Useful political terms

Alienation: Forced separation. In economics, the historical process of distancing the worker from his/her product.

Anarchy: The dictionary says, "complete absence of government and law." "Political disorder and violence" "disorder in an sphere of activity." In revolutionary politics, they differ from communists in that they believe it is possible to effect an immediate transformation to a perfect society. In Marx's day, it was a strong, competing ideology. Today's anarchists tend to be middle class radicals with strong ideas about what they oppose, a few ideas about what they want, and almost no thoughts about how to get there.

Anarcho-syndicalism: The belief that trade unions can accomplish revolution without the guidance of a revolutionary political party. It's often associated with the Industrial Workers of the World, but not necessarily with their agreement

Armchair socialist: Someone who spouts a lot of radical rhetoric, but doesn't do anything. See praxis

Barbarism: Also called serfdom. A stage of social development above slavery, where most production came from serfs who were obliged to work on large estates under an aristocratic family. More

Bolshevik: Russian for "majority." Usually used to refer to the majority in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party who agreed with Lenin that capitalism needed to be overthrown. See Menshevik

Bourgeoisie: French for capitalists. Marx, Engels and others of their time were devoted students of the capitalist French revolution of 1789 and the Paris Commune of 1871. They used several French words from those studies. Scholarly writers still use French words, but they aren't as clear for working people, and they tend to make the user sound remote and pretentious

Capital: An accumulation of commodities which, brought together under the right conditions, can produce new commodities. "Fixed capital" is generally thought of as raw materials, energy, and machinery used in production. Marx usually called it "constant capital." "Variable capital" is labor power. "Capital" is also used by Marx to mean the capitalist class and the entire process of capitalism.

Capitalist: A person who makes his/her living primarily from owning the means of production and/or exploiting labor. More

Change: Nothing is what it used to be nor what it is becoming. "Quantitative changes" are small increments. "Qualitative changes" are big leaps from one kind of thing to another, usually because of the accumulation of the smaller changes. More

Civilization: Today's stage of social development where production largely comes from modern industry. More

Class: A large group of people sharing a common interest because of their role in the economy or position in society. See working class, capitalist class, or middle class for the three most important classes in modern America. More

Class Struggle: The motor force of history. Contradictory classes oppose one another until the more suitable one triumphs. In recent times, the capitalist class versus the working class constitutes the main battle.

Commodity: A material or immaterial item produced for exchange

Commune: Referring to the Paris Commune of 1871, which is often referred to as the first, however brief, successful workers' revolution.

Communism: A future economic system, beyond socialism, possible when everyone's needs are met and there is no longer any reason to apportion sparse resources.

Conservative: From the root "conserve," it may be used to mean someone who saves rather than spends. However, in American politics, some of the self-styled "conservatives" have advocated far more government spending than the so-called "liberals." It is nigh impossible to determine any class consciousness in either word, and consequently they confuse more than they enlighten. "Left" and "right" are equally murky in meaning.

Democracy: Government by the will of the people. Americans enjoy a partial and usually growing democracy, but vital economic decisions and foreign policy decisions are generally made by the capitalist class.

Dialectics: The simple recognition that everything is constantly changing into something else. The Greeks used the word to describe a method of arriving at truth by arguing two different positions to arrive at a third, more accurate, position. The philosopher Hegel named the two starting positions "thesis" and "antithesis." The third, better, position was named "synthesis." After studying Hegel, Marx and Engels realized that it isn't just thoughts that are changing, but everything in our material world. Their (our) approach is called dialectical materialism. More

Dictatorship: Government by a single individual or small group of individuals.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat: A catchy phrase used to contrast a period immediately after a socialist revolution as opposed to the "dictatorship of the capitalists" that exists now. A brief transitory period in which class struggle continues, but workers have the upper hand. Once the possibility of capitalist restoration is past, it would end in a classless society.

Division of Labor: How the labor is divided and arranged in production. It is important in understanding social history because its improvements greatly increased productivity, as also did the addition of new machinery. It was especially noteworthy when assembly line production became the norm.

Dogmatism: From the idea of religious dogma. Rigid belief not based on fact or real situations

Economic determinism: Overemphasis on economic factors as the sole reasons for social developments.

