Marxists occasionally use terms that aren’t much understood outside of our own circles. That’s not unusual: almost every field creates its own vocabulary. Talk to a gardener about gardening, a surfer about surfing, an economist about economics, etc., and you will quickly find that they use a range of words specific to their area. They also occasionally use some regular words differently. The socialist movement is no exception. Throughout our history, socialists, trade unionists, anarchists and others have developed a left-wing vernacular, which we want to preserve. The aim of the A-Z of Marxism is to help readers understand it. Note that this is a work in progress, and the definitions are likely to change as we get feedback.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Abolitionist

Someone who was part of or supported the movement to end slavery in the United States. In contemporary use, someone who wants to eliminate prisons and the prison system.

Abstract labour

Accord (the Accord)

The ALP-ACTU Accord, or the Prices and Incomes Accord, was a series of agreements, starting in 1983 and ending in 1996, between the federal Labor government and the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The theory of the Accord was that workers would receive lower pay rises but would be compensated for this with lower income taxes and increased social welfare (such as the introduction of Medicare). The reality was a massive transfer of wealth from workers to bosses and the decimation of the union movement. During the Accord years, most union leaders discouraged rank-and-file activism, which was viewed as a threat to the deal they had struck with Labor. They attacked unions, such as the Builders Labourers Federation, that refused to cooperate with the government and the employers. (For more, see the Socialist Review article “The Accord and the state of working class organisation”.)

Accumulation (capital accumulation)

The process of reinvesting business profits to increase the scale of production (and to grow the size of a company). “Accumulate, accumulate! That is Moses and the prophets!”, Karl Marx wrote in Capital, where he identified accumulation as the “inner law” or core dynamic of the capitalist mode of production. Capitalists are forced by competition to continuously reinvest their profits (particularly by introducing new technology) and increase the rate of exploitation of workers. If they don’t, they risk being driven out of business by rivals.

Activism

Efforts to bring about some sort of social or political change.

Activist

Someone who engages in activism. In trade unions, a “union activist” recruits people to the union and campaigns in their workplace for better wages and conditions, and against bigotry, to unite workers against the boss.

Alienation

Ambit claim

An initial demand that significantly exceeds what is seen as “realistic”; a starting point for negotiations that leaves room for counter-offers and compromise. It is a tactic frequently used when negotiating workplace contracts. For example, a union might make an initial claim for a 30 percent wage rise when both the union and the company know that the union will settle for considerably less. Ambit claims can also occur in other types of negotiations. For example, US President Donald Trump’s threats to impose high tariffs against other countries throughout 2025 were sometimes simply a means to reach trade agreements more favourable to the US than might otherwise have been the case. See also bargain, enterprise agreement.

Anarchism

A socialist current that usually defines itself in opposition to Marxism. This opposition began with the founder of modern anarchism, Mikhail Bakunin. The movement mostly emphasises decentralisation, both as a vision of socialism and a principle of organising: socialism is conceived as a network of small communes freely trading with each other, and socialist organisation is a network of small groups acting largely autonomously. Many anarchists reject Karl Marx’s emphasis on the industrial working class, on mass action and political action, and on the need for a revolutionary workers’ state. However, these anarchist principles have tended to break down during large-scale struggles, resulting in the development of anarchist sub-currents that accept major principles of Marxism. For example, anarcho-syndicalists concede the centrality of the working class and “platform” anarchists concede the need for political struggle and a revolutionary state. This diversity of opinion, combined with a lack of any broadly agreed-upon anarchist theory of human history or society, makes anarchism hard to define, even for anarchists.

Apartheid

A system of institutionalised racial discrimination and segregation. Most commonly associated with the regime in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s and with Israel in relation to its rule over the Palestinians. (For more, see the Indiana International & Comparative Law Review article “Apartheid outside Africa: the case of Israel”.)

Arab Spring (the Arab Revolutions)

A wave of uprisings and revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011-12. The movement resulted in the overthrow of governments in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, and civil war in Syria. Other countries were rocked by sustained mass protest movements, including Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Sudan (the government of which fell to another revolution in 2019).

Austerity

A program of government cuts to social services and public sector wages. It can also involve selling public assets (see privatisation), making certain services “user pays” (rather than free), and adding taxes to basic consumer goods. Austerity is invariably about reducing working-class living standards, and is most often implemented in times of recession, high government debt and/or war.

Authoritarian

Usually means hostile to democracy; a person, political practice or political system who/that attempts to limit or prevent open debate and the exchange of ideas, and stifle popular participation or decision-making.

Award

A legal document outlining minimum pay rates and conditions of work in Australia. Awards are generally industry-based, meaning that different awards cover different types of work. Almost all workers and bosses are covered, and legally bound, by an award. Some workers, usually those in workplaces with trade union members, are also covered by enterprise agreements. (For more, see the list of awards at the Fair Work Ombudsman.)

B

Bakunin, Mikhail

A Russian anarchist and chief rival of Karl Marx in the First International. While Marx and Engels argued for the working class and the oppressed to unite in a workers’ state to overthrow the capitalist state, Bakunin advocated a decentralised network of small communes freely trading with each other. Bakunin said that the capitalist state and the workers’ state are equally objectionable: it did not matter how democratic a workers’ state was for the oppressed nor how necessary such a state was to defend a revolution. Bakunin also advocated secret plots by armed minorities as a means of sparking revolutions. He was expelled from the First International in 1872 for maintaining a secret organisation inside the group.

Bargain (to bargain)

The formal negotiation process to reach an agreement over issues such as wages and working conditions applying to different groups of workers. In Australia, the resulting employment contracts are called bargaining agreements. Bargaining is usually conducted between employers and unions and often occurs in an individual enterprise (business)—hence the term “enterprise agreement” (EA) or sometimes “enterprise bargaining agreement” (EBA). Less frequently, bargaining results in industry agreements that cover workers in all businesses across a particular sector of the economy.

Bargaining period

The limited period in which a union is permitted to present, negotiate and take action for a new workplace or industry agreement (contract). Workers can take “protected” (that is, legal) industrial action to support their claims only when negotiating on a proposed enterprise agreement and must apply to the Fair Work Commission for a protected action ballot order. Under Australia’s highly restrictive workplace laws, workers/unions taking action outside the bargaining period, or without a Commission-authorised secret ballot, are severely penalised.

Bolshevik

Russian for “of the majority”. It was the name taken by Vladimir Lenin’s faction/party following a split in the Russian socialist movement in 1903. The other, moderate, faction was called the Mensheviks, meaning “of the minority”. See also Menshevik.

Bolshy

Derivative of Bolshevik. Generally, someone energetically anti-capitalist, passionate and unmovable on a particular issue, or displaying militant tendencies. “She’s very Bolshy—always picking fights with cops”; or: “He’s quite Bolshy about composting, don’t let him catch you putting your scraps in the bin”. See also Bolshevik.

Boss

Anyone who employs a worker or who has the power to direct their work or fire them. Usually refers to capitalists, but can also refer to managers and bureaucrats.

Bourgeoisie

It’s just French for “capitalist class”.

Bureaucrat

Deriving from the French for “office”, a bureaucrat is a pejorative term for an official in a government department (or some other large administrative apparatus, such as a corporation). Unlike public servants and clerical workers, bureaucrats usually have some degree of authority or autonomy. See also union bureaucrat.

C

Cadre

Derives from a military term for the commissioned and non-commissioned officers of a military unit responsible for training the rank-and-file troops. In the context of socialist organisations, cadre refers to the layer of experienced members with a solid understanding of Marxist politics who are capable of winning others to a Marxist worldview, and of playing a leading role both inside and outside the organisation. (Cadre is traditionally pronounced Kah-dray, but Australian socialists mostly say Kay-duh.)

Capital

Capitalism

Capitalist

A business owner. Perhaps more specifically, a person who is reliant on the labour of their business’s employees for the bulk of their income. When socialists talk about “the capitalists”, we usually mean members of the ruling class who own or control big businesses. These capitalists are a tiny fraction of a country’s population—less than 1 percent—and run the major sections of the economy. Capitalists include the directors, CEOs and top managers of the biggest companies. (For more, see the Red Flag article “The ruling class in Australia”.)

Cartel

A group of companies that act together to control a market and eliminate competition. See also monopoly.

Centrism

In mainstream parlance, centrism is the political space between the left and the right, advocating moderate or “balanced” policies and favouring compromise, pragmatism and social stability over radical change. Thus, centrism seeks to overcome (or paper over) real class divisions and interests, and the inevitable conflicts that arise from them. In the socialist movement, centrism refers to organisations that vacillate between reform and revolution as the means to achieve socialism. Generally, however, such organisations may espouse revolutionary rhetoric but tend to be reformist in practice. See also left wing, right wing.

Civil society

Modern societies are often considered to have three components: the family, civil society and the state. If the family is supposedly the sphere of love and intimacy, and the state the sphere of public politics, civil society is basically the economic sphere. People leave their homes and families in the morning and enter a world in which workers compete for jobs and business owners compete for customers. In the words of German philosopher Georg Hegel, it is “the battlefield where everyone’s individual private interest meets everyone else’s”. In Karl Marx’s paraphrase, civil society is the “war of all against all”. Often, “civil society” is used more broadly. So people sometimes refer to “civil society institutions”, which implies “non-government groups”. A trade union, for example, is a civil society institution. But so too is a sports club. So the phrase is often vague and unhelpful.

