Primitive Communism Research Articles

The Hegelian Structure of Marx’s Thought

ABSTRACT We can best understand Marx’s economic thought by seeing it as implicitly relying upon and reworking a Hegelian philosophy of history, which was deeply salvific and soteriological in its basic structure. Hegel’s philosophy of history reworked the Christian narrative of man’s fall, his redemption through Christ’s atonement, and his return to a state of reconciliation with God in the life of the Christian church. Thus, the loss of the organic form of community found in the Greek polis was a fall that was atoned for in the religious alienation found in both Judaism and Christianity, where man is treated as separated from a transcendent God. The reconciliation between man and God is found, finally, in the reconciliation of the modern, rational state. Early on Marx adopted Hegel’s philosophy of history, but its basic structure remains even in his mature economic work. There he envisions the loss of the organic unity of primitive communism, and the alienation of individuals from the larger social totality of feudalism and capitalism. Under communism, however, individuals are reconciled with the larger social whole through the collective mastery of the products of labor.

Communism, Poetry: Communicating Vessels (Some Insubordinate Essays, 1999–2018)

Communism, Poetry: Communicating Vessels (Some Insubordinate Essays, 1999–2018)

Hermeneutika Komunisme Primitif

This study aims to describe a more conceptual understanding of the Hermeneutics of Primitive Communism, using qualitative research with a socio-historical approach that analyzes the condition of language data and behavior in situations that consider the social and cultural context. In special needs, the survey results are obtained, for example, analyzing the results of the theories of primitive communal theory until the discovery of the primitive communist epistemology. The findings of this socio-historical research are that the explanation of Primitive Communism Hermeneutics has three first stages, primitive communalism or primitive communism called primitive society, the basic needs of life that depend on nature, primitive communism is in people who live by hunting with simple forms of agriculture, or herding animals. , the state of private property has not arisen, and there is not even a class division. People live in harmony and equality. Even as primitive communism, the means of production are collectively owned, and other types of property are distributed equally among the members of the tribe. After that, the birth of Pre-Marxism, namely after the life of primitive society, with the emergence of the classical period rejecting metaphysics and visible psychology of collective and individualist society. The last is the development of Karl Marx's ideas which wants a communist society through resistance by the feudal society and capitalism using a system of socialism.

Происхождение первых запретов в обществах первобытного типа: социально-философские аспекты

The purpose of the study is to analyze the mechanism of the emergence and consolidation of the first legal norms within the primitive communal system, where many parameters of the way of life were strictly regulated by the most primitive forms of beliefs. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the identification of the general structure between the first legal norms within the primitive communal system and modern ones. Modern everyday culture has largely modified the mentioned norms in accordance with the spirit of the time, but at the same time their original nature remains mostly the same. As a result, the author is interested not only in the main reasons for their appearance and acceptance by the individual, but also in the specifics of their influence both on the primitive communal system and on the information society through a comparative socio-philosophical and cultural-anthropological analysis. The author revealed that modern legal norms have indeed retained the imprint of the former way of life in their structure, but at the same time their shell has changed in proportion to the concept of the state and its structure.

Истоки становления начертательной геометрии

The translation "Descriptive geometry" is not entirely accurate. In fact, the phrase should be translated as "Narrative geometry". Based on this translation, it can be confidently stated that the science under consideration serves not only as a theoretical basis for orthogonal projections, a special case of which are ordinary drawings, but also for any images – in this the author of the article fully agrees with such authorities as N.A. Rynin, N.F. Chetverukhin, V.O. Gordon, S.A. Frolov, N.A. Sobolev and many others.
 The paper considers the origins of one of the directions of geometry – descriptive geometry. The hypothesis is put forward that in reality descriptive geometry, or rather, its elements, was originally involved in ancient times, during the primitive communal system when making drawings on the walls of caves and rocks. Orthogonal projections were used in the ancient world and in the Middle Ages, and Gaspard Monge at the end of the XVIII century systematized all the existing disconnected developments on descriptive geometry, adding his own research.
 Most likely, geometry in general was the very first science that originated when our ancestors who lived in caves faced the problem of increasing the living area due to population growth. And descriptive geometry began to develop from the moment when the first artist depicted scenes from life on the cave wall: hunting, fishing, tribal wars, events that shocked people, etc. Ancient artists existed on all continents of the globe, except perhaps Antarctica, since rock carvings were found on all other continents. And the earliest was performed somewhere 25-30 thousand years ago. Thus, the hypothesis that the elements of descriptive geometry originated in the primitive communal system can be considered proven.

