According to Karl Marx, capitalism is an outcome of-
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Commodity production
Option (1) Commodity production — Correct. Marx understood capitalism as a system of commodity production, that is, production for the market, through the use of wage labour. Goods are made to be sold, and even labour becomes something bought and sold.
Option (2) Agricultural production — Incorrect. Farming for one’s own use existed long before capitalism. What makes capitalism is production for sale in the market, whether of crops or of factory goods.
Option (3) Class structure — Incorrect. For Marx the order runs the other way: each mode of production has its relations of production, which give rise to a specific class structure. Class structure is the result of the economic system, not its source.
Option (4) Equality in society — Incorrect. Marx was a critic of capitalism because it divides society into owners and workers; it produces inequality, not equality.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.2 Understanding Capitalism as a Social System One of the founders of modern sociology, Karl Marx, was also a critic of modern capitalism. Marx understood capitalism as a system of commodity production, or production for the market, through the use of wage labour. As you have already learned, Marx wrote that all economic systems are also social systems. Each mode of production consists of particular relations of production, which in turn give rise to a specific class structure.…” |