What determines history?Not great menNot pivotal momentsSocial classEconomic realitiesHISTORY FROM BELOW

Marxist interpretations: TelelogicalEverything moves towards a certain end, a

final resultThe final result: a classless human society

What is ‘Historical materialism’?• In order to understand human society and

historical development you have to study how humans produce and reproduce the material requirements of life

• To successfully produce these material requirements people have to enter into ‘production relations’ – the relationship between those who do the work and those who own the ‘means of production’

The stages of historical materialismMarxists identified several historical stages

of this relationship:Tribal (primitive communism)Ancient (slaves and slave owners)Feudalism (serfs and landowners)Capitalism (owners and workers)

Society (politics, culture, laws etc) is shaped by these relationships

How does society change?The dominant class is overthrown by a new

emerging class

Why was this interpretation different?Introduced the idea of ‘coherence’ into

human historySuggests that historical change is as a result

of the struggle between different classesExamined ‘history from below’

Criticisms