Franz Oppenheimer

The State: Its History and Development Viewed Sociologically

"The State: Its History and Development Viewed Sociologically" by Franz Oppenheimer is a sociological work published in 1907. Oppenheimer challenges the conventional view of the state as a social contract, instead arguing it emerged through conquest and exploitation. He distinguishes between "economic means"—honest labor—and "political means"—forcible appropriation of others' labor. The state, he contends, is fundamentally an organization of political means, designed to perpetuate the dominance of conquerors over the conquered through systematic economic exploitation.