ABSTRACT
In the social production which men carry on they enter into definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will. The sum total of the relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society—the real foundation, on which rise legal and political superstructures and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness. Superstructure includes the beliefs of persons operating within a given society, cultural artifacts such as works of art, and the institutional rules such as laws that guide conduct within a society. The structure-superstructure dichotomy is one of the cornerstones of both the Marxist view of society in stasis and the Marxist conception of historical change. In seeking to understand the Marxian conception of structure-superstructure and the law’s place within it, it is important to note first that there are many segments of the superstructure.