Ideology and utopia: the national state structure of the USSR (presented on the example of the North Caucasus territories)

The model of the national-state and territorial structure of the USSR was implemented in strict accordance with the Marxist-Leninist theory of socioeconomic formations. According to this theory, every society goes through several stages of development: the primitive system, slavery, feudalism, capitalism, and communism. This is a naturally progressive process. Based on the works of Engels, Soviet scientists created a theory of the development of ethnic communities. Each formation had to correspond to a certain type of ethnic group. Guided by the "right of nations to self-determination," each nation was to receive its own statehood. This model existed before the collapse of the USSR. Since the 1980s it began to crumble, various ethnic groups, or rather their elites, were dissatisfied with their status. The autonomous regions of the North Caucasus began to transform into republics. The republics wanted to get the status of an ally. Administrative transformations did not improve the economy and living standards but on the contrary, led to increased bureaucratic growth. However, National Societies believed that the key was to appoint “their own” (a person with whom they had an established relationship and understanding) boss. Different peoples within the same autonomy often clashed. At the end of the twentieth-century tensions grew in the North Caucasus. It became obvious that the formation of territorial units along ethnic lines did not justify itself, however, this structure is preserved at the present time due to the fear of destabilization of the situation.

Historical stages of development of the mechanism of state regulation of the institution of adoption

The article considers adoption as one of the oldest social institutions. The mechanism of state regulation of the institution ofadoption has a long history of formation and development. During the historical development of the institution of adoption, thiscategory of concepts has been improved, acquired new meaning and justification.In the primitive communal system, in order to survive, people had to stick together, work collectively and raise children together.Therefore, it was believed that in such a society, orphanhood did not exist.The institution of adoption as a social phenomenon is characterized by its customs and traditions, but its development andformation as a social institution are ambiguous and depend on the level of development of society, national characteristics andprevailing relations in society.The development and formation of the mechanism of state regulation of the institution of adoption can be traced back to ancientRome. Adoption was extremely widely used and took various social forms. Over the centuries, different peoples have changed the goals,conditions, order, property and non-property consequences of the adoption of another’s child, and sometimes adults. This was due tovarious purposes, which were determined by the historical, religious, social and political conditions of society at one or another stageof its development.The formation of the mechanism of state regulation of the institution of adoption in the times of Kievan Rus was taking intoaccount customary law. On the basis of customary law, the first legal norms on adoption in the collection of ancient Russian law“Russian Truth” are formed.The period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth is characterized by the legal status of the child in the threeLithuanian statutes. Significant changes in the improvement of the care system took place during the reign of Catherine II.In Soviet times, the development of the mechanism of state regulation of the institution of adoption in Ukraine began with theadoption of legislation, the rules of which regulated the institution of adoption. During Ukraine’s independence, there were changes inthe mechanism of state regulation of the institution of adoption.Traditions, customs and rites, historical experience in regulating adoption relations show that they have become a core for theUkrainian state to create its own legal framework in the field of adoption.

«The primitive communist society and its decomposition»: the prehistorical past of the territory of Belarus by V. K. Shcharbakou

The article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of the «primitive communist society» set out by the famous scientist and organizer of science in the 1930s, the first dean of the historical faculty of Belarusian State University V. K. Shcharbakou in his «Essay on the history of Belarus» (1934). This book was the first attempt in native historiography to systematically illuminate the initial period of the history of our country in a marxist manner. The researcher did not set himself the goal of preparing a full-fledged archaeological publication. Creating a synthetic review of the history of Belarus, he included in it only certain topics related to primitive and early medieval archaeology. The scientist’s methodological approaches to the study of ancient history corresponded to the theoretical developments of Soviet historical science in the 1920s – at the beginning of the 1930s, and the work no longer match the new «settings» by the time of release. The authors of the article determined the contribution of V. K. Shcharbakou to the interpretation of the primitive history of Belarus, which allows to understand better the history of Belarusian archaeological and historical thought of the interwar period.

Missing Links. Indigenous Life and Evolutionary Thought in the History of Russian Ethnography.

