Definition of Relations of Production
(noun) The relationship between the owners of the means of production and laborers.
Relations of Production Pronunciation
Syllabification: re·la·tions of pro·duc·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /ri-lAY-shuhnz uhv pruh-dUHk-shuhn/
- British English – /ri-lAY-shuhnz UHv pruh-dUHk-shuhn/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /riˈleɪʃənz ʌv prəˈdʌkʃən/
- British English – /rɪˈleɪʃənz ɒv prəˈdʌkʃən/
Usage Notes
- The means of production in conjunction with the relations to production is called the mode of production.
- Simply understood as the relationship between workers (proletariat) and owners (bourgeoisie).
Related Quotation
- “What are social classes in Marxist theory? They are groups of social agents, of men defined principally but not exclusively by their place in the production process, i.e. by their place in the economic sphere. The economic place of the social agents has a principal role in determining social classes. But from that we cannot conclude that this economic place is sufficient to determine social classes. Marxism states that the economic does indeed have the determinant role in a mode of production or a social formation; but the political and the ideological (the superstructure) also have an important role. For whenever Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao analyse social classes, far from limiting themselves to the economic criteria alone, they make explicit reference to political and ideological criteria. We can thus say that a social class is defined by its place in the ensemble of social practices, i.e. by its place in the ensemble of the division of labour which includes political and ideological relations. This place corresponds to the structural determination of classes, i.e. the manner in which determination by the structure (relations of production, politico-ideological domination/subordination) operates on class practices – for classes have existence only in the class struggle” (Poulantzas 1973:27).
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Economic Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “relations” and “production” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Heilbroner, Robert L. 1980. Marxism: For and Against. New York: Norton.
- Sowell, Thomas. 1985. Marxism: Philosophy and Economics. New York: Morrow.
Related Terms
Reference
Poulantzas, Nicos. 1973. “On Social Classes.” New Left Review 78.
Works Consulted
Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Relations of Production
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “relations of production.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved June 5, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/relations-of-production/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
relations of production. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/relations-of-production/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “relations of production.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/relations-of-production/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“relations of production.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/relations-of-production/>.