Marxist Criticism identifies which driver of historical change?

Marxist Criticism identifies which driver of historical change?

• A. Class conflict drives the history of human civilization.
• B. Individual genius determines historical change
• C. Psychic analysis of individuals
• D. Aesthetic form and taste

Answer: (A)

Marxist criticism centers on material conditions and class conflict as the driving force behind historical change. It argues that the way people produce and exchange goods creates relations of production that shape politics, culture, and ideology—the superstructure. The key engine is the struggle between social classes with opposing interests, such as those who own the means of production and those who sell their labor. When these underlying tensions intensify or the economic system becomes unsustainable, social transformation—revolutions, reforms, shifts in power—follows, producing a new social order. This focus on economic structures and class antagonisms distinguishes it from interpretations that emphasize individual genius, psychological analysis, or aesthetic taste as the primary forces shaping history.

Marxist criticism centers on material conditions and class conflict as the driving force behind historical change. It argues that the way people produce and exchange goods creates relations of production that shape politics, culture, and ideology—the superstructure. The key engine is the struggle between social classes with opposing interests, such as those who own the means of production and those who sell their labor. When these underlying tensions intensify or the economic system becomes unsustainable, social transformation—revolutions, reforms, shifts in power—follows, producing a new social order. This focus on economic structures and class antagonisms distinguishes it from interpretations that emphasize individual genius, psychological analysis, or aesthetic taste as the primary forces shaping history.