ABSTRACT
It is to Marx that we owe the concept of reproduction in its sociological sense. The economic processes described by Marx as simple reproduction processes are characterized by the constancy of the production and the stability of the relationships of production: individuals are replaced in time but the system reproduces itself in an identical fashion. A process is said by Marx to be expanded production when the production is increasing but the economic organization, or, as Marx would say, the production relationships, remain stable: production increases, but the relationship between classes as the relationships of individuals within classes (for example, the competition between capitalists) remains constant.
