Introduction to ‘The Basic Law of Social Development’ by Julius Dickmann

In 1932, Julius Dickmann self-published a revision to the Marxist account of revolutionary historical change. Arguing that previous modes of production had not caused revolutions because of confrontations between expanding productive forces and fettering relations of production, Dickmann held that the contradiction in historical modes of production was between expanding productive forces and their natural limits. Modes of production faced ecological crises, necessitating changes in the relations of production that then spurred the productive forces. Dickmann argued that this model explained the emergence and decline of antiquity and feudalism. Analogously, capitalism was stagnating because it was running up against natural limits. Monopolisation was not a symptom of overripe capitalism heralding socialism in germ, but a necessary response to the danger of overexploiting fossil fuels. Only by working with an understanding of these fetters could socialists hope to stimulate new post-capitalist forces of production and accelerate the transition to socialism.