Relations of Production, social relations among people evolving irrespective of their will and consciousness, i. e., objectively, in the process of the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material wealth. They are the social form of production through which people appropriate the objects of nature. In their unity with the productive forces, relations of production form a historically defined mode of production. The totality of the production relations of a given mode of production are the economic base of society that determines the emergence and functioning of a corresponding superstructure. The mode of production is highlighted by the productive forces whose changes lead to corresponding changes in the relations of production both during the transition from one mode of production to another and within each of them. However, relations of production are not passive in relation to the productive forces, but actively promote their development by accelerating or slowing them down. In all pre-socialist socio-economic formations production relations initially stimulated the development of the productive forces, but then, at a certain stage, they became fetters on the latter’s growth and were abolished by a social revolution or were replaced by other, more progressive relations of production. It is only with the transition to the communist mode oj production, in particular to socialism as its first phase, that it becomes possible to maintain the correspondence between the productive forces and relations of production in a conscious, consistent and dynamic way. This does not exclude contradictions between them, but these contradictions are not antagonistic and -are resolved in a planned way within the framework of the given mode of production. Marxism-Leninism was the first theory to provide a scientific analysis of production relations and their place in social life. The dialectic of the interaction of the two aspects of the mode of production is revealed in the law of correspondence oj relations of production to the nature ana level of development of the productive forces. Each historically distinct mode of production has its own totality of production relations forming a single, integral system. The essence of a given mode of production and the basis of its economic system is formed by relations of the ownership of the means of production. They characterise the way, specific to a given system in which direct producers are linked to the means of production, and the social form of appropriation of material and spiritual benefits. The relations of ownership of the means of production determine the social structure of a given society and the objective aim of the development of production, as well as the nature of all other production relations. Public ownership of the means of production is the base of the economic system of the communist mode of production. It expresses the direct combination of 307 associated producers with the social means of production, excludes the exploitation of man by man, and subordinates the development of production to the interest of the well-being and free, all-round development of all members of society. Socialist ownership of the means of production takes the forms of state (belonging to all the people) and collective farmand-cooperative property, which explains why two friendly classes exist in the social structure of socialist society—the working class and the cooperative (collective-farm) peasantry. In the first phase of communism, the property which trade unions and other social organisations need to implement their statutory objectives is also socialist property. The system of production relations also includes relations of distribution, exchange and consumption. Alongside the relations which are specific to a given mode of production, there are relations which are typical of all socioeconomic formations (e. g. division of labour, cooperation) or several modes of production (e. g. commodity-money relations). However, they do not determine the socio-economic nature of a given system, but on the contrary are wholly determined by it. For instance, commoditymoney relations under socialism have a new, socialist content. In any society, relations of production are manifested as economic (material) interests. These are by their nature objective and dependent on one’s position within the system of social production. Consequently, each mode of production has its own, special system of economic interests. Under socialism this system is marked by unity, harmony between the vital interests of society, classes, production collectives and each worker, and the leading role of general economic interests (those of the whole people). Objectivity is the common feature of production relations in all socio-economic formations. At the same time, in pre- communist modes of production they evolve without the producers being aware of the fact, and function spontaneously. The communist mode of production involves a fundamentally different, planned way in which the entire system of production relations functions. Society is enabled to foresee the results of joint efforts and to manage the development of social production, as well as improve its production relations via knowledge of the objective laws and tendencies. This represents a qualitatively new stage in the people’s dominance of both the elements and social relations. The improvement of socialist relations of production and their law-governed evolution into communist relations of production is an objective process of building communism.