The history of Russian social anthropology has long been best known for the work of three, late nineteenth-century "exile ethnographers," each sent to the Russian Far East for their anti-tsarist activities as students. All three men-Vladimir Bogoraz, Vladimir Iokhel'son, and Lev Shternberg-produced voluminous and celebrated works on Russian far eastern indigenous life, but it was the young Shternberg who had perhaps the most profound effect on setting the agenda for the canonic evolutionist line soon to take hold in late Russian imperial and early Soviet ethnography. This essay draws on archival, library, and field research to revisit the life and work of Shternberg in order to tell the story of "group marriage" that he documented for the life of one Sakhalin Island indigenous people, Gilyaks (or Nivkhgu, Nivkhi). Documented in this way by Shternberg, the Nivkh kinship system proved a crucial "missing link" for Friedrich Engels, who had long been eager to provide evidence of primitive communism as man's natural state. For Gilyaks, the die was cast. Their role as the quintessential savages of Engels' favor made them famous in Russian and Soviet ethnographic literature, and significantly enhanced their importance to Soviet government planners. This essay tracks that episode and its aftermaths as a pivotal moment in the history of Russian social anthropology and of evolutionist thought more broadly.

ДЖЕРЕЛА, ВИТОКИ ТА ПЕРШООСНОВА ЯВИЩА ПАТРІОТИЗМУ

The phenomenon of patriotism accompanies the development of mankind from ancient times to the present. The content of the phenomenon is unchanged throughout this time, only the form and its manifestations changed. According to the author, the phenomenon of patriotism in the active aspect of its consideration is inextricably linked with the sacrifice of personal for the sake of the society, with the specific behavior of the bearer of patriotic feelings. In order to achieve the goal of the study, it is necessary to analyze the complex of historical conditions of social, political, economic and religious nature of the period of time that is investigated and compared with another. It is also necessary to analyze changes in the social structure of society.Reference literature defines patriotism as a socio-historical phenomenon whose elements arose even during the time of the primitive communal system as a form of awareness of tribal relationships, ordinances, and customs. The organization of humanity in those days was tribal: genus, tribe, tribal alliance; the main element was genus. It was such a system that at that time provided the reproduction and progress of mankind, so at that time, patriotic feelings were to a genus and tribe. The transition from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles provided for the emergence of territorial patriotism.State patriotism in the modern sense has appeared in ancient Greece. This became possible when the civil status of the individual became more than family ties, when the state provided survival, meeting the needs of its citizens and reproduction, rather than a separate genus. The first mention of national patriotism is associated with Joan of Arc during the Centenary War: to be independent of Foreigners in their land and to have your own sovereign ruler. From a historical point of view, the issue was the further existence and development of the French nation as such.A vivid example of the existence of another direction of patriotism is the events of the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine. These events were neither manifestations of state or national patriotism in its pure form. At the end of 2013 there was no direct threat to the existence of either the state of Ukraine or the existence of the Ukrainian nation in the short term, but there were all the most significant signs of the phenomenon of patriotism. It was a manifestation of the people’s vision of the direction of the development of Ukrainian society in a civilized dimension, a direct response to the threat of the not true implementation of the already formed need for self-identification. These were manifestations of the new direction of this phenomenon - ideological patriotism.According to the author, patriotism has its origins and the basic principle in the quest for every living creature to the reproduction. It is inextricably linked with the struggle for survival of one’s own and his offspring, with the protection and expansion of the living environment created and self-identification. Historical experience of the development of the phenomenon of patriotism indicates that the objects of patriotism have always been precisely the environment that provided this reproduction. The dominance of this or that object of patriotism during the historical process is connected only with the development of mankind in the social and individual dimensions. The object that was most critical at this time was the dominant object to meet life’s needs, in the extreme dimension - in order to survive, for the majority of the population of a certain territory. All objects of patriotic feelings satisfy the critical needs of the subject, but the more critical the need now is, the more patriotic feelings toward this object are now.

La prehistoria del modo tributario de producción

El trabajo discute algunas implicaciones analíticas de las propuestas de Haldon acerca del «modo tributario de producción» como categoría histórica general, capaz de describir la forma de las relaciones sociales predominantes en las formaciones sociales pre-capitalistas. Desde el momento en que asumimos esta tesis, cada uno de los procesos particulares de emergencia de formaciones tributarias «primarias» debe ser considerado como un caso particular de un evento general: el origen de la sociedad de clases. A pesar de la evidente centralidad de esta cuestión para la Teoría Social, ha recibido muy poca atención en los debates. Se presenta el esbozo un marco teórico general para abordar este problema, a través de la discusión del concepto de «Revolución Neolítica», entendido en términos sociales. La conclusión más importante de esta discusión es que el «modo tributario de producción» no deriva directamente del «comunismo primitivo». La Arqueología y la Antropología nos muestran una rica veriedad de formas sociales en las cuales es posible reconocer «formas parentales de extracción del excedente». Podremos hablar, por lo tanto, de formas pre-clasistas de explotación. La discusión sobre este punto nos conduce finalmente a proponer la recuperación de conceptos como «sociedad germánica» y «comunidad asiática» para dar cuenta de esta variedad.

