The mode of production is a system of interrelations between people and nature, and between people, formed in the process of production, in the way of acquiring the material resources necessary for social life. It's the social way of obtaining the means of subsistence (food, clothing, housing, instruments of production, etc.), indispensable to be able to live and develop.
The mode of production is the dynamic unity of the productive forces and the relations of production in the process of material production.
| Mode of production | Time of Origin | Relations of production |
|---|---|---|
| Primitive communism | Prehistory | There is no private property, small communities and tribes of hunter-gatherers use primitive tools, and everything is held in common. |
| Slavery | First civilizations | Slaves are coerced with threat of violence, their labor value is extracted to generate capital without compensation. The slaveowners keep the fruits of the slaves' labor. |
| Feudalism | Medieval period | Feudal landlords using political and legal power to extract surplus from serfs. Artisans and craftsmen engage in simple commodity production. |
| Capitalism | Renaissance | The sale of goods for profit leads to mass production and investment by financiers with a profit motive. Workers are coerced with the threat of homelessness or starvation to sell their labor on the market. Production for profit creates disequilibrium and leads to crisis. |
| Socialism | 1920s | Collective industrial forces and agriculture are centrally planned by the workers' state, directing all economic activity towards meeting human need rather than profit. |
| Communism | Future | Post-scarcity society, characterized by the absence of class antagonism, money, and an abundance of material wealth available to all members of society. "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need" |