As an example, in feudal times land was the most important factor in the production process and not the factory which came after the industrial revolution. Now, related to the production/labour arrangements we should then have relations of production (owners and tillers of land). In feudalism the relations of production are between two sets of people. The first is the land owner and the second is called the tenant or serf. This is a particular kind of social organization.

It was Marx's discovery that socio-cultural change will happen when forces of production and relations of productions come into conflict. This is one of the most important causal formulations given to us by Marx. Usually in a stable society, the forces of production which constitute the set of relations of production are not in conflict. But a time comes when relations of production and forces of production do not match. And that is when Marx says a crisis happens and is the time for change. The forces of production are things that are very dynamic. For instance, the forces of production involve innovation, new techniques etc. So these reach such a stage that the existing relations of production do not or cannot match the forces of production. The relations of production act as fetters or chains on the forces of production and that is when the conflict happens. Thus socio-cultural changes take place whenever this conflict comes about according to Marxism these changes are inevitable.