Mapinduzi ya Viwandani
Umaksi ulianza kimsingi kama mmenyuko wa Mapinduzi ya Viwandani. Kulingana na Karl Marx, kuenea kwa viwanda kulifanya jamii kutengana na kuwa “bourgeoisie” (wale ambao wanamiliki mbinu za uzalishaji, viwanda vya utengenezaji bidhaa na ardhi) na kundi la “proletariat” lenye watu zaidi (watu wanaofanya kazi na amabo hufanya kazi ajira inayotakikana kutoa kitu cha thamani kutoka kwa mbinu za uzalishaji). Aliona mchakato wa kuenea kwa viwanda kama umantiki wa dialectical progression of feudal economic modes, necessary for the full development of capitalism, which he saw as in itself a necessary precursor to the development of socialism and eventually communism.