Material forces are social creations, not discoveries of preexisting nature

Evidence

Might it not be said in a sense, and up to a certain point, that what nature provides the opportunity for are not discoveries and inventions of preexisting forces—of pre-existing qualities of matter—but “creations”, which are closely linked to the interests of society and to the development and further necessities of development of the forces of production? — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1648

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle: technologies recast as ‘creations’ of social interest rather than discoveries of preexisting natural forces—what gets called innovation is always conditioned by social need.
• XREF: connects to: Social context shaped which mechanical ideas seemed plausible, not their content — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 768; Ecological balance is active work, not a passive resting place — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 320; Material things matter to praxis only as social relations embedded in production — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1648