Class

See social class

Class collaboration

Attempts to reconcile the divisions and conflict between classes, principally between capitalists and workers. Usually takes the form of convincing workers that they have an interest in helping the company that exploits them thrive, and that they should work with their boss rather than against them. Trade union leaders are some of the leading proponents of class collaboration; they mediate between capital and labour, making deals that more often than not benefit the bosses.

Politically, the most prevalent form of class collaboration is nationalism, the false idea that workers and bosses in a particular country share common interests. But “the national interest” invariably means the subordination of workers’ interests to those of the bosses. It is often invoked to send workers to war or to accept miserable wages and conditions for the sake of “the economy”, i.e. to maintain profits.

Class consciousness

Consciousness is usually considered an attribute of individuals. So someone is “conscious of their surroundings” or becomes “unconscious” when they receive a hard blow to their head. Class consciousness refers to collective awareness on the part of social classes, or sections of them. Fundamentally, class consciousness is bosses and workers understanding that they have different economic interests—that profits are the result of exploitation, for example. Workers are said to have a high level of working-class consciousness when they develop a political understanding of the nature of capitalism—for example, that racism divides workers and must be fought, that the state is not neutral in the class struggle—and are prepared to fight for a better world (that is, that they are activists).

Class struggle

By “struggle”, Marxists don’t mean “difficulty”, as in “I struggle to get out of bed in the morning”, or “She is struggling to make ends meet”. Class struggle refers to the contest between bosses and workers over the distribution of the economy’s wealth and over who exerts control or influence within society more generally. For example, when we talk about “working-class struggle”, we mean the extent to which workers are standing together to fight for better wages, shorter working hours, democratic rights, and against discrimination and oppression in the workplace and in society, among other things. For workers, class struggle involves strikes or other industrial actions and public displays such as mass street marches, which express collective power.

Closed shop

A workplace in which all employees must join a trade union as a condition of employment. Historically, strong trade unions have enforced closed shops. For example, construction unions at times have been able to impose “no ticket, no start” rules to keep out non-union labour. Closed shops formed in this way have been illegal in Australia since 2009, when the Labor Party federal government legislated the (misnamed) Fair Work Act. Some large companies favour informal closed shop agreements with right-wing unions in order to impose deals that benefit the bosses rather than the workers. (For an example of this, see the Red Flag article “Coles-SDA deal fails as Fair Work rules in favour of workers”.)

Colonialism

The occupation and control of a country or territory by a foreign power for an extended period. Colonial powers directly control the government and economy, exploit the country’s resources and dominate the colonised population, often imposing their own language and cultural values. Between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries, colonialism was predominantly carried out by European states competing for markets and resources. The process led to the creation of vast empires, such as the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British empires.

Comintern

See Third International

Commodity

An item (or service) produced for sale rather than for the consumption or use of the person or people creating it. Karl Marx said that a commodity must have both a use-value and a value (expressed in its price, or exchange-value). For example, a tomato grown in a backyard simply for eating is not a commodity. It has a use-value: the quality of being edible, which is determined by its chemical and biological properties. But if it isn’t produced for a market and never enters one, from the perspective of the capitalist system, it has no economic value. However, a tomato grown to be sold also has an exchange-value (a price), which is not determined by its physical qualities (its use-value), but by the average quantity of labour required to produce it. See also socially necessary labour; abstract labour; value.

Commodity fetishism

In anthropology, fetishism refers to the primitive belief that supernatural powers exist or are embodied in inanimate objects (e.g. totems). Marx draws on this concept to describe the illusion that the production and exchange of commodities on the market is a relationship between things (money and goods) rather than between people. Even though a product has value only because it embodies human labour, its value appears to be a natural attribute of the product, like its weight or density. The social relation between people (those producing the things being exchanged) thus assumes “the fantastic form of a relation between things [which] I call the fetishism ... of commodities”. (Marx, Capital, Vol. 1.) See also commodity, value, use-value, exchange-value, market.

Communism

Communist International

See Third International

Comrade

A fellow member of a movement. The German kamerad meant roommate or barracks-mate (someone who shares your chamber, from the Latin camera) and was a term of friendship used in the nineteenth century by soldiers, students and members of clubs. After the 1848 European revolutions, French socialists adapted kamerad to camarade as a neutral form of respectful and egalitarian address. Subsequently, socialist movements in different countries imported the word “comrade” or selected their native equivalent. The Russian tovarishch is related to tovar, “commodity”; tovarishch was initially used among merchants before coming to mean “travel companion” and then “comrade”. In Germany, kamerad came to be more strongly associated with the military and, ultimately, the fascist movement: Nazis called each other kamerad, while socialists preferred the word genosse or genossin, roughly meaning “one who shares the enjoyment”.

Conservatism

As a political movement or ideology, conservatism is notoriously tricky to define. Perhaps the neatest definition is that conservatism is the defence of hierarchy—the belief that some people should rule over others, be it husbands over wives, bosses over workers, rich over poor, or perhaps whites over blacks (although this last notion has gone out of favour, at least publicly). Conservatives generally oppose movements and political ideas that seek to undermine “traditional” institutions of authority, such as the nuclear family or the church, or that strive for more egalitarian (therefore less hierarchical) societies. See also right-wing.

Constant capital

Business investment in non-human production inputs, such as raw materials, machinery and equipment, buildings, etc. Constant capital is “dead labour”, i.e. the past labour embodied in the means of production. It transfers its existing value, or part of its value, during the production process (to the things being produced), but does not create new value—hence “constant” capital. See also value, variable capital, means of production.

Consumerism

Often used pejoratively to describe either a) the excessive and often wasteful level of consumption of material goods and services, particularly in wealthier societies; or b) the corporate ethos that individuals ought to find satisfaction or even meaning through purchasing consumer goods. In economic theory, it’s the idea that consumer spending is desirable as a driver of economic growth and a measure of the “development” of a capitalist economy. See also commodity fetishism, ethical consumerism.

Contradictory consciousness

D

Deep state

Unelected parts of the state which act in secret to undermine democracy and restrict the actions of elected officials. The deep state may consist of military officers, intelligence officers and civil servants. The term was originally used with reference to countries with a history of coups, or where unelected state officials were intensely hostile to a new regime, such as Egypt after the 2011 revolution. Donald Trump’s supporters popularised the idea that a “woke” deep state was undermining his presidency. In reality, every capitalist state has a large unelected bureaucracy intended to limit the impact of elected officials. This is an openly acknowledged part of the “checks and balances” of capitalist democracy. The so-called deep state is a standard part of a capitalist constitution; it sometimes inconveniences right-wing governments, and often crushes left-wing ones.

Delegate

A person elected or authorised to represent others in a group or organisation—for example, at a meeting or conference or in an ongoing capacity. In a trade union, a delegate is elected by their workmates to negotiate with their employer and liaise with the union officials on their behalf. See also shop steward.

Democracy

In ancient Greece, it meant “rule of the people”—a way to organise political life based on collective decision-making. In the ancient world, a small minority of slave-owning men were the only citizens, and they were empowered to discuss and decide on very important matters. Unlike ancient democracy, modern capitalist democracy usually allows most of the adult population to participate, but gives us a say on a narrow set of questions: for the most part, we decide which politicians will be elected. The socialist movement has been associated with trying to expand democracy to more areas of life—into the workplace, for example—to create a more all-embracing version of democracy, where “the people” can decide on all important questions of social life.

Demonstration

A public protest. When people take to the streets to express an opinion they collectively share (that their government should not join a foreign war, for example), it demonstrates that many people care about an issue and are willing to act on it. In some European languages, protests are called “manifestations”. In everyday life, the fact that many people want the world to change can be concealed. Public protests demonstrate, or prove, this fact: they act as a manifestation, an embodiment, of previously concealed thoughts and feelings.

Determinism

The belief that all events, including human actions, are inevitably caused or determined by preceding events and in accordance with natural/scientific laws outside human control. “Hard” determinism holds that free will is an illusion (leading to the conclusion that individuals cannot be held morally responsible for their actions). Some interpretations of Marxism are deterministic—the idea that economic development inevitably leads to socialism, for example, or that the class struggle will automatically undermine bigotry among sections of the working class. Marx himself, however, rejected determinism. Humans are not simply the passive objects of historical forces; we actively shape our own history. However, our actions are constrained and limited by existing social, economic and political conditions. He wrote, in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past”.

Dialectic

Direct action

A form of activism that usually involves groups and individuals disrupting “business as usual”, using tactics such as protests, boycotts, strikes, blockades, occupations and other forms of civil resistance or disobedience. Direct action contrasts with the more “indirect” or passive activism of lobbying or voting, but is not necessarily counterposed (activists can both blockade a fossil fuel extraction site and vote for a person or party that pledges to do something about climate change, for example).

Division of labour

The way in which tasks (usually to do with production and reproduction) are assigned to various groups in a society or economy. Also, the separation of a complex task into smaller, specialised tasks. There are different types of division, which can overlap. For example:

The social division of labour refers to the network of relationships that structure a particular society. The primary feature of the capitalist social division of labour, for example, is that there is an exploiting class (capitalists, who own and control the means of production) and an exploited class (workers, who do the work). Other aspects of this social division of labour are: companies are the fundamental economic units (rather than families, for instance); production is organised privately, usually without economy-wide planning; and businesses compete against each other, rather than collaborate.

The technical division of labour is generally related to the way economic activities are organised within a social division of labour. For example, a factory assembly line that breaks up the production process into a series of simple and repetitive tasks is a technical division of labour. The global division of labour, which reflects varying levels of economic development (with some countries specialising in agricultural production and others in high-tech goods, for example), is arguably both a technical division and part of the social division.

