How does historical materialism explain the relationship between production modes and societal structures?

Historical materialism is a way of understanding how societies develop and change over time, focusing on the role of material conditions, especially how goods are produced. According to this idea, the way a society produces things, like food and tools, shapes its social structures, including its class systems and political organization. For instance, in a society that relies on farming, the relationships between landowners and workers will influence social hierarchy and power dynamics. As production methods change, such as from farming to industrial manufacturing, the entire structure of society can shift, leading to new classes and new ways of organizing life. This means that to understand a society, we must look at how it produces and distributes resources, as this is key to its development and organization.