Is Historical Materialism a Deterministic Approach? The Democratic Firm and the Transition to Socialism

Abstract

Determinism is considered to be the doctrine teaching that a particular aspect or part of the social whole has a predominating influence on all the others. Several authors hold that economic determinism reflects the idea of a linear causality, i.e. of direct relations between a paramount economic cause and the effects that passively flow from it. Due to this linear notion of causality—they argue—the economic base is the necessary and, in itself, sufficient cause, whereas the super-structure is stripped of its autonomous role and production relations are the direct offshoot of the prevailing state of technology. In fact, this conception is typical of mechanistic, rather than Marxian, materialism, and as it tends to obliterate the role of super-structural factors, it is unable to account for the rise of existing forms of society and their different characteristics. The author’s arguments against the characterization of historical materialism as a deterministic approach are linked to his claim that socialism can be implemented by creating a system of democratically managed firms. JEL classification: P2, P5, D4, B14