Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history, first articulated by Karl Marx (1818–1883) as "the materialist conception of history". Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans collectively produce the necessities of life. Social classes and the relationship between them, plus the political structures and ways of thinking in society, are founded on and reflect economic activity.
Since Marx's time, the theory has been modified and expanded by thousands of Marxist thinkers. It now has many variants.
Read more about Historical Materialism: Key Ideas, Key Implications in The Study and Understanding of History, Marx's Materialism, Historical Materialism and The Future, Marxist Beliefs About History, Alienation and Freedom, The History of Historical Materialism, Warnings Against Misuse, Historical Materialism in Marxist Thought, Recent Versions of Historical Materialism, Criticisms
Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or materialism:
“It is hard to believe that England is so near as from your letters it appears; and that this identical piece of paper has lately come all the way from there hither, begrimed with the English dust which made you hesitate to use it; from England, which is only historical fairyland to me, to America, which I have put my spade into, and about which there is no doubt.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Sometimes, because of its immediacy, television produces a kind of electronic parable. Berlin, for instance, on the day the Wall was opened. Rostropovich was playing his cello by the Wall that no longer cast a shadow, and a million East Berliners were thronging to the West to shop with an allowance given them by West German banks! At that moment the whole world saw how materialism had lost its awesome historic power and become a shopping list.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)