The sexual division of labour refers to the way society assigns different tasks and responsibilities to men and women within the home, the workplace and the workforce more generally. It also could be said to have both social and technical aspects.

E

Eight-hour day

Since the Industrial Revolution, workers have tried to resist exploitation by limiting the length of the working day. The eight-hour day movement played a crucial role in shaping labour rights and working conditions. The concept was initially proposed in 1817 by Robert Owen, a Welsh capitalist and social reformer, with the slogan “Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest”. The first workers to achieve this goal were stonemasons in Melbourne in 1856.

Emancipation

The liberation of an oppressed group from legal, social or political restrictions—for example, the abolition of slavery. It can also refer to the fight to win equality for an oppressed or disenfranchised group, along with full economic, social and political rights. See also self-emancipation.

Engels, Friedrich (1820–1895)

German philosopher, political theorist and activist, journalist and revolutionary socialist. A lifelong friend and close collaborator of Karl Marx, he is acknowledged as the co-founder of “scientific socialism”, i.e. Marxism. Vladimir Lenin wrote, “After his friend Karl Marx, he was the finest scholar and teacher of the modern working class in the whole civilised world”. Though the son of a wealthy textile manufacturer, Engels at a young age became a fierce critic of capitalism, and found a kindred spirit when he met Marx in 1844. Together, they wrote a series of key texts—including The Holy Family (1844), The German Ideology (1846) and The Communist Manifesto (1848)—and worked as political activists in the Communist League and First International. Engels also wrote several important works of his own, many of which are considered foundational to Marxist theory. His first book, The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845), drew on his observations of the appalling working conditions that prevailed following the Industrial Revolution. His pathbreaking book, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884), remains one of the best explanations of women’s oppression and how it can be eliminated. Other significant works include his Anti-Dühring (1878), Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (1880), Dialectics of Nature (1872–1882) and Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy (1886). Engels supported Marx financially for much of his life and, following Marx’s death in 1883, edited his manuscripts to complete Volumes II and III of Capital (1885 and 1894).

Enterprise agreement (EA)

A contract between an employer and a trade union that enshrines the terms, conditions and entitlements for the workers it covers. Such agreements cover a specific business or a group of companies (as opposed to an industry). EAs, to be valid, generally need to provide for wages and conditions of work equal to or above the legal minimums set out in awards. See also award.

Ethical consumerism

Making purchasing decisions based on a consideration of the social, environmental and political impact of goods or services, to support fair labour practices, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, etc. Although often described as a form of activism, it is really just a set of market-based moral choices made by individuals based on the money available to them. “Ethical” products are usually more expensive, therefore less accessible to workers and the poor. So ethical consumerism is essentially middle-class conscience-salving. It has also given rise to “greenwashing”—when companies falsely promote their products as ethical to capture this market. (For more, see the Red Flag article “Is it hypocritical for socialists to use iPhones and buy stuff on Temu?”.)

Exchange-value

The measure of a commodity’s value expressed in what it can be exchanged for, typically the payment of money for a product or service. While related to “price”, Marx argued that exchange-value is not identical to the money price of a commodity, which may fluctuate wildly from its value. See also commodity, price, value, use-value.

Exploitation

When an individual or group controls and lives off the labour of others, and controls the surplus produced by that labour. (“Surplus” here means the goods and services produced above and beyond what is required to maintain the working population.) Notable exploitative relationships include slave owners and slaves, landowners and peasants, and bosses and workers. Living off a surplus produced by others is not necessarily exploitation: those who cannot work due to injury, disability, age, or unemployment live by consuming part of society’s surplus, but do not exploit anyone. Exploitation necessarily involves having power over others and influencing the labour process. This power generally derives from the exploiter’s ownership or control of the means of production. See also labour power, productivity, socially necessary labour time.

F

Family (the nuclear family)

A household consisting of two parents and their children. Family forms have varied considerably throughout human history, depending on the nature of the society and the mode of production at the time. The nuclear family is a modern phenomenon specific to the needs of capitalism—the privatised reproduction of future workers and the care and maintenance of the existing workforce. It is the primary source of women’s oppression under capitalism. Even though most women today have paid employment outside the home, they still bear the majority of the responsibility for family care. This benefits capitalism in two main ways. First, women’s unpaid labour in the home is of enormous economic value in itself. Second, that women’s primary role is seen as wife and mother justifies the sexual division of labour in which many women are employed in the so-called caring (and lower-paid) industries such as health care, child care, aged care and teaching. Though the impact of social changes has led to some variations (for example single-parent households or same-sex parents and children), the nuclear family is seen and promoted as the ideal or “natural” family model.

Fascism

A particularly authoritarian and nationalist political ideology and movement, which usually cloaks itself in radical-sounding rhetoric but ultimately serves the interests of business owners and views the political left and the workers’ movement as enemies to be eradicated. The term is derived from the Latin word “fasces”, a symbol of Ancient Roman authority consisting of a bundle of rods and an axe. It was first used in 1915 by Benito Mussolini, whose regime in Italy (1922–43) was the first fascist state. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany (1933–45) was fascist, and accompanied by virulent white supremacist racism, most notably antisemitism.

Fascism emerged in response to the political and economic crises that followed World War One, when the European working class was politically organised and generally socialist in outlook. The fascist movement was based on and mobilised the middle classes’ fear of working-class revolution, but (despite some anti-capitalist rhetoric) financed and supported by big business. “The historic function of fascism is to smash the working class, destroy its organisations, and stifle political liberties when the capitalists find themselves unable to govern and dominate with the help of democratic machinery”, Russian revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky wrote in 1934. Hence, fascist states attacked the working-class movement by arresting its Communist and Social Democrat leaders and banning trade unionism.

While some individuals, political movements and states have openly identified themselves as fascist, most don’t. Individuals can consciously or unconsciously recreate fascist political conduct while sincerely believing themselves to detest fascism; right-wingers might stridently deny any association with fascism while knowingly collaborating with and making use of fascist allies as part of a political or governing coalition. Political parties with fascist-like properties have characterised themselves as mainstream conservatives, or even as social democrats.

Parties very similar to traditional European fascism have formed governments without creating a one-party state that is often viewed as defining a fascist political order. On the other hand, nationalist dictatorships similar to Mussolini’s Italy can emerge without founding themselves on the kind of large-scale middle-class social movement often viewed as a defining feature of fascism. So whether an individual or party self-identifies as a fascist doesn’t necessarily tell us much about their politics. See also right wing, authoritarian, nationalism, Nazi. (For more, see the Red Flag article “Trotsky and the struggle against fascism”.)

Feudalism

A social, economic and political system primarily based on agricultural production, feudalism dominated Europe from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. It was characterised by a hierarchical social structure based on land ownership and reciprocal obligations between lords (the most powerful landowners) and vassals (lower-ranking members of the nobility, or upper class), who were granted the use of land in return for their allegiance and military service. Vassals did not work the land, but acted as property managers. The work was done by agricultural labourers who formed the peasant class, many of whom were serfs (from the Latin servus, “slave”), tied to working on their lord’s estate. See also peasant, serf.

Fictitious capital

First International

The International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), founded in London in 1864, was the first international organisation to unite working-class and left-wing forces—socialist, communist, social democratic and anarchist groups and trade unions. The IWA was established during a revival of workers’ struggle following a period of reaction in the wake of the 1848 revolutions. At its peak, the First International had up to 8 million members. Karl Marx was a founding member, wrote the IWA’s program and constitution and served on its General Council. From April 1865, women were accepted as members, but the leadership remained exclusively male until 1867, when Harriet Law, supported by Marx, was admitted the General Council. The IWA held conferences in Geneva (1866), Lausanne (1867), Brussels (1868), Basel (1868) and The Hague (1872). Political tensions and differences emerged, particularly between the socialist forces, led by Marx, and the anarchists, led by Bakunin. In 1872, these conflicts resulted in the expulsion of the anarchists. Subsequently, the General Council, at Marx’s suggestion, moved the IWA headquarters to New York. The IWA was formally disbanded in July 1876.

First World

Today, this refers to industrialised, stable democracies with high standards of living. But the term emerged during the Cold War, reflecting more the political alliances of the post-World War Two era. “First World” referred to the US-led Western Bloc (NATO) and its allies; “Second World” was the Soviet Bloc (Warsaw Pact) and its allies; and “Third World” was the Non-Aligned Movement, led by Egypt, Yugoslavia, Indonesia and India. The terms became less commonly used after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-91. See also Global North and Global South.

Forces of production (or productive forces)

The combination of natural resources, labour power, knowledge and technology required to produce goods and services. When Marxists write about “the development of the productive forces / forces of production”, we mean the increasing sophistication and productivity of an economy.

G

General strike

When the majority of workers, or the workers in a range of key industries, stop work simultaneously (and for a day or longer) in a city, state or country. See also strike.

Global North

The wealthier industrialised, diversified and technologically advanced countries that dominate global politics, trade and financial institutions. Most, though not all, are located in the northern hemisphere. Countries include the US and Canada, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The term has come to replace the older designation “First World”. See also First World.

Global South

Developing countries, mostly in the southern hemisphere, usually characterised by poverty, limited industrialisation, poor infrastructure and reliance on agriculture or resource extraction. It includes much of Africa, Latin America and Asia. The term was first used in 1969 by Carl Oglesby, who argued that centuries of northern “dominance over the global south … [has] converged … to produce an intolerable social order”.

