The social formation is a term invented by the French Marxist-Leninist philosopher Louis Althusser in reference to the complex structure of society, which may be comprised of multiple modes of production and state apparatuses at any given stage in the class struggle. Specifically, during an ongoing revolution or socialist transition, there may be multiple conflicting modes of production, each with their respective repressive and ideological apparatuses, competing for dominance over the social formation.
The term itself was used prior to Althusser, though this more detailed understanding originates from Althusser's essay "Contradiction and Overdetermination" in the 1962[1], as a means of capturing the full complexity of social relations within a given society. It is a core part of Althusser's reinterpretation of the dialectics of political economy, in which he aimed to move past a more reductionist base-superstructure model, instead viewing society as a complex, dialectical totality.[2]
The social formation includes ideological state apparatuses, repressive state apparatuses, and different modes and relations of production. The social formation is a specific combination of all of those things, existing within a particular society at a particulal point in time. Rather than viewing these components in an absolute unidirectional relationship – with the economic base always determining the superstructure – Althusser posits that superstructural components in a social formation can have 'relative autonomy' i.e., both superstructure and base influence the other (although the base remains "dominant in the final instance"[3]).