Karl Marx's Theory of History by G. A. Cohen

Karl Marx's Theory of History by G. A. Cohen

Author:G. A. Cohen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2020-01-15T00:00:00+00:00


(1) Identifying the Superstructure

CHAPTER III examined the economic structure, the ’real foundation’ upon which a superstructure rises. The economic structure was said to be the sum total of production relations, and these were provisionally construed as sets of rights of persons over productive forces. We warned that the language of rights would have to be replaced, and one aim of the present chapter is to show why it must and how it may give way to a distinct language of effective powers.

Marx gave no definite demarcation of the superstructure. Does it include ideology? We shall suppose that it does not, but little will rest on this decision, and much of what we say about the superstructure will apply to ideology too. We take the superstructure to be a set of non-economic institutions, notably the legal system and the state.1 Our main concern will be the law, not the state as such.

Two distinct definitions of ‘superstructure’ are implicit in classical and subsequent Marxism:

(1) The superstructure = all non-economic institutions.

(2) The superstructure = those non-economic institutions whose character is explained by the nature of the economic structure.

No specifically Marxian terms occur in the first definition. The second is more theoretical, because of its reference to the economic structure, a concept of Marxian theory.

Whichever definition is chosen, the substantive claim is, very roughly:

(3) The character of non-economic institutions is largely explained by the nature of the economic structure.



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