Government of the left

Grassroots

The base of “regular” people in a movement or organisation (as opposed to the leadership, for example). The term was used in 1912 by US Senator Albert Beveridge, who described the Progressive Party as one that “has come from the grass roots … grown from the soil of people’s hard necessities”. Grassroots movements are movements that favour bottom-up, rather than top-down decision-making and maximise the involvement of ordinary people in political activity.

Guerrilla struggle

Military combat conducted by irregular forces (e.g. the armed wing of a political organisation) against larger and more powerful conventional military forces, usually in an attempt to overthrow a government. Guerrilla struggles involve unconventional tactics, such as hit-and-run attacks, ambushes, sabotage and raids conducted by small, mobile units that often rely on the support of a local population. An example of a successful guerrilla struggle is the Cuban revolution of 1959, when guerrilla forces led by Fidel Castro overthrew the deeply unpopular authoritarian regime of Fulgencio Batista.

H

Hegemony

Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social class over others (derived from the Greek for “authority, rule, political supremacy”). Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci developed the concept of cultural hegemony to explain how the capitalist ruling class employs both consent and coercion to maintain its power. It uses its control of education, advertising, the media, etc., to inculcate the idea that the existing social, political and economic order—capitalist society—is natural, inevitable and beneficial for all. In terms of international relations, Italian sociologist Giovanni Arrighi defined hegemony as the influence a country accumulates not simply from using power to advance its own interests, but by its leadership being in the perceived interests of the countries that fall in behind it.

Historical materialism

Hot Autumn

A period of intense class struggle in the industrial centres of northern Italy in 1969–70, when students and workers united in a potentially revolutionary challenge to capitalism. Inspired by the events of May 1968 in France, left-wing students started agitating for educational and social reforms. Workers joined these protests and began fighting for their own demands, including wage rises and a 40-hour work week. This led to a series of large strikes and, in some places, workplace occupations. But as in France, the Communist Party played a key role in quelling the struggle. (For more, see the Red Flag article “‘What do we want? Everything!’: Italy’s Hot Autumn”.)

Human nature

Humanism

A philosophical stance focusing on human flourishing, the development of human potential. Marx’s early philosophical notebooks have a strongly humanist flavour. In these works, he criticises capitalism not just because it creates poverty, violence or war, but because it distorts and limits human potential. These notebooks, rediscovered in the 1930s, had an enormous influence on Marxist philosophy in the twentieth century. See alienation.

I

Idealism

In common parlance, an idealist is anyone motivated by powerful beliefs, or simply an optimist. In philosophy, the term has had several meanings. It can refer to the notion that ideas are in some way the foundation of reality, and the material world is subordinate to them, or simply their expression. Idealism can also refer to the claim (associated with Kant) that because physical reality is unknowable except through the actions of the mind, it can never be truly understood or accessed. These stances can be counterposed to “materialism”, meaning the physical world is all that exists and that consciousness emerges from it (or is inseparable from it). In Marxism, the idealist-materialist distinction carries another meaning. As Marx and Engels pointed out, many philosophical materialists are “idealists” when it comes to politics: they may deny the existence of spirits, but they believe the genius of a political philosopher can transform world history, and in that sense they uphold the power of ideas over physical reality. The most hard-bitten atheist of the French revolution might still hope that the ideas in their pamphlet would forever transform the planet. For this reason, Marxism is sometimes called “historical materialism”: it tries to link social change to processes that emerge from history itself, particularly the class struggle and the development of productive forces. There is some debate over whether Marx’s historical materialism, which is a theory of social change, can be philosophically derived from the earlier concept of materialism.

Ideology

A system of opinions, principles or beliefs, especially one on which a political system, social institution or religion is based. Ideologies purport to make sense of the world while obscuring the class interests that underpin them, thereby serving the interests of a particular social group or class, or helping to legitimise the dominant political power. As Karl Marx wrote in The Poverty of Philosophy: “The same men who establish their social relations in conformity with their material productivity, produce also principles, ideas and categories, in conformity with their social relations. Thus these ideas, these categories are as little eternal as the relations they express. They are historical and transitory products”.

Imperialism

Imperialist state

Industrial action

Action collectively taken by workers to defend or improve their working conditions and wages and/or as a form of political protest. Industrial action can take various forms. For example: bans and limitations (refusing to perform specific tasks at work), go-slows (continuing to work, but doing so at a very relaxed pace), work-to-rule (doing no more than the minimum required in a workplace contract) and, most potently, strikes (refusing to work entirely). Bosses may also take industrial action against their workforce, often in the form of lockouts (preventing employees from entering the workplace and refusing to pay them).

Industrial muscle

The power that workers can exert in a workplace or industry; the ability to disrupt or halt production by means of strikes or other industrial action. All workers have this power to some extent. Some groups of workers exercise their power more regularly, thereby building their knowledge and practical capacities. Other groups might never go on strike, hence the associated metaphor of industrial muscle “atrophying” for lack of use. Workers in key sectors of the economy—transport and power generation, for example—can bring the whole economy to a standstill by using their industrial muscle.

Industrial Workers of the World (the IWW; the “Wobblies”)

A revolutionary syndicalist organisation founded in Chicago in 1905, and shortly after in Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. By August 1917, IWW membership internationally was estimated at more than 150,000. The IWW opposed the separation of workers’ unions by craft and argued for “One Big Union”, including unskilled and semi-skilled workers excluded from established trade unions. The aim was “industrial democracy” to unite all workers as a class to fight the bosses. IWW members were heroic fighters and among the few to take a clearly anti-war position in 1914. Tragically, they underestimated the power of the state and were severely repressed. For example, during World War One, more than 100 Australian Wobblies were jailed on trumped-up political charges. (For the history of the Wobblies in Australia, see the Marxist Left Review article “The Industrial Workers of the World in Australia”.) See also syndicalism.

Insurrection

Intelligentsia

Professional researchers or academics in universities, think tanks, government departments, trade unions, non-government organisations and so on. Mostly, the intelligentsia is part of the middle classes.

Internationalism

The unity and solidarity of the working class across national boundaries, a bedrock principle of revolutionary socialism. Today, almost all political parties are nationalist: they argue that all people in a given country, regardless of their social status (whether they are billionaires or bus drivers, for example), share a common interest and should unite as citizens. Socialists are internationalists, arguing that workers in all countries share common interests and should unite across national boundaries against the capitalists of all countries, who collectively exploit them. So Marx and Engels ended the Communist Manifesto with the slogan “Workers of All Lands, Unite!” The need for internationalism is not a moral imperative but is rooted in the international character of capitalism itself. As Marx wrote, “The emancipation of the workers is not a local, nor a national, but an international problem”. (For more, see the Red Flag article “Nationalism versus internationalism”.)

Islamism

A political ideology holding that the Islamic religion ought to be the basis of the government, legal system and society. Islamists generally oppose the separation of church and state and argue for the imposition of Islamic law (Sharia law). Based on the various Islamic sects (Sunni, Shia, etc.), there is a range of Islamist movements and organisations which seek to achieve this in a variety of ways, and often have ideological differences. Many Islamists are also open to compromise. So in various countries (such as Indonesia, Malaysia and most North African states) Sharia law is limited and operates in conjunction with secular state laws.

Islamophobia

Hostility towards and prejudice and discrimination against Muslims. Though far from recent, Islamophobia has been systematically fostered by (mainly) Western governments and media since the attacks by Islamist forces against the US in September 2001. This provided the pretext for the US-led “war on terror”, which involved the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), the persecution of Muslims and attacks on civil rights. The demonisation of Muslims as real or potential terrorists is a form of racism that serves imperialist interests in the Middle East, as well as stoking divisions in the Western working classes.

J

Junta

An authoritarian dictatorship (often military) that rules a country after taking power by force. Examples include the military government in Myanmar from February 2021 and the Chilean government led by General Augusto Pinochet following his coup against President Salvador Allende in September 1973. The Spanish term junta means “meeting” or “committee” and originated in the resistance to Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808.

K

L

Laborism

Labour

The human activities that sustain and reproduce a society. Almost any activity can be labour: transporting food, writing poems, making a garden beautiful, manufacturing weapons, digging graves. Labour can take different forms in different periods of history. This is part of what defines a mode of production. Although other animals carry out labour-like activities, it appears that only humans can change the form of their labour, creating different historical periods defined by different ways of working.

Labour aristocracy

Labour power

A person’s capacity to work (as distinct from the physical act of working), which workers sell to a capitalist in exchange for money (wages). Labour power is the most important commodity in the capitalist economy. The capitalist purchases labour power, directing workers to produce goods or services but paying them less than the value of what they produce. This exploitation is the source of profit (surplus value), which capitalists constantly seek to maximise. As Marx noted in Capital, Volume I: “The rate of surplus value depends, in the first place, on the degree of exploitation of labour power”. See also exploitation.

Labour theory of value

Originally, the economic theory that human labour is responsible for the creation of all economic value, and therefore that capitalist production is the only truly productive part of the economy. Pro-capitalist economists endorsed this theory to argue that capitalists were more important than landlords. When the working-class movement used the theory to argue that capitalists themselves were economically and socially unnecessary, mainstream economics decided that the theory was “discredited”. Karl Marx drew upon elements of the labour theory of value to construct his analysis of capitalism, although his version differs significantly from those of the early economists. See also value.

Lecture bash

No, it is not the act of assaulting a professor. It just means “to make an announcement in a university lecture”, usually before the class begins or after it ends. It is a common practice in Australian universities for left-wing activists and members of student clubs to “lecture bash” about upcoming events, such as meetings, protests or BBQs.

