form of social unity.

Despite that, the economist wrote very little about what this means of production would look like other than reinforcing that private ownership of the means of production would be abolished.

Throughout history, this mode of means of production has proven to be a failure in societies.

Production classification

For general purposes, production can be classified into three main groups.

Primary production

This production is carried out by extractive industries such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and oil extraction.

These industries are responsible for extracting natural resources from the surface and below the Earth, and from the oceans.

Secondary production

This includes production in the manufacturing industry; converts raw material into finished or semi-finished goods.

It generally includes car manufacturing, clothing, chemicals, and engineering.

Tertiary production

These industries produce services that allow finished goods to reach the hands of consumers.

This includes banking, transportation, communications, insurance, among others.

Production factors

The production of an amenity requires the use of certain resources or factors of production.

Because most of the resources necessary to produce are relatively scarce in relation to their demand, they are known as economic resources.

These resources can be combined in different ways to produce services. Each factor is rewarded based on its contribution to the production process

The first three factors are: land (any natural resource), labor (human skills and effort), and capital (man-made resources).

These three factors must combine or at least coordinate their activities to create some service. This is organized by the employer, boss or management.

Therefore, the fourth factor is the company. It means that risks must be taken in production and these are the ones who must make those decisions.

It is risky since goods or services must be produced in anticipation of their possible future demand.

References

1. Means of production. Recovered from wiki.kidzsearch.com
2. Production: meaning, definition, types and factors. Recovered from economicdiscussion.net
3. Means of production in sociology. Recovered from study.com
4. Mode of production. Recovered from encyclopedia.com
5. What is a means of production? (2009). Recovered from publicreasonnet
6. Means of production. Recovered from thefreedictionary.com
7. Karl Marx. Recovered from sparknotes.com