... How it does this conditions the whole social, political, legal, moral and intellectual life' (5, p137). It should be noted, however, that although this economic base provides the main foundation for the 'superstructure' of the wider social system, Marx does not deny the existence of causal factors which operate in the other direction, although these are held to be much less significant. Hence, the most powerful stimulus for social change comes into being when the forces of production develop to the extent that they become incompatible with and are hampered by the existing structure of society, ultimately leading to the eclipse of the latter and the emergence of a new social order. In Marx's view, European civilization had passed through several distinct epochs as defined by the nature of the forces and relations of production, beginning with 'primitive communal' societies and culminating with the current system of capitalism, characterized by ...

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