Left wing

Describes ideologies, organisations and people that support the workers’ movement and other progressive causes. The terms “left” and “right” were coined during the French Revolution, referring to the seating arrangements in the National Assembly. Those on the left supported the revolution, the creation of a democratic republic and the secularisation of society, while those on the right supported the monarchy.

Lenin, Vladimir

Leninism

Liberal (a Liberal)

A member of the Liberal Party, the main conservative party in Australia.

Liberal (a liberal; a small l liberal)

A political progressive.

Liberalism

Classical liberalism is an economic and political philosophy that developed as the ideology of the rising capitalist class. It emphasises individual rights, small government and free markets. It advocates a laissez faire economic regime, i.e. the right of capitalists to run their businesses unhindered by government regulations and taxes, and reliance on market forces rather than state intervention. In Australia such ideas are associated with the Liberals, the main right-wing party. For this reason, people who uphold liberal theories but are not members of the Liberal Party are called “small-l liberals”; a member of the Greens in Australia might be a liberal, though not a Liberal. For many in the United States, where the socialist movement was historically weak and disorganised, liberalism is the leftmost extreme of politics, and no distinction exists between liberalism and leftism.

Log of claims

It just means “list of demands”. In the workers’ movement, the log of claims is a formal document listing the specific changes or improvements in terms and conditions (e.g. wage increases, break times, entitlements) that are the basis for workers (usually represented by a union) negotiating with their boss for a new or amended contract. See also bargain, bargaining period, enterprise agreement.

Lumpen

A person from the lumpenproletariat, meaning the unorganised, usually unemployed, often destitute layer of society, lacking class consciousness or loyalty, and often including criminal elements. The term was coined by Marx and Engels who described this layer in The Communist Manifesto as “the dangerous class” and “social scum”. They argued that while the working class had the potential to overthrow capitalism and build a socialist society, the lumpenproletariat had no such revolutionary potential and could instead be used as tools by reactionary forces to attack the working class—as occurred in the 1848 European revolutions and in Nazi Germany. Today, the term “underclass” is more commonly used to refer to the chronically unemployed, the homeless and career criminals.

Luxemburg, Rosa (1871–1919)

Polish-German revolutionary activist and Marxist theorist. Radicalised at at early age, she co-founded the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) party in 1893. Moving to Germany in 1898, she became a leading figure in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Her activism led to her being imprisoned several times in Germany, and in Poland during the 1905 Russian Revolution. Her book, The Mass Strike, based on observations of that revolution, presents a powerful argument about the working class’s ability to emancipate itself through its own collective action. As the SPD moderated, she led the fight against reformism with her brilliant pamphlet Reform or Revolution?. When the SPD capitulated to nationalism and supported Germany in World War One, Luxemburg, along with Karl Liebknecht, founded the anti-war Spartacus League. They were jailed in 1916 and released following the November Revolution of 1918, after which they co-founded the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In January 1919, Luxemburg participated in the Spartacist uprising against the SPD government in Berlin, although she (correctly) considered it premature. The uprising was crushed, and right-wing paramilitaries murdered Luxemburg and Liebknecht at the behest of the SPD leaders.

M

Mao Zedong (1893–1976)

Founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921, de facto leader of the party from 1935, chairman from 1943. In the civil war that followed World War Two, Mao led a peasant army to victory against Chiang Kai-shek’s reactionary nationalist forces. He founded the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and led the country until his death in 1976.

Mao set out to reshape Chinese society, but what he called “Chinese socialism” was actually a dictatorship. All industry was state-owned and farmers were organised into collectives. But workers, having played little role in the revolution that brought Mao and the CCP to power, remained oppressed and exploited, and all opposition was ruthlessly suppressed. In 1958, Mao launched the “Great Leap Forward”—a mass mobilisation of labour to improve agricultural and industrial production. As with Joseph Stalin’s Russia from the late 1920s, this was an attempt to catch up and compete economically with the West. But the result was a massive decline in agricultural output. Exacerbated by poor harvests, this led to famine and the deaths of millions, weakening Mao’s authority.

In 1966, he launched the “Cultural Revolution”—ostensibly a crusade to challenge bureaucracy and purge the country of “impure” and “counter-revolutionary” elements, but in reality a cynical manoeuvre by Mao to shore up his own leadership of the party. Over the next three years, millions died, were injured or suffered severe persecution, and a great deal of the country’s cultural heritage was destroyed. Following Mao’s death in 1976 and the ensuing power struggle in which his supporters were purged, the CCP Central Committee in 1981 officially declared the Cultural Revolution a “severe setback” for the PRC.

Maoism

The ideology and politics associated with Mao Zedong, also known as Mao Zedong Thought. Supposedly a form of Marxism-Leninism tailored to the specific conditions of China (and by implication to other developing countries), Maoism is a complete departure from Marxism. “Communist” China—established not by working-class revolution but by a peasant army led by intellectuals—was a police state run by a bureaucratic ruling class. Despite this, Maoism has had a significant (and negative) political influence on the left worldwide. With some variations, common characteristics of groups influenced by Maoism include extreme sectarianism towards other left-wing groups and social movements, voluntarism and substitutionism, Third Worldism, and social conservatism (e.g. homophobia). (For more, see the Marxist Left Review article “Let a hundred flowers wither: the many failures of Western Maoism”.)

Marx, Karl

Marxism

Mass action

Mass production

A manufacturing process that creates large quantities of standardised products to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The main features of mass production are the division of labour and automation. It often involves assembly lines, where each worker performs a part of the production process rather than working on a whole product from start to finish.

Mass strike

See general strike.

Material interest

Usually means “economic interest”. Take, for example, the sentence: “White workers have a political responsibility to fight against racism. But they also have a material interest in doing so—when the working class is divided, wages are generally lower and working conditions poorer for everyone”.

Materialism

May ’68

Refers to events in Paris, France, in May 1968, when student protests sparked a general strike of 9 million workers, forcing President Charles De Gaulle to flee the country. Many workers expressed a desire to go beyond fighting for reforms and instead abolish capitalism. May ’68 became a touchstone for a generation of left-wing radicals: it shattered the myth that Western capitalism brought only stability and prosperity, and proved that workers in advanced economies still had revolutionary potential.

Means of production

The tools, facilities, raw materials and other resources necessary to create a product. These may include land, buildings (e.g. factories, offices), infrastructure (e.g. transport, communications, energy supply) and machinery—and of course labour, without which nothing can be produced.

Menshevik

Russian for “of the minority”. The Mensheviks were a moderate faction within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), which split at the second party congress in 1903. In contrast to the Bolshevik (“of the majority”) faction led by Vladimir Lenin, the Mensheviks supported a gradual transition to socialism, and opposed Lenin’s concept of a vanguard workers’ party in favour of a broader mass party. The two factions often worked together, but became distinct political parties during the course of the Russian Revolution.

Middle class

Perhaps more accurate is middle classes: those generally, but not always, occupying positions between the working class and the capitalist and ruling classes. The middle classes include small business owners (see “petit bourgeoisie”), academics, trade union leaders (see “union bureaucrat”), peasants and middle managers in both private companies and in the state bureaucracy.

Militant (adjective)

From the Latin, meaning “to serve as a soldier”. Having a radical, combative and confrontational approach to fighting for a political or social cause. Socialists generally favour militant tactics. Often used to describe trade unions that go on strike.

Militant (noun)

Someone who proposes or supports more radical forms of action to achieve their goals or promote a cause—for example, a trade unionist who argues for strikes and picketing rather than relying on union officials to negotiate with a boss.

Minimum wage

The lowest rate an employer can legally pay workers who are not covered by an award or enterprise agreement. People under the age of 18, people with a disability, apprentices and trainees may be paid less than the minimum wage, which in Australia is set by the Fair Work Commission.

Mode of production

A concept in Karl Marx’s theory of history. Each mode of production is a particular way of combining human labour, social classes, technology and social organisation to produce wealth and sustain human society. This is often understood as a specific combination of forces of production and relations of production. Examples are the slave mode of production and the feudal mode of production. Any given mode of production might require a certain level of technology and cultural sophistication to be put in place; once in place, it may last hundreds or thousands of years before technology and culture develop to such a point that it becomes possible to introduce a new mode of production. In Marxist theory, capitalism and socialism are not just ideas, policies or moral values: each is a different mode of production.

Monopoly

The exclusive ownership or control of the supply of a commodity or service. This lack of competition gives monopolies the power to dictate prices and dominate the market. See also cartel.

Movement

When large numbers of people organise over time around a particular demand (e.g., abortion rights) or in opposition to something (e.g., a war), a movement is formed. During the period of radicalisation in the1960s and 1970s, several social movements emerged, such as those against racism and for civil rights, and for women’s and LGBT liberation. The largest and most enduring movement is the workers’ movement, which, even at its lowest point, still involves hundreds of thousands of people each year in campaigning or negotiating for better wages and conditions—that is, collectively trying to reduce the level of exploitation at work.

N

Nation

Nationalism

Nazi

Historically, a member or supporter of Adolf Hitler’s fascist National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP, 1920–1945). The word is derived from the German Nationalsozialismus (National Socialism). (As the shortened version of Ignatz, it was also the standard name of a stock comic character: the Bavarian country bumpkin.)

