Modul de producție asiatic – dezbateri teoretice
The Asiatic Mode of Production – Theoretical Debates

Summary/Abstract: In this article, I aim to approach a specific discussion from the perspective of Marxist theoretical construction—more precisely, the one concerning the Asiatic mode of production—which is relevant in two ways: first, because it represents one of the self-assumed explanatory limits of Marxist theory; and second, because it opens up a path that refers directly to the form that Marxism-Leninism took in its practical effort to build state socialism. At the same time, it raises the issue of the place and role that ideology played in the USSR and later within the communist states and parties of Eastern Europe, offering a useful example of how ideology was constructed in Marxism-Leninism. This article is structured into several layers. First, the layer of Marx’s theoretical vision regarding the Asiatic mode of production, in which I will critically present the main dimensions and characteristics of the concept, while also highlighting the theoretical limits of the Marxist explanatory approach. Then, I will analyze the main developments of the theory, represented by the works of Wittfogel and Krader, and afterwards synthesize the traits of the Asiatic mode of production and discuss its relevance in relation to the study of ideology in Marx. In a final step, I will address the issue from the perspective suggested by Wittfogel—the parallel between Oriental despotism and communist totalitarianism—illustrating through a case study on the history of the concept in Soviet and Chinese theory how the Asiatic mode of production was interpreted and ideologically constructed.

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