SOCY 122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Reductionism, Productive Forces, Technological Determinism

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Social Sci, Edu and Soc Work - Sociology
• Course: SOCY 122
• Professor: Rob Beamish

Document Summary

Marx believes everything starts with our economy. Productive forces of society come into contradiction existing relations of production. Marx believes the most important are part of individuals material conditions social relations of production and material relations of production + driving force of social progress. Gives rise to an era of social revolution relations of production. Machinery seen as key material productive force increasing technological efficiency to increase profit. Technology all by itself is what is causing change. The social relations of production are closely bound to productive forces. In changing mode of production, social relations are changed. Not machinery or technology but the economy as a whole. Long term tendency of rate of profit to fall as technology becomes more widespread. Mass of profit increased by selling more goods at smaller marginal gain. Incentive to use still more technology to increase productivity further. Improved efficiency increases volume of goods to sell but reduces the number of workers employed.