In [[Marxism]], as well as other leftist theorizing, you’ll find people essentially trying to fit complex social phenomenon into simple concepts. To do this is [[idealist]]. [[Marx]] himself began his research project by looking out at the world and making statements about what was there. He did not say “the world behaves in X manner” and a postiori justified it.
If we are to be [[materialists]], we must first understand how the world works and derive models and concepts from that.