This is not the same as using the concept as a tool to define a particular social formation. That is the next step. * * *. To define a social formation is, in fact, to define a theory and political line of the working class.It is for the objective of developing a strategic political line and a tactical political line (which will be constantly rectified) of the working class, for the sole purpose of winning political power.ocial Formation (Definition of Concept). This entry was posted in Social Formations & Conjuncture on April 16, 2013. A social formation refers to a society (a social structure at any level such as a nation, city, business, university, or even a family) with all its complexities, as it is historically constituted.