The "theory of the productive forces" should not be confused with the Marxist analysis of productive forces.

The theory of the productive forces (sometimes referred to as productive force determinism) is a widely disseminated variation of historical materialism and Marxism that places primary emphasis on technical advances as the basis for advances and changes in the social structure and culture of a given civilization. The relative strength assigned to the role of technical (or technological) progress in impacting society and social advancement differs among different schools of Marxist thinkers. A related concept is technological determinism.