Marxism Terms:

 Proletariat Revolution- a social revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie. These
revolutions are advocated by socialists, communists and most anarchists.

 Mode of Production- the way a society is organized to produce goods and services that consists of the forces of
production and the relations of production.

 Factors of Production- this refers to the technical, scientific and material parts of the economy.

 Relations of Production- refers to the relationship between those who own the means of production and those who
do not. It essentially means how people organize themselves around labor.

 Class Conflict - This usually occurs between members of the upper and lower classes. Class conflict is the
presence of two competing groups in society, with the more powerful group exercising control over the less
powerful one, as each group pursues its own interests.

 Two-Class Model - The two-class model refers to the fact(according to Marx) that society is stratified into
distinctive groups and classes. Under capitalism, the two major classes are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The
relationship between the two classes is based on exploitation.

 Communism - Communism may be defined as a system of social organization in which there is no private
property, no human alienation, no exploitation, no class divisions, no capitalists and no working classes.
Communism is centered around the belief that capitalism is the cause of evils like inequality and suffering.

 Capitalism- Capitalism may be defined as an economic and political system in which a country’s means of
production and their operation are controlled by private owners (the bourgeoisie) for profit, as opposed to by the
state for everyone’s benefit.

 The Epoch - The epoch may be defined as a particular period of time in history that is marked by distinctive
features or events. An example of this is the Victorian epoch.

 Proletariat- a Marxist term which refers to the working class in a society, who do not own/possess the means of
production and are exploited by a capitalist class.
 Dialectal Materialism- a Marxist theory that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces
and are interpretable as a series of contradictions and their solutions. It is a way of understanding reality, whether
it be thoughts, emotions or the material world.

 Bourgeoisie- a Marxist term which refers to the capital class who own most of societies wealth and means of
production.

 Class consciousness- This is the set of beliefs that a person holds regarding their social class or economic rank in
society, the structure of their class and their class interests.

 Commodification of labour- Commodification is the transformation of goods, services, ideas and ‘people’ into
commodities or objects of trade. Commodification of labour, therefore is the transformation of labour (physical or
mental) into objects of trade.
 False Consciousness – In Marxism, false consciousness is the misperception of a social class’ (in this case the
Proletariat) position in society, in which they misinterpret their true interests within society and adopt beliefs and
values in an exploitation that benefits the ruling class (Bourgeoisie).

 Historical Materialism – This is the theory defined by Marx stating that a society’s economic structure is
determined by its development throughout history, and changes not by ideologies, but by changes in the modes of
production (Primitive Communalism, Ancient Slave Owning Society, Feudalism, Capitalism, Communism).

 Alienation – Alienation according to Marx, refers to the dehumanizing of those in the working class of a capitalist
society based upon the four aspects of alienation: alienation from productive activity, the product itself, fellow
workers, and one’s own human potential.

 The Dialectic – This refers to the process of conflict and incompatible human thoughts within a society breaking
down one system of though to form new concepts that form the base of social change.