What is Economic Structure for Marx?

The Economic Structure approach proposed by Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) is based on the analysis of society, from an economic point of view.

This approach focuses on the structure as the center of the approach in which, social relations, or the given society Due to its economic dynamics, it is a highly relevant agent for social changes and transitions to occur in its organization.

In other words, the structure according to this economic approach is the group of inter-social relations, that by their nature and forms of production, are integrated and articulated while also interacting between Yes.

Structure Features

This structure is characterized by:

• Consist of a functional system that is distinguished from other units
• Be composed of several elements, all related and interdependent
• It is not possible to carry out an analysis where the elements that compose it are separated or isolated, it is necessary that said analysis be carried out under a joint vision
• The members of the structure are related to each other or in a subordinate way or in a subordinate way, the relationship that exists between them will depend on the economic aspect

From this perspective, the meaning of the Mode of Production also becomes important, since it is through this concept that the subordinate - subordinate relationships, leaving aside the idea that the structure is only a group of simple relationships and without any type of hierarchy.

The Marxist theory differs from the situation presented by capitalism, since in this, the State as well as all its laws, apparatus and organs, are aimed at guaranteeing absolute respect for private property before preferring the means of production, in fact, ensures the creation of a legal mechanism that provides the bourgeoisie, the social benefits to which sucks.

Infrastructure and Superstructure

While Marxist theory holds that the structure of society is made up of two elements: the infrastructure and the superstructure.

• Infrastructure: composed of the economic structure, that is, the environment where the relations and forces of production that characterize a certain way of producing occur
• The Superstructure: in this case it is composed of an ideological structure of the legal-political type that favors the existence of the State as an agent of society from the judicial point of view, as well as of the ideological apparatuses and also of the repressive. It can be said that this superstructure will legitimize the existence of an economic structure, or the so-called infrastructure

And it is that for Marx, the first of the forms of structure, that is to say the infrastructure, are the means of production, of a society, as well as their forces and their ways of producing, so it can be said that the infrastructure is based on the relationships productive.

In this economic infrastructure, seen from the Marx's materialistic pointThe forces of production correspond to the labor force, with the workers, the workers, who really dedicate themselves to producing directly with their knowledge and techniques; while the means they use for their production consist of the material part, and can be from a factory, to a piece of equipment, the earth or a simple tool.

On the other hand, the relationships for this production are those that exist between the members of the society, in a specific period and are given by the need to survive within the same society.

As infrastructure is the base that sustains society, and in itself also its historical foundation, it It also determines the superstructure (political - legal) to which some modes of consciousness of the society.

One of the most preponderant theses of thought founded by Marx, considers that the way in which society produces, will determine the form of its thought, as well as the processes and relationships that occur in it.

Thus, according to this line of thought, it is not about living according to the way of thinking, on the contrary, one ends up thinking according to how it occurs or how it is lived.

Another fundamental thought of this thought is the one that indicates that it is not precisely consciousness that determines the being of man as such, but, on the contrary, it is the social being that is in charge of determining the consciousness of the man.

It is precisely with this phrase that the practical sense and materialistic humanism of Marx's position is manifested.

Summing up the whole concept, it can be said that the human mind is shaped by the society in which it is immersed, and even more specifically in her way of producing, this guides her to perceive her reality and the environment in which she is develops. This vision of thought, in addition to the social part, also corresponds to its economy, so that history is actually a productive process in reality.