The Nazis used the term “socialist” even as they were part of a right-wing nationalist political coalition, attacking Marxist workers both verbally and physically, appealing to big business and ultimately trying to eradicate the entire German left. By using the term “socialist”, the Nazis appealed to millions of Germans who had lost faith in the capitalist system. But Nazis had their own idea of what “socialism” meant: to be a pro-war German patriot who put the military needs of the country before personal interest.

Certain capitalists were attacked for being treacherous, and politicians for being “bourgeois” if they were too visibly corrupt. But at the same time, workers who fought for their own interests were also denounced as treacherous and misled by Jewish ideology. This “socialist” demagogy was played up in propaganda that targeted workers and disillusioned middle-class activists, but the volume was turned down when the Nazis were appealing to the ruling class. Nazi talk of a “social revolution” ultimately meant replacing worn-out, timid politicians with a new generation of aggressive, pro-war authoritarian activists who would have the guts to crush the left and launch a new war. See also fascism, neo-Nazi.

Neo-Nazi

Contemporary Nazis who attempt to rebuild Hitler-style fascist movements embracing anti-communism, authoritarianism and deep racism (often white supremacy, but local variants may focus on other forms of ethnic or religious purity). For decades after World War Two, Nazis were mostly confined to marginal secret societies and subcultures, but the rise of so-called “right-wing populism” since the mid-2010s has enlarged their audience and recruiting pool. Neo-Nazi ideas such as Holocaust denial are increasingly common. More than other fascist currents, neo-Nazis tend to glorify violence; they consider street fighting and physically bashing perceived enemies as a key part of their political practice. See also fascism, Nazi, authoritarian.

Neoliberalism

O

Occupation

Taking over a building or public space for a period of time. For example, striking workers might occupy their workplace to prevent the bosses from locking them out. Workers can also take over production, exercising self-management/workers’ control. Factory occupations first occurred during Italy’s Biennio Rosso (Two Red Years, 1919–20) and have been repeated on numerous occasions since, for example in France in May 1968. Students and campaign activists can also use the occupation tactic. See also sit-in.

Occupy movement

A mass international movement that grew out of opposition to social and economic inequality in the years after the Global Financial Crisis. Inspired by a global wave of anti-austerity and anti-capitalist protests in 2010 and the Arab Revolutions of 2011, it began in September 2011 with Occupy Wall Street—a protest encampment in Zuccotti Park in the heart of New York’s financial district. Within a month, the Occupy movement had spread to more than 951 cities across 82 countries. Its slogan, “We are the 99%”, referenced the growing concentration of wealth among the top 1% of the population. Occupy was committed to methods of non-violence and participatory democracy, with decisions made by consensus (as opposed to voting) at general assemblies. Analysis by the Global Language Monitor in November 2011 found that the word “occupy” had been the “most commonly used English word on the internet and in print” over the previous twelve months. Despite this initial impact, however, the Occupy movement had little sustained influence and eventually collapsed, partly due to state repression (arrests, breaking up of encampments, etc.), and partly due to its own limitations and internal divisions. The decentralised and structureless nature of the movement, and its hostility to organisation, made it virtually impossible to establish clear leadership and decision-making processes.

Oligarch

An extremely wealthy business owner with a great deal of political influence; from the Greek meaning “to rule”. Oligarchs exist in every society, but the term is particularly used to describe those who benefited from the privatisation of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Oligarchy

A term coined by Aristotle to mean “rule by the rich”, referring to a government in which power rests with a small number of wealthy people.

Opportunism

Politically, the sacrifice of principle for expediency or advantage. It involves compromising or even abandoning political principles and long-term goals to gain greater power, influence or popularity. Short-term gains take precedence over ideological consistency and integrity. This is characteristic of most politicians. As former Conservative British PM Stanley Baldwin put it, “I would rather be an opportunist and float than go to the bottom with my principles around my neck”. Opportunism is often used as a synonym for reformism. The triumph of reformism within the German Social Democratic Party led to its abandonment of the principles of internationalism and working-class solidarity, and its support for the ruling class during World War One.

Oppression

The systematic discrimination against, or persecution or disempowerment of, a social group, based on class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religious belief, cultural practice, age or ability. Capitalism relies on oppression to facilitate exploitation, primarily by creating and fostering divisions in the working class, which is the largest oppressed group in society.

P

Pacifism

Originally, a principled opposition to all war. The term was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. At various times, pacifism has been a distinct political current with its own organisations, publications and leaders. Its activists generally aimed to strengthen international institutions, hoping that more cooperation between capitalist states would make conflict unnecessary. These efforts have repeatedly failed, as the logic of capitalism leads to recurring military conflict. Within the socialist movement, the term has been used to describe those who oppose a given war, but are insufficiently critical of the system that gave rise to that war. During World War One, there was a political split between “pacifists” who aimed to restore the pre-war status quo and revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow the capitalist system. In this context, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin denounced “socialist pacifists”, even as he called for peace. See also nonviolence.

Paris Commune

The name given to a short-lived revolutionary government established by Parisian workers in 1871. The Commune was brutally suppressed by the French Army, which executed an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Communards. From this experience, Karl Marx concluded that “the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes”. Instead, he argued, workers must smash the state and replace it with their own forms of political organisation.

Parliamentarism

The tendency to elevate the goal of winning votes in parliamentary elections above all other questions of political principle or strategy. The approach has frequently led socialist organisations to adapt to, rather than challenge, the status quo of capitalist politics (see opportunism). Friedrich Engels called it “an ailment whose unfortunate victims are permeated by the lofty conviction that the whole world, its history and its future are directed and determined by a majority of votes”.

Party

A politically organised group of people with shared ideas and goals. Parties generally have elected leaders and membership obligations, such as adhering to formal rules or a constitution, promoting the party’s aims and supporting it financially.

Peasantry

The social class of agricultural workers and small farmers with limited, if any, land ownership. The most oppressed and numerous class in medieval feudal societies, subject to fees, taxes and/or obligatory service to a landlord. See also feudalism, serf.

Permanent revolution

A theory developed by the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky following the 1905 Russian revolution. Most socialists at the time believed that in semi-feudal and industrially underdeveloped countries like Russia, a long period of capitalist development was necessary before socialism could be instituted. But Trotsky, in the book Results and Prospects, argued that the Russian capitalist class was incapable of establishing a capitalist republic because it feared the working class more than the tsar (king). Therefore, the working class, rather than the capitalist class, would have to lead the struggle for a democratic republic. But in doing so, the workers’ movement would inevitably be compelled to challenge the power and property of the capitalist class, making the revolution “permanent”. Over the course of 1917, Lenin and the Bolsheviks implicitly accepted Trotsky’s theory and called on workers to seize political power. After the experience of the Chinese Revolution of 1925–27, Trotsky generalised his theory to apply to other industrially backward and underdeveloped countries. (For more, see the Red Flag article “Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution”.)

Petty bourgeoisie

From the French petite bourgeoisie (small capitalists). A section of the middle class, occupying a position between workers and capitalists. The term generally refers to small business owners, shopkeepers, small-scale merchants and self-employed artisans. See also middle class.

Picket line

A boundary established and staffed by striking workers (and sometimes supporters), usually at the entrance to a workplace. The aim is to maximise the economic impact of the strike by preventing people and products from getting in or out of the workplace. This may also include stopping strikebreakers from being brought in to undermine the strike. Workers who cross picket lines are called “scabs”. See also scab.

Political revolution

Popular classes

Popular front

Praxis

An unnecessary word.

Pre-class society

Human society existed for many thousands of years before the emergence of social classes. Examples are gatherer-hunter and some early agricultural societies. The inability of these societies to produce a surplus of food and other basic necessities above what was needed for immediate subsistence meant that a high degree of egalitarianism and cooperation was required for their survival. This limited the economic basis for the emergence of a social hierarchy. Friedrich Engels described pre-class society as “primitive communism”.

Private property

In Marxist terms, this refers not to the personal possessions of individuals (such as their homes, cars, jewelry, etc.), but to the private (or state) ownership and control of the means of production—the factories, mines, ports, telecommunications infrastructure, farmland and so on—which is fundamental to the capitalist economy. See also means of production.

Privatisation

When a government sells or gives away public assets to private companies. Privatisation often results in services that were provided free, having been paid for by taxes, becoming user-pays and run for profit. Among the most important things to have been privatised in various countries are power, water, gas and telephone services, banks, railways, ports, roads, housing and mines. When selling assets is too unpopular, governments sometimes take partial steps: leasing them to private operators, forcing state-owned services to make a profit, or simply reducing funding and letting services degrade until privatisation seems like it could make things better. See also: nationalisation.

Production

The process of making, manufacturing or assembling goods from components or raw materials. Primary production is the growing or extraction of raw materials, for example agriculture, animal cultivation, mining. Secondary production involves transforming raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes. Tertiary production refers to the services sector of the economy, the distribution and sale of the output of both primary and secondary production. It includes a wide range of activities such as banking, retail, health care, education and entertainment.

Productivity

A measure of how efficiently inputs (resources, labour time) are converted into outputs (goods and services). Capitalists aim to maximise productivity by reducing the labour time required to produce a given commodity. This may involve the introduction of more advanced technology, automation, speed-ups, etc. The bosses’ constant call to “increase productivity” is code for increasing the exploitation of workers. See also exploitation, socially necessary labour time.

Profit

Profit derives from surplus value—the unpaid labour performed by workers for capitalists. Profit is what’s left after a boss pays wages and other business costs such as rent, machinery purchases, utility bills and so on. See also exploitation, surplus value.

