SOCIO-ECONOMIC FORMATIONS AND THE STUDY OF SOCIETY (HISTORICAL MATERIALISM, SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY, SOCIAL STRUCTURE/CHANGE, PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY)

The subject of this study is the concept of socio-economic formation, its theoretical content and its place in the context of historical materialism, the Marxist general theory and methodology of all social sciences including sociology. The first chapter introduces the Marxist conception of the history of mankind and clarifies the significance of the term social formation in that conception. The interaction of the basic subconcepts of social formation is investigated in the second chapter. The basic structural concepts of social formation are the mode of production, which includes the forces of production and production relations; the economic basis; and the superstructure. Chapter three treats the correspondence of production relations to the nature and level of development of the forces of production, which underlies the historical movement of society in general, as a progressive succession of socio-economic formations. Chapter four clarifies the idea that the treatment of the concept of social formation out of its theoretical content and its theoretical framework could not contribute to social sciences or to social practice. In the final chapter, this study responds to the claimed crisis of sociological theory, and discloses the Marxist alternative. Marxists view the conception of social formations, in its theoretical framework of historical materialism, as elevating sociology to the level of science. The proposed five basic stages in the evolution and transition of the non-communist formation elaborate on the theory of socio-economic formations, and contribute to the study of social change in concrete societies. This study also discloses the basic principles of historical materialism, which constitutes the basis for particular sociological theories and methodologies of particular sociological fields. These particular sociological theories, linked with historical materialism, should constitute the theoretical and methodological bases for the methods of concrete sociological research.