Proletariat
The class that is defined by lack of ownership of means of production that must work to sustain itself.
Tag: basic terms
Rate of profit
(see also, tendency of the rate of profit to fall) This is the general rate at which capital investment makes returns. The general rate of profit is an abstraction […]
Red Terror
Red Terror refers to the active suppression of the bourgeoisie after the Revolution.
Relations of production
(see also, means of production) Classes are made of complexes or networks of productive and property relations. The raw material of class analysis and its most basic building block […]
Reproductive labor
The conditions that permit people to exercise their labor power don’t occur naturally; that is, the work force must eat, sleep, replenish lost calories, regenerate their muscles, and eventually replace […]
Revolutionary masses
The proletariat and lower sections of the petit-bourgeoisie when taken together en masse. The revolution springs from the revolutionary masses.
Socialist construction
This is the period during which the material basis for socialism is being laid down. Productive relations are being changed, social formations are being altered, and, in the periphery, productive […]
Surplus value
Any period during which the worker has already made back the value of their wage and yet is still producing commodities for the capitalist. The formula for calculating surplus value […]
Tendency of the rate of profit to fall
(see also, rate of profit; composition of capital) The general rate of profit has a tendency to decrease over time. As capital becomes more competitive, it is required that […]
Wage labor
An element of commodity production – the mode of production whereby one sells their labor power in exchange for a wage. In order for waged labor to exist as […]
White terror
White is the color taken up by the old nobility, counter-revolutionary nationalists, and other conservative forces during the 19th and 20th century. White terror is therefore the rule-by-terror (police raids, […]