Political Economy and Historical Materialism

Political economy investigates the interplay between production, distribution and power within societies, exploring how economic structures shape governance, social relations and policy outcomes. Grounded in the Marxian tradition, historical materialism posits that material conditions and class dynamics drive historical transformations, with the mode of production constituting the economic base upon which legal, political and cultural superstructures rest. This approach emphasises the dialectical evolution of capitalist systems, class struggle and the contradictory tendencies inherent in capital accumulation. By examining shifts in labour processes, state interventions and global value chains, scholars apply historical materialism to contemporary challenges such as rising inequality, climate crisis and the digital economy. Its global reach extends from analyses of agrarian transitions in the Global South to critiques of Eurocentric narratives, offering robust theoretical tools and practical insights for policy debates on social justice and sustainable development.

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Political Economy and Historical Materialism publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in political economy and historical materialism across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Historical materialism: A methodology asserting that material and economic conditions form the primary drivers of societal change and political structures.

Mode of production: The combination of productive forces and social relations through which a society organises its labour and resources.

Class struggle: The conflict between social groups with opposing interests, especially between those who control the means of production and those who do not.

Hegemony: The dominance of a ruling class’s ideology, shaping consent and cultural norms to maintain existing power relations.

References

1. Inadvertent reproduction of Eurocentrism in IR: The politics of critiquing Eurocentrism. Review of International Studies (2021).
2. Le Mort Saisit Le Vif: Jacobinism and Capitalism in World Historical Perspective. Critical Sociology (2024).
3. Challenging the Rule of Law Universalism: Why Marxist Legal Thought Still Matters. Law and Critique (2022).
4. Karl Polanyi against postcolonial theory: beyond Eurocentric anti-Eurocentrism. Dialectical Anthropology (2024).
5. Socialism, Democracy, Bureaucracy, and Umbrella Organizations. International Labor and Working-Class History (2024).