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The social formation is a foundational concept developed by French Marxist-Leninist philosopher Louis Althusser, to explain the complex structure of society within the Marxist framework. It originated from Althusser's reinterpretation of the dialectics of political economy, in which he analyzed society not as a simple base-superstructure model, but instead as a complex, dynamic totality of interrelated structures[1].
Althusser introduced the concept of social formation in his essay "Contradiction and Overdetermination" in the 1962[2] (which would later be incorporated in a larger work, "For Marx"), as a means of characterizing the complexity and diversity of social relations within a given society. The term is designed to move beyond the traditional Marxist theory of base and superstructure, introducing a more nuanced understanding of the interrelation and interplay of economic, political and ideological structures.
A '''social formation''' refers to the specific combination of modes of production and the various 'superstructures' (legal, political and ideological instances) within a particular society. Rather than viewing these components in a unidirectional causal relationship – with the economic base always determining the superstructure – Althusser posits that these components exist in a complex interaction of 'relative autonomy', wherein each can influence the other (albeit with the base being "dominant in the final instance"[3]).