Pre-industrial societies were relatively stable societies, because the cycle of economic production in them kept repeating itself for centuries with very few innovations. For instance, in feudal societies, which are primarily agricultural societies, the techniques of production did not vary for centuries. In north India, for instance, we have the kharif crop during the rainy (monsoon) season, and the rabi crop during the winter season. This kept repeating itself year after year for centuries, with no change in the production techniques.
Cultivation in feudal societies was done by primitive methods (such as using the bullock in India, or buffalo in Thailand and Vietnam, or horse in Europe) for tilling the land with the wooden plough. This was done for centuries, with no change in the method of production.
On the other hand, industrial societies are by their very nature revolutionary and therefore unstable. This is because new scientific inventions and discoveries are constantly taking place in them (unlike in feudal societies where these were rare), and these constantly change the methods of economic production.
The method of production determines the nature of society, and when the former changes, so does the latter.
When the methods of production have over the course of time changed to such an extent that the old society and the social relations therein no longer conform to the new methods of production, a revolution takes place, as the old society has become a fetter on production.
Thus, the revolutions of England in the 17th century, of France in 1789, of Russia in 1917, and of China (which culminated in 1949) took place because the feudal regimes in those countries no longer conformed to the newly emerged societies and social relations, which came into existence as a result of the revolutionary nature of the modern industry.
In India, the political system and institutions (the Constitution, Parliament, elections) are apparently modern in form, while in content, practice and reality, they have been feudalised (everyone knows that Indian politics largely runs on the basis of caste and religious vote banks, and caste and religion are feudal forces). This feudalised superstructure directly conflicts with the newly emerged modern social relations, and places fetters on production. These fetters must be smashed if production is to grow.
This makes a revolution in India inevitable.
Justice Markandey Katju retired from the Supreme Court in 2011.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.
