historical materialism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Calque of German historischer Materialismus. Its earliest extant attestation - in German - is in Friedrich Engels's letter [5 August 1890] to Conrad Schmidt. Its earliest extant public attestation - in English - is in Engels's 1892 "Introduction to the English Edition" to his 1880 booklet Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.
Meanings
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(Marxism, uncountable) A methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history, looking for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans collectively produce the necessities of life.
And, thus, I hope even British respectability will not be overshocked if I use, in English as well as in so many other languages, the term "historical materialism", to designate that view of the course of history which seeks the ultimate cause and the great moving power of all important historic events in the economic development of society, in the changes in the modes of production and exchange, in the consequent division of society into distinct classes, and in the struggles of these classes against one another.
1892, Friedrich Engels, “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific”, in Marxists Internet Archive, 1892 English Edition Introduction (General Introduction and the History of Materialism):Statt dessen aber dient die Phrase des historischen Materialismus (man kann eben alles zur Phrase machen) nur zu vielen jüngeren Deutschen nur dazu, ihre eignen relativ dürftigen historischen Kenntnisse - die ökonomische Geschichte liegt ja noch in den Windeln! - schleunigst systematisch zurechtzukonstruieren und sich dann sehr gewaltig vorzukommen.
1967 [1890 August 5], “Engels an Conrad Schmidt in Berlin”, in Marx-Engels-Werke, volume 37, page 437; translated as “Engels to Conrad Schmidt in Berlin”, in Marx/Engels Collected Works, volume 49, translation of original in German, 2001, page 8:
Antonyms
Translations (40)
uk історичний матеріалізм (Translations) · sh историјски материјализам (Translations) · es materialismo histórico (Translations) · is söguleg efnishyggja (Translations) · cy materoliaeth hanesyddol (Translations) · et ajalooline materialism (Translations) · he מטריאליזם היסטורי (Translations) · eu materialismo historiko (Translations) · ml ചരിത്രപരമായ ഭൗതികവാദം (Translations) · pl materializm historyczny (Translations) · lt istorinis materializmas (Translations) · pa ਇਤਿਹਾਸਕ ਪਦਾਰਥਵਾਦ (Translations) · de historischer Materialismus (Translations) · ast materialismu históricu (Translations) · nl historisch materialisme (Translations) · gl materialismo histórico (Translations) · bg исторически материализъм (Translations) · vi chủ nghĩa duy vật lịch sử (Translations) · da historisk materialisme (Translations) · pt materialismo histórico (Translations) · cs historický materialismus (Translations) · cmn 歷史唯物主義 /历史唯物主义 (Translations) · ca materialisme històric (Translations) · sk historický materializmus (Translations) · fr matérialisme historique (Translations) · it materialismo storico (Translations) · sv historisk materialism (Translations) · fi materialistinen historiankäsitys (Translations) · ka ისტორიული მატერიალიზმი (Translations) · sl historični materializem (Translations) · eo historia materiismo (Translations) · bn ঐতিহাসিক বস্তুবাদ (Translations) · ru исторический материализм (Translations) · ja 唯物史観 (Translations) · hi ऐतिहासिक भौतिकवाद (Translations) · el ιστορικός υλισμός (Translations) · tr tarihsel materyalizm (Translations) · cv историлле материализм (Translations) · ar مادية تاريخية (Translations) · no historisk materialisme (Translations)
wikipedia: Socialism: Utopian and Scientific · wikipedia: Conrad Schmidt (economist) · wikipedia: Friedrich Engels