POL 315 MODULE 1
UNIT 5
HISTORICAL EPOCH
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Historical Epoch
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The history of society is the history of struggle between classes. The
epochs are marked by two hostile camps, standing face to face
(oppressors and the oppressed) in a perpetual war with each other. Marx
identified the following- (1) communal society (2) slave owning (3)
feudal (4) capitalistic (5) socialistic (6) communistic. Except for
communal and communistic, all others are stratified.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• describe epoch or era
• justify class as the essence of change in any epoch
• explain dialectics (class struggle) as the motion of history.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Historical Epoch
Marx believed that Western society had developed through four main
epochs: primitive communism, ancient society, feudal society, and
capitalist societies. Primitive communism is represented by the societies
of prehistory and provides the only example of a classless society. From
then on, all societies are divided into two major classes: masters and
slaves in ancient society, lords and serfs in feudal society and capitalists
and wage laborers in capitalist society.
During each historical epoch, the labor power required for production
was supplied by the subject class that is by slaves, serfs and wage
laborers respectively. The subject class is made up of the majority of the
population, whereas the ruling or dominant class forms a minority.
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