Progressive

A person who favours government policies that reduce racial/sexual/gender discrimination, increase the social position of oppressed groups and promote social and economic equality. More crudely, progressives generally think that governments and societies should be (more) caring and inclusive.

Proletariat

An archaic word for “working class”. In ancient Rome, “proletariat” referred to landless free men impoverished by the extension of slavery. In the 1800s, Karl Marx used the word to refer to the growing social class of industrial workers employed by capitalists. There are few reasons to use “proletariat” or “proletarian” (“worker”) today, even when quoting nineteenth-century texts. “Working class” is a more accessible phrase. See also working class.

Propaganda

Protected action

Protectionism

A form of economic nationalism that favours restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs, quotas and other government regulations. Such policies aim to shield domestic businesses from foreign competitors and raise government revenue. Protectionism is generally counterposed to free trade. Socialists argue that both protectionism and free trade are strategies that capitalists have implemented at various times for their own benefit. The working class has little to gain from backing either strategy and should instead fight for its own economic interests.

Public housing

Housing owned directly by the government and used to house workers, either for free or at a significant discount to privately owned housing. Not to be confused with social or community housing, which are privately owned by companies or non-government organisations. Public housing was introduced in Australia from 1945 and grew from nearly zero to 96,000 dwellings. Unlike in Britain, it was never a significant proportion of the total housing stock. Nevertheless, from 1956, public housing came under attack and began to be demolished. This continued through the 1960s and 1970s, with attempts (some successful) by left-wing workers to defend the housing against demolition or sell-offs.

Publicly run

Government owned, as opposed to being owned by an individual, private company or non-government organisation. Historically, Australia had a large number of publicly run services including a bank, an airline, and telephone, water, gas and electricity services. Many of these were sold to private companies and investors during the 1980s and 1990s.

Q

R

Racism

The systematic stereotyping, oppression and persecution of people based on their ethnicity or skin colour. The English term first appeared in the US in 1862, during the Civil War. Modern racism developed in the colonial era (as a justification for European territorial expansion and the slave trade) and was central to the development of capitalism. As Karl Marx put it in Capital: “The discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalised the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production”. Racism remains useful to the capitalist class today as a tool to divide—and therefore rule—the working class, and to mobilise support for imperialist wars. (For more, see the Marxist Left Review article “Who is to blame for racism in Australia?”.) See also white supremacy, nationalism.

Rally

Usually, a public demonstration. Sometimes another collective show of strength: large political parties or other big organisations can hold rallies of their members and supporters to show how many activists support their cause. This second usage is now rather rare in English, but this may simply be because nowadays there aren’t many political parties in the English-speaking world that rely on enthusiastic support of millions of volunteers. See also demonstration.

Rank and file

The members of a group or organisation, such as a trade union or political party, who hold no official position, as opposed to its elected officials or leaders. The term derives from military usage, referring to the “ranks” and “files” which privates and non-commissioned officers form on parade.

Rate of profit

Reactionary

Typically used to describe variants of conservative politics, a reactionary person or organisation wants to reverse social or political progress in favour of a past social order deemed to be superior. The term réactionnaire originated during the French Revolution to describe those who wanted to restore the monarchy and the feudal system. See also right wing, conservative, fascist.

Reform(s)

A problematic term. Reforms are supposed to bring about improvements (e.g. to a law, policy, institution or social system), but whether such changes are actually beneficial depends on your class position. For example, the legalisation of abortion is a positive gain for women generally, and working-class women in particular. Other “reforms”, such as restricting the right to strike, serve to benefit the capitalist class by making it harder for workers to resist employer attacks (also often called “reforms”). Similarly, the “reform” of the higher education system is intended to shape it to the needs of the bosses and the state. Socialists fight for reforms that will improve the lives of workers and the oppressed, and to build workers’ confidence in their ability to change the world.

Reformism

A term with at least two distinct meanings. It can refer to the belief that socialism will be introduced through legal means, without an insurrection or a social revolution. But it can also mean the belief that socialism is unattainable, and that society can be improved only by reforming capitalism. (For more, see the Red Flag articles “Revolution, reform and socialist strategy” and “Reform or revolution?”.)

Relations of production

Reparations

Payments or compensation made to individuals or groups to acknowledge harm, loss, damage or injustice, frequently due to government policy. For example, the Stolen Generations received an apology from the Australian parliament, and some support services and payments, albeit inadequate, were provided. The victors of a war often exact reparations from the defeated country or countries, which may take the form of currency, precious metals, natural resources, industrial assets, or intellectual property.

Revisionism

Historical revisionism involves reinterpreting or reevaluating historical events (e.g. in the light of new evidence, or from a new perspective) to challenge established narratives. In the socialist movement, revisionism is another word for reformism, referring to the revision of core principles of Marxism. Revisionism is mostly associated with Eduard Bernstein, a leading member of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), who argued that socialism could be achieved gradually and peacefully through parliamentary means, and that revolution was therefore unnecessary. (For more, see the Red Flag articles “Revolution, reform and socialist strategy” and “Reform or revolution?”.)

Revolution

See political revolution and social revolution.

Revolutionary government

Right wing

Riot

A mass public disorder. Riots occur when large numbers of people take to the streets in anger, and may involve violence, looting and other “anti-social” activity. Riots are sometimes reactionary. For example, the antisemitic pogroms in Tsarist Russia, or the 2005 Cronulla riot, a racist rampage against anyone of “Middle Eastern appearance”. Often, they are a reaction to some outrage by capitalists or the state. For example, the 2004 Redfern riot or the 2011 English riots. Such riots are the inevitable product and an elemental form of revolt against a barbaric and violent system. (For more, see the Marxist Left Review article “Disturbing the peace: riots and the working class”.)

Ruling class

The social class which governs a given society through economic and political domination. This includes control over the state, as well as ownership of the key economic goods like factories, infrastructure, natural resources and land. In feudal societies, the aristocracy and landowners were the ruling class. Under capitalism, the the ruling class is made up of the capitalist class, government ministers, the heads of government departments, the top brass in the military and police, the chief justices of the judiciary and so on. See also capitalist. (For more, see the Red Flag article “The ruling class in Australia”.)

Russian revolution

S

Scab

Someone who continues to work during a strike, or is brought in to replace striking workers to keep production going and undermine the unity and effectiveness of the workers taking action. Also known as strikebreakers or blacklegs. Scabs are traitors to their class; they put their (perceived) self-interest above the interests of their fellow workers. (For more, see the Red Flag article “I call it scab”.)

Scientific socialism

A term used to describe Marxism, intended to distinguish it from the pre-Marxist socialist movement. Friedrich Engels, in his popular book Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, distinguished two forms of socialism. “Scientific” socialism, which Engels also calls “historical materialism”, is grounded in a theory of how one society transforms into another. It views history as a succession of “modes of production”; to move from capitalism to socialism involves a shift from one mode of production to another. A force capable of achieving this shift is identified: the working class. This approach is “scientific” in the sense that it involves an empirical analysis of the forces and laws involved in historical change. To this, Engels counterposes “utopian” socialism: a tradition in which intellectuals drew up plans for ideal societies based on their own preoccupations. See also historical materialism, Marxism, utopianism.

Second International

Also known as the Socialist International (SI), the successor organisation to the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), or First International. Established in 1889, it included representatives from most of Europe’s major working-class organisations, with the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) the most prominent. It sought to establish common policies for its member parties, and develop and coordinate their strategy and tactics. Though ostensibly Marxist, it included other political tendencies such as reformism and anarchism (until the expulsion of the anarchists in 1893). At its foundation, the SI proclaimed that socialists were “brothers [sic] with a single common enemy … private capital, whether it be Prussian, French or Chinese”, and from 1907 right up to July 1914 made numerous strident statements against militarism and war. However, once World War I began, most of the organisations in the SI—led by the SPD—capitulated to nationalism and supported their “own” states in the conflict. The Russian Bolsheviks were among the few who opposed this betrayal, which largely reflected the decisive shift towards reformism in the SPD. The split between the International’s reformist and revolutionary wings led to its collapse. The revolutionary forces regrouped, largely under the aegis of the Bolsheviks who, following the victory of the Russian revolution, established the Third or Communist International (Comintern).

Sectarianism

Contemporary usage refers to a narrow minded adherence to a particular religious sect. So we hear of “sectarian violence” between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, Hindus and Muslims in India, or Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle East. In Marxist terms, sectarianism generally means “to put one’s own organisation’s interests above the interests of the working class as a whole”. It has frequently been used as a term of abuse against anyone trying to build a specifically revolutionary party. Vladimir Lenin, for example, was accused of sectarianism by Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg when, during World War One, he demanded that revolutionaries organisationally split from the reformists who supported the war. Later, Trotsky’s followers were routinely accused of sectarianism for building organisations outside of the Stalinist and reformist parties.

Sectionalism

In the workers’ movement, sectionalism means prioritising the interests of a particular group of workers over the broader interests of the class as a whole—for example, skilled vs. unskilled workers, white-collar vs. blue collar.

Self-determination

Self-emancipation

Serf

From the Latin servus (“slave”), serfs were agricultural labourers in the feudal system of medieval Europe (roughly the fifth to the late fifteenth century). Serfs were obliged to work for a landlord and pay various dues in exchange for “protection” and for the right to farm a plot of land. While peasants were free to move about in search of work, serfs were effectively slaves, forbidden to leave their plot of land without permission. The last European country to abolish serfdom was Russia in 1861. See also feudalism.