Exploitation: Misuse of one person or group by another. In economics, the appropriation of a person or group's labor by someone else. Example: The capitalist exploits the worker by appropriating the product of his/her labor. More

Fascism: Open terrorist rule by the most reactionary, militarist, chauvinistic section of big capital. It is a form of government sometimes chosen by capitalists, not a different economic system. More

Fixed Capital: The wealth that the capitalist spends on such things as machinery and raw materials which must be added to variable capital (workers) to determine his entire cost. Also called "constant capital."

Historical materialism: Understanding history by analyzing material facts, particularly the dominant methods of production. More

Idealism: A set of beliefs with no basis in facts or concern about facts. Truth is defined as "spiritual" or the product of thought separate from the world as we know and experience it. An idealist may believe almost anything, and is unconcerned about any contradiction from reality. It is actively promoted by exploiters for their own gain. More

Imperialism: Exploitation of the people of one state by another. Lenin described modern finance capitalism as imperialism. The big, industrialized states take the resources, labor, and markets of the underdeveloped nations. It is the cause of war. More

Kneejerk activist: Someone who throws themselves into political activities without thinking. See praxis

Labor Power: The ability to work for a given period of time. This commodity is what the capitalist purchases from the worker. More

Labor theory of value: Economist David Ricardo put forward the idea that commodities gain their value according to the average amount of socially necessary labor in them. More

Liberal: No more useful than "left." Usually used as the opposite of "conservative" meaning someone who tends to spend more than save, but still within capitalist society. When we include the working class as part of the "liberals," we distract from a clear class understanding. Sometimes used as a derogatory term to describe someone with excellent intentions but little real commitment.

Left, leftist or left-wing all pertain to the capitalist revolution in France in 1789. In their parliamentary body, the more aggressive revolutionaries sat to the left of the speaker. It's important to note that all of them, left and right, were part of a capitalist revolution. Neither side favored the working class over the capitalist class. Today, people often add the working class to the "left," but they sacrifice clarity when they do.

Lumpen proletariat: Generally unemployable people who make no positive contribution to an economy. Sometimes described as the bottom layer of a capitalist society. May include criminal and mentally unstable people. Some activists consider them "most radical" because they are "most exploited," but they are un-organizable and more likely to act as paid agents than to have any independent role in society.

Materialism: Acceptance of real world truth and scientific evidence, as contrasted with idealism. More

Menshevik: Russian for "minority." Usually used today to refer to the minority in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party who opposed Lenin's proposal to take state power because they thought a gradual transformation to socialism was possible and preferable. See Bolshevik and Social Democrat

Middle class: Intermediaries. A large group of people caught between the capitalist class and the working class. Often defined as small shopkeepers and professionals who do not primarily exploit workers, but actually much broader. The middle class as a group is generally considered to be un-organizable and incapable of long-term independent ideology, commitment, or activity. Their usual role in the class struggle today is to follow one of the two dominant classes, usually the one in ascendancy. More

Middle Income Group: People with an average income. Confused, often deliberately, with middle class

Monopoly: "Mono" is "one," and "poly" is "many." A condition where one controls many. In economics, monopoly usually describes an industry dominated by a single enterprise.

Oligarchy: A relatively small group that controls a society. Often used to describe the big land owning families of Latin American countries.

Oligopoly: Similar to a monopoly except that more than one entity dominates. In economics, a few enterprises dominate an industry, usually to conspire on prices and conditions

Nation: A historically formed community of people, usually with a common territory, common language, and common culture. A nation of people may or may not live in the same state. More

Opportunism: Sacrificing higher ideals for personal gain. Specifically, someone within the progressive movement who profits by selling out the interests of others

Petit-bourgeoisie: French for "small capitalist" and usually used to mean the people caught between the capitalist class and the working class, or the middle class. Usually used in taunts or in a derogatory way. Like other French words, it may alienate the speaker from American workers.

Political party: A committee that organizes, leads, and promotes the interests of a given class. More

Praxis: Practice. Marxists plan, act, re-evaluate, then plan, act, and re-evaluate again, etc. There can be no revolution without theory, but theory isn't likely to be very good if nobody ever tries anything. Activism improves theory, and theory improves activism. Both are necessary. See armchair socialist and knee-jerk activist for bad examples.

