base and superstructure Analogy proposed by Marx, Karl to characterize modern society as a dual system consisting of two semi-autonomous (as Althusser, Louis would later characterize them) types of operations: the base is the economy, the forces and relations of production, while the superstructure is the non-economic support apparatus comprising the judiciary, government, police, but also culture itself. Marxâs most explicit articulation of this concept is in his 1859 âPrefaceâ to A Contribution to the Critique of the Political Economy, but his meaning is much disputed. At issue is whether or not the âbaseâ should be regarded as the cause of the âsuperstructureâ in some direct or indirect way. So-called âvulgarâ Marxists generally take the view that the base is causal, whereas âhistoricalâ or âculturalâ Marxists tend to take the view that the two systems are mutually reinforcing.