I. FEUDALISM A term used for the last few centuries to describe the socioeconomic formation which existed in Europe during the Middle Ages, and also similar sorts of societies in Asia and elsewhere which lasted into the 20th century and which still exist in some countries today (though mixed with capitalism). Under feudalism there are two main social classes, the serfs or peasantry, and the aristocracy or landlord class. The landlords own the land which the serfs or peasants farm on individual small plots, usually on a family basis. A certain proportion of the agricultural output which the peasants produce then automatically “belongs” to the landlord. (The landlords don’t buy it from the peasants; they just take it.) In addition, in most feudal societies a landlord had the right to the labor of “his” peasants for a certain number of days per year. This is called corvée labor. Peasants were also drafted into armies controlled by the landlord ruling class. Traditionally, the serfs or peasants were tied to the land and were not allowed to move elsewhere without the permission of the landlord (which was seldom granted). In short, the feudal landlords were the ruling class, and the peasants were an oppressed and exploited class, usually left with barely enough to survive on. Feudalism was in fact only a modified form of slavery. (The same, of course, is true of capitalism, which is often appropriately called the system of wage slavery.) Taken from a Marxist Leninist glossary list New Description of feudalism Current definition under construction. II. Feudalism: pre-industrial agrarian society where the primary form of wealth is land property. The two basic classes defining this system are the serfs form of working class, and the aristocracy or landlord class. There are other groupings of small producers commodity producers in society but they do not determine that chief characteristics of the system. The form of the working class - (servitude of the serf), and his relationship in this system of landed property defines this mode of production. The productive forces of feudal society are based on deploying the technology of handicraft and manufacture. Localized manual labor provided the economic base for feudalism. The serfs are obligated to work the land and hand over a part of the produce to their “lords“ and “masters” or land owner. Since the amount of the produce given to the lords were laid down by custom, the serf knew in advance that raising their level of productivity would directly improve the lives of their family. The serf form of servitude provides self motivation of this class for the growth of this manual labor system and an impulse to raise the productivity of labor. The class struggle of the two basic classes of the feudal system drives the system through its various stages of development. This essence of this class struggle is over shares of the social product and for a "more understanding and noble lord and master." .
Several development caused the break up and finally the overthrow of the feudal system. The gradual transition in the primary form of wealth from land to gold begins the break up of feudalism. With the growth of commerce, manufacture, free laborers, capital and the scientific revolution, new classes grow up around the new productive forces and enter into antagonism with the feudal system. These new classes voice new demands for individual freedom and rights unattainable within the old feudal system of privilege, social rating and ritual heritage. An epoch of social revolution opened. _______________________________________________ Marxist-Leninist-List mailing list Marxist-Leninist-List@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxist-leninist-list