Shop floor

An archaic term roughly meaning “workplace”—but with connotations of rank-and-file activism. For example, a “shop floor victory” implies that workers have gotten something (a pay rise, for example) through their own efforts, rather than it having been granted through a tribunal or the negotiation of union leaders. See also rank and file.

Shop steward

Another term for “delegate”; a union member elected (although sometimes appointed) as the workers’ representative in a particular workplace or department. See also delegate.

Slate system

A type of election in which people nominate and vote for a complete list (a team or “slate”) of candidates, as opposed to individuals.

Social class

Social democracy

1. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, most socialists and Marxists, including people such as Vladimir Lenin, called themselves social democrats. This was to differentiate themselves from simple social reformers—who wanted workers to have better lives but didn’t want to politically challenge the “old order”, which was often still run by remnants of the feudal ruling class—and those, often capitalists and their hangers on, who wanted more democracy but didn’t care much for the living conditions of workers. A social democrat was for socialism, a society that promised the most democracy and the greatest social reforms.

2. After the Russian revolution of 1917 and the establishment of the Third International, social democracy referred to the reformist socialism aligned to the Second International, typified by organisations such as the Australian Labor Party, the British Labour Party and the German Social Democratic Party. Many social democratic parties have since dropped any reference to socialism, yet retain links to the workers’ movement.

Socially necessary labour

Social revolution

Socialism

Solidarity

Soviet

From the Russian, meaning “council”. Soviets first appeared during the 1905 Russian revolution and became the basis of the workers’ government in 1917. In the absence of legal unions, they grew out of workers’ committees formed to organise, coordinate and link up strikes across cities and regions, but developed into institutions of workers’ power. In the words of Leon Trotsky, who was elected president of the 1905 Saint Petersburg Soviet, they are “the freely elected parliament of the working class”. Soviets were genuinely representative and democratic: delegates were elected by their workmates, continued to work and were recallable at any time; they received no special privileges and were always accountable to those who elected them. Hence, as the American journalist John Reed observed in 1917: “No political body more sensitive and responsive to the popular will was ever invented”. (For more, see the Red Flag article “The soviet in Trotsky’s 1905”.)

Speakout (a)

When people speak in a public place (e.g. a street corner) to argue for a cause or promote an event or activity. In the United States, the term is “soapboxing”. (See “Harlem’s soapbox speakers” at the Digital Harlem Blog for some history.)

Stalin, Joseph

Stalinism

State (the)

State capitalism

Strike

When workers collectively refuse to work for a specified or indefinite period in support of demands such as improved wages and conditions, or against employers’ attacks (e.g. surveillance, speed-ups, anti-union measures). By withdrawing their labour, workers stop production and the flow of profits to the boss. Strikes may occur in individual or groups of workplaces, or across particular industries; workers may strike in solidarity with other workers, or as a political protest. See also general strike.

Struggle

See class struggle.

Surplus value

The accumulated product of workers’ unpaid labour time. The difference between the value a worker creates and the wages they receive, surplus value is appropriated by capitalists and is the source of profit. (For more, see the Red Flag article “What is exploitation?”.)

Swamp (the)

Syndicalism

A labour movement current that aims to destroy capitalism through revolutionary trade unionism. Syndicalists tend to avoid what they call “political action”—forming political parties, running in parliamentary elections or placing demands on governments. In the twentieth century, syndicalists were often some of the bravest militants (the Industrial Workers of the World in Australia, for example). But they lacked a strategy for dealing with the centralised power of the capitalist state, which resulted in a series of disastrous defeats.

T

Tactic

Tankie

A pejorative term originally applied to supporters of the Soviet Union’s crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Since then, it has been used as a term of abuse against socialists who champion regimes—usually dictatorships—that they designate as “socialist” or “anti-imperialist” because they don’t belong to the US-led Western imperialist bloc. An example is Syria before the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in 2024. See also Stalinism.

Third International

The Communist International, or Comintern, was an international organisation established in 1919 by the Russian Communist Party (previously the Bolshevik party) to facilitate debate and collaboration between revolutionary socialist parties. It was established to build a revolutionary alternative to the reformist parties that supported the First World War and opposed the workers’ revolutions that broke out at the war’s end. Under Joseph Stalin’s leadership from the late 1920s, the Comintern was transformed from a forum of genuine debate and collaboration into a tool for enforcing the interests of Russia’s state bureaucracy on the world communist movement. The organisation was dissolved in 1943.

Third period

The ultra-left policy adopted by the Comintern (see Third International) at its Sixth World Congress in 1928. The concept was initially developed in 1926 by Nikolai Bukharin, but is mostly associated with Joseph Stalin. They argued that the “First Period” of revolutionary upsurge in 1917 and the following years was followed by a “Second Period” in which capitalism stabilised and the international working-class movement was pushed onto the defensive. But, they said, the weakness of capitalism, combined with the intense business competition for markets, would increase pressures to reduce production costs by driving down wages. The consequent lowering of working-class living standards would inevitably lead to a “Third Period” of intensified class struggle and social upheaval. To prepare for this, Communist parties outside the Soviet Union were instructed to purge “reactionary elements” (such as Trotskyists) and to abandon the “united front” policy of 1923–28. Social democratic parties were now designated as “social fascists” and attacked physically and verbally as enemies of the working class. This disastrous policy led to Hitler coming to power without a fight in 1933, and to the defeat of the Spanish Revolution in 1936.

Third World

Originally used during the Cold War to describe states not politically aligned with either the Western (capitalist) or Eastern (“communist”) blocs. Over time, it came to mean countries with low levels of economic development and low standards of living. Third World has increasingly been replaced by the term Global South. See also First World, Global South.

Third Worldism

Ticket

This has two meanings. 1. A list of candidates standing in an election as a group. A ticket can represent one party or a group of people who have decided to work together within a party or trade union. 2. Proof of membership in a union. The slogan “no ticket, no start” was popular in the twentieth century in many workplaces where union membership was a condition of employment (see closed shop).

Trade union

A membership organisation bringing workers together to defend their rights and to fight for higher wages. Unions generally represent workers across an industry or trade (Hence trade union or, sometimes, industrial union). For example, there are separate unions for construction workers, retail workers, nurses, teachers and so on. The principle of trade unionism is that workers have very little power as individuals to challenge bosses when the latter treat or pay them poorly. But as a collective, workers potentially have much more power than their boss. Because workers do all the work, they can band together and cause economic pain for their employer if they are mistreated. In Australia, unions are officially recognised and have legal rights to negotiate with bosses and produce workplace contracts. Workers join unions by signing up and paying a regular fee. See also strike, enterprise agreement, union bureaucrat.

Trotsky, Leon

A revolutionary socialist and key leader of the 1905 Russian revolution. Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks during 1917 and led the insurrection at the end of that year. A close collaborator of Vladimir Lenin: contemporaries often referred to the Russian post-revolutionary government as that of “Lenin and Trotsky”, as they were its two most prominent leaders. Trotsky led the military victory of the revolutionary government in the civil war following the revolution and became the most prominent revolutionary leader in Russia to oppose the emerging dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. Murdered by Stalin’s agents in 1940.

Trotskyism

A socialist current established to oppose the degeneration of the Russian Revolution into a dictatorship under Joseph Stalin. Named after revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky, who campaigned for the international Communist movement to return to the teachings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. After the death of Trotsky, the movement split into various currents and organisations. (For more, see the Red Flag article “Are you a Trotskyist?”.)

U

Ultra left

Union

See trade union.

Union bureaucracy

The permanent staff of the trade union movement. Mostly refers to the elected officials, organisers and recruiters whose roles are not necessarily bureaucratic in nature. The networks of paid officials who run trade unions are part of capitalism’s middle classes—so they have different economic interests from those of the workers they represent. Union officials mediate between workers and bosses, and often act in the interests of the latter, rather than the former.

Union bureaucrat

A pejorative term used to describe someone permanently employed by a trade union to carry out official union work.

United front

A tactic by which revolutionary parties lead a mass class struggle. The basic premise is that the revolutionary parties will officially propose a set of demands to the leaders of non-revolutionary workers’ parties, with the intent of launching joint actions (e.g. strikes) with the support of the reformist leaders. As a famous slogan put it, the revolutionaries would propose to the reformists that they “march separately, strike together” against the capitalist class. They “march separately” in the sense that they maintain their own identity, their own organisational existence, and their right to criticise their allies: imagine different contingents at a union march, with their own banners and signs. Nonetheless they “strike together”, often in the most literal sense: jointly participating in strikes or other actions aimed at realising specific demands. If the reformist leaders agree, a new round of class struggle commences; if they refuse, their support may be weakened to the advantage of revolutionary currents. This strategy was seen as a breakthrough when first developed in the 1920s, because it allowed revolutionary parties to maintain their political independence, raise the overall level of class struggle, and relate to workers who did not yet politically support them. Precisely because of its power and its status as a Lenin-endorsed tactical breakthrough, the concept has been heavily distorted throughout history, particularly by Stalinists, who use the term to describe its opposite: holding back class struggle to relate to capitalist politicians. This distortion later gained its own name: the popular front.

Unprotected action

In Australia, when workers take illegal industrial action. “Protected action” is when a strike occurs under a strict set of conditions set out in industrial laws. When an action is “unprotected”, individual workers, union officials and the trade union involved potentially face heavy fines or even jail.

Use-value

The practical utility or usefulness of something. Marx wrote that use-value is tied to “the physical properties of [a] commodity”, i.e. the intrinsic characteristics of a product that enable it to satisfy a human need or want. For example, the use-value of a pen is its capacity to write; the use-value of a lounge chair is