Tag: basic terms
Capitalist
Another word for an “owner,” that is, a member of the bourgeoisie; i.e., someone who owns capital but does not support themselves through their own labor.
Class dictatorship
(see also, state) This is the term used to describe the situation wherein a single class obtains and maintains control over political power. All states are class dictatorships – […]
Commodity
Any product made with the intention of exchanging it to realize surplus value, rather than made for use (use value). Commodity production is the basis of the modern capitalist economy.
Dialectical materialism
The study of phenomena and matter in motion and counterposed in the unity of opposites. Materialism is a first principle which states that the material, actually-existing world is primary […]
Historical materialism
The study of the historical, contingent conditions that produced the current moment using the framework of dialectical materialism as a basis for analysis. Essentially, the application of dialectical materialism to […]
Imperialism
More properly, capitalist imperialism, this term is used in the modern sense to denote the formation of large blocks of monopoly capital and the exhaustion of the capacity of a […]
Labor power
The capacity to do labor, the actual caloric energy etc. expended by the laborer when exerting effort. Labor power is sold by the working class to the capitalitsts as a […]
Marxism-Leninism
The synthesis of the Marxist economic theory with the science of revolution. The blueprint for how to assess the material conditions, to determine whether the objective conditions of revolution have […]
Material
When used as an adjective, meaning actual, really-existing, and rooted in actual, physical reality. A material benefit, for example, is a real, physical benefit: improved conditions, food, money, capital, what-have-you.
Material conditions
These are the actually existing conditions in the world and an important concept in both dialectical materialism and historical materialism. Material conditions refers to: 1. the mode of production; 2. […]
Means of production
(see also, relations of production) These are the tools and furnishings with which any society engages in wide scale production. In industrial capitalism the means of production are factories, […]
Mode of production
Modes of production are determined by the sum total of the productive relationships (see relations of production) that exist in any society. Capitalism, feudalism, socialism, and so on are all […]
Petit-bourgeoisie
The class which is defined by ownership of the means of production that must work to maintain itself.
Private property
The economic relation whereby productive tools, land, and so forth (the “means of production”) are exclusively owned and controlled by individuals. The private property regime as constituted contemplates that individuals […]