Productivity: As published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total value of commodities produced divided by the total number of hours worked in a given period.

Proletariat: French for workers. The original Latin word "proles" means "those who have nothing" See bourgeoisie

Rate of Exploitation: Surplus value divided by variable capital. The extra value the boss squeezes out of you divided by what he pays you. See exploitation

Rate of Profit: Surplus value divided by the sum of variable and fixed or constant capital.

Reformism: Belief that minor improvements in capitalism are an adequate long term goal. Not to be confused with a short-term tactic to build the workers' movement.

Reification: The false identification of a person or dynamic as a static, material “thing” existing independent of human will or agency, exempt from ever-changing dialectical relationships of forces. (Thanks to Owen Williamson in his Political Affairs article)

Revisionism: Changing historical truth, usually for opportunistic reasons

Revolution: Tremendous change, such as a change in which of two contending classes rules. Not to be confused with lesser changes, such as having different leaders within the same ruling class.

Right, rightist, or right-wing: all pertain to the capitalist revolution in France in 1789. In their parliamentary body, the less ardent capitalists sat to the right of the speaker. See "Left"

Savagery: An early stage of social development in which humans spent almost all of their time hunting food and avoiding predators. More

Scab: An individual who goes against his or her union, either by crossing a picket line during a strike or by not helping to strengthen the union.

Sectarianism: Beliefs not based on actual facts or situations. From the idea of a divisive religious sect. A failure to build broad working class power by narrowly spurning potential allies.

Slavery: A stage of social development in which economic production came from slaves. It was an improvement over savagery, where captives were killed rather than enslaved. More

Social Democrat: A person who likes socialism in theory, but generally disapproves of it when reality comes pushing its way through. Before the Russians began to push for revolution, most of the revolutionaries in the world were called "social democrats," including the Russians. After the revolution of 1917, social democrats generally took the side of imperialism against the Soviet Union while those who supported existing socialism usually took the name "Communist."

Socialism: An economic system in which the most important means of production are democratically controlled by the people.

Soviet: Russian for "Council" or "Committee"

State: The main instrument of class rule, including the ability to reward and/or coerce the classes being ruled. It includes police, armies, and prisons. It has been called simplistically "a body of armed men." The fifty "states" within the United States are subordinate governing bodies, not independent states. Modern states are creatures of capitalism. In a future communist society, states would no longer exist.

Surplus value: Excess value that ruling classes usurp from the work of laborers

Syndicalism: Raising trade union work to the equivalent of revolutionary work

Third International: A worldwide coordinating center for the socialist movement that supported the Soviet Union, but was ended during the Second World War. Marx and Engels participated in the first and second "International Workingmen's Society." The Second International was distorted during World War I and never supported existing socialism.

Ultraleftism: Although it sounds "more left," ultraleftism actually means making a fetish of being "more radical" on every question and activity, whether the proposed tactics would have a good result or not. Lenin called it "the infantile disorder."

Union: A group of workers organized to further their interests, especially to defend themselves against managers, owners, and bosses. It is the basic unit of organization of the working class. A union local is usually within a specific workplace. "Craft unions" organize workers of a specific type, such as the carpenters' union, while industrial unions organize workers of all types within a specific industry, such as the steelworkers' union. Different union locals affiliate themselves with higher bodies. At the top level in the United States is the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). The AFL-CIO should not be confused with a union, as it is a loose federation of unions.

Utopia: An early work of science fiction describing a "perfect" society with no explanation of how it came about. More

Variable Capital: What it costs the boss to buy labor power. In a broad, average sense, it is also known as necessary labor or, in money form, wages. See Fixed Capital. More

Working Class: Those who make their living primarily by selling their labor, as opposed to capitalists who make their living primarily by owning the means of production and exploiting labor. More

 

**Thanks to Daniel Rubin's "Can Capitalism Last" for many of these ideas

 

 

The Marxist School of Sacramento has a .pdf glossary of some six pages to go along with their “Capital” reading group.

Daniel Rubin, Can Capitalism Last. International Publishers, NY, 2009. Has a glossary

There are glossaries available from Marxism.org

 

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