The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

A new edition of a pioneering materialist treatise

Exploring the way that production affects the social issues of class division and family, Engels develops his arguments on private property and its relationship to the subjugation of women. Engels then analyzes in detail the rise of the territorial state, ultimately extending his theory further to consider how class and exploitation arose out of the division of labor. One of Engels's most vital works, this book was groundbreaking when it appeared in 1884 in that it emphasized development in terms of power and control over resources, rather than psychological evolution.