Primitive Communism: An Overview
Primitive communism describes the gift economies of hunter-gatherer societies, characterized by shared resources, egalitarian social relations, and common ownership according to individual needs. This concept, largely developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels—inspired by Lewis H. Morgan's work on the Haudenosaunee—posited that these societies lacked hierarchical class structures or capital accumulation. Engels further detailed this idea in his influential 1884 publication, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, categorizing early communal societies into "wild" and "barbarian" phases. However, the concept has faced criticism from anthropologists for being ethnocentric and romanticized, with scholars like Margaret Mead arguing that various forms of private property were present in many "primitive societies." Notably, Marx and Engels also observed how capitalist systems could exploit these existing communal organizations, citing colonial practices in regions like Java as examples where "primitive communism" furnished a basis for exploitation. Anarchists like Peter Kropotkin also explored these societies as examples of pre-industrial anarchist communities.