Автобиография разработчика теории «первобытного коммунизма» «красного» профессора М. П. Жакова в Архиве Российской академии наук. 1933 г.

The author publishes an annotated autobiography of the Soviet historian M. P. Zhakov (1893 – 1936). He belonged to the so-called ‘red’ professors, graduates of the Institute of the Red Professors, who in the first half of 1930s held leading positions in the Soviet science. He studied the history of the primitive society. He worked at the Institute of History of the Communist Academy and in the Moscow branch of the State Academy of the History of Material Culture. M. P. Zhakov's contribution to studying the primitive society was modest. In fact, he adhered to the concept of primitive communism, which was later harshly criticized in the Soviet science. In 1936 he was arrested as a Trotskyist and sentenced to death. The author contends that the scientific biography of M. P. Zhakov exemplifies the character of Marxist historians of 1920s-1930s and the vicissitudes of the emergence of Soviet research tradition. The article introduces M. P. Zhakov’s autobiography, which he wrote in November 1933 for the personnel department of the Moscow branch of the State Academy of the History of Material Culture. By its nature, the autobiography is a record keeping document, a matter of form. Its seems to have been meant as an apology. M. P. Zhakov underscored his revolutionary past and merits during the Civil War, while his scientific work was described almost drily. M. P. Zhakov’s autobiography of is a typewritten text printed on the both sides of a single sheet. On the first page there are two illegible corrections. While preparing the document for publication, the author have brought it into compliance with modern rules of spelling and punctuation, expanded all abbreviations (except conventional ones) in square brackets, and made all necessary annotations in order to explain the circumstances of M. P. Zhakov’s scientific career.

Современный образ войны и проблема ее трасформации

War is an essential part of the social reality inherent in all stages of human development: from the primitive communal system to the present, where advanced technologies and social progress prevail. However, these characteristics do not make our society more peaceful, on the contrary, according to recent research and reality, now the number of wars and armed conflicts have increased, and most of the conflicts have a pronounced local intra-state character. Thus, wars in the classical sense of them go back to the past, giving way to military and armed conflicts. Now the number of soldiers and the big army doesn’t show the opponents strength. What is more important is the fact that people can use technology, the ideological and informational base to win the war. According to the history, «weak» opponent can be more successful in conflict if he has greater cohesion and ideological unity. Modern wars have already transcended the political boundaries of states, under the pressure of certain trends, they are transformed into transnational wars, that based on privatization, commercialization and obtaining revenue. Thus, the present paper will show a difference in understanding of terms such as «war», «military conflict» and «armed conflict». And also the auteurs will tell about the image of modern war and forecasts for its future transformation.

Rosa Luxemburg e a expansão imanente do capitalismo: destruição, resistência e recriação dos territórios e das relações não capitalistas

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar os escritos econômicos luxemburguianos, sobretudo o manuscrito Introdução à economia política, a partir da hipótese de que Rosa Luxemburg constrói uma tríade da formação das classes sociais capitalistas formulando uma interpretação não etapista e não evolucionista da história: destruição, resistência e recriação dos modos comunitários de produção e do campesinato são possibilidades abertas no processo de expansão do capitalismo sobre seus territórios. A análise da múltipla convivência de modos de produção e a noção de recriação de relações não capitalistas de produção a partir da reflexão de Luxemburg sobre os camponeses e o chamado comunismo primitivo explicitam a crítica ao progresso linear do espaço e da história e à barbárie moderna do capitalismo. A geografia agrária brasileira é tributária das interpretações luxemburguianas, e objetivamos também contribuir com a compreensão desse vínculo teórico e metodológico.

Capital Accumulation and Debt Colonialism After Rosa Luxemburg

In The Accumulation of Capital (1913), Rosa Luxemburg offers a sophisticated account of the foundational role of colonialism in the development and expansion of the capitalist world system. By interrogating the blind spots in Marx's account of capitalist political economy, Luxemburg emphasises the importance of 'non-capitalist strata and countries' in the production of surplus value. Crucial to Luxemburg's re-thinking of capitalist political economy, in other words, was the accumulation and dispossession of non-capitalist societies on the periphery of the world economy. Beginning with an assessment of Luxemburg's central thesis in The Accumulation of Capital , this article proceeds to suggest that Luxemburg's analysis of imperialism has important and far-reaching consequences for understanding contemporary formations of capital accumulation and debt colonialism in the postcolonial world. What's more, Luxemburg's reflections on primitive communism and the challenge this posed to the universalising historical narrative of bourgeois political economy offer an important counterpoint to the predominant conceptualisation of the world as an abstract space for the uneven and unequal circulation of capital and commodities. By reading Luxemburg's writings on primitive communism against the grain of her writings on imperialism and debt colonialism in The Accumulation of Capital, I suggest in conclusion that Luxemburg's writing offers a valuable contribution to contemporary accounts of the commons.

История развития взглядов на здоровый образ жизни

The article analyzes the history of the development of representations about a healthy way of life, highlights the stages of formation of modern views on health-preserving behavior, starting from the primitive communal system and ending with the XX century, examines the development of Russian views on health from the XVIII century.

Temporal Dimensions of Social Change in Sustainable Communities

This article offers a macrohistory perspective on sociocultural change to reveal a wide spectrum of diverse approaches to time across cultures and history. The Causal Layered Analysis explores three distinct concepts of time: the cyclic, linear, and eternal views of time. The cyclic concept of time was dominant in tribal groups of primitive communism in the Palaeolithic period, and linear time is intrinsic to the goal-oriented late capitalist era. As a reaction to the accelerating pace of life in the twentieth century, a slow living movement develops in various models of sustainable communities. Thus, a changed worldview and a different approach to time can be observed in emerging alternative cultures. The case study of Damanhur, a sustainable community promoting time travel as a tool of cultural transformation, provides an example of a transmodern culture embracing eternal time. The path of evolution of the concept of time across history was established through literature, as well as by empirical evidence of select examples. Thus, the hypothesis that social change can be traced by observing culture-dependent approaches to time through history has been confirmed. The analysis of the changing concept of time across historic dimensions revealed sociocultural implications of the current linear concept, as well as indicated emerging changes of consciousness reflected in novel ways of regarding time and space, as a function of alternative futures.

Capitalism and the New World Order of the 21st Century Age

Western-type capitalism has always found a way of pestering itself around nations of the world, which have been rendered poor by global ideologies, such as; communism, feudalism, primitive and modern-day socialism. The Post-Cold War Capitalists’-based Vision here being called a ‘New World Order’, especially, in its current practices, as it has been imposed on the rest of the world by the G8 nations and assisted by the World Bank, IMF, United Nations, WTO and NATO, is a 21st Century Imperialist Rule constantly being communicated to the rest of society by the super-rich nations of the world. It is a 21st Century G8 Nations and American-Type of Colonial Imperialism, in which capitalism is constantly being used by the super-rich nations of the world to make poor nations feel extremely guilty for the same global poverty created by these super-rich nations. The current essay contends that while the current ‘New World Order’ is a wonderful idea on the pages papers, in its day-to-day application, it has remained nothing less than an American-bred Capitalists’ Vision of the society; a Western World kind of Imperialism and a barrage of political conspiracies by the United States of America, which must not be left to be, but which must be kept under constant check by the G8 nations as a higher political platform.Key words: Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, 21st Century Society, New and Old World Order

Locating primitive communism in capitalist social formations

This essay argues that examining everyday dynamics in working-class communities, variable as they are through race and gender intersections, gives us a way of investigating the persistence and partial reproduction of primitive communism within capitalist social formations. Visible through occasions and needs demanding the creation of use-values beyond mere consumption, a resistant and non-capitalist set of work and exchange relations exist alongside—and at times in opposition to—institutions and dynamics that reproductive of capitalism. These non-exclusive spheres of kin-constituting work, pooling, and sharing in structurally precarious neighborhoods and transnational networks are ways of trying to ensure relative security, continuity, and sustaining relationships. Within them, we need to reconceptualize work as distinct from labor and query the labor theory of value as inappropriate for appreciating the core relations of primitive communism. By this kind of analysis, we find a way to bring feminist approaches to revitalize articulating modes of production debates in Marxism and to permit appreciating in practice the meaning of making use-values in producing enduring resistance.

Certains étaient-ils plus égaux que d’autres ? II - formes d’exploitation sous le communisme primitif

Following on from our earlier contribution (Actuel Marx no57), the present article tries to determine the presence of phenomena of exploitation within the subset of societies without classes, societies devoid therefore of the subsequent socioeconomic inequalities, and which we often qualify by the term “primitive communism”. The inquiry turns out to have a problematic nature, insofar as the testimonies available are often contradictory, while the objective elements of inquiry remain rare. The conclusion arrived at here is that if exploitation could not be totally absent in these societies, its magnitude remained a very limited one, especially if we relate it to the, sometimes very explicit forms of domination which these societies experienced. This manifest paradox must doubtless be interpreted as being characteristic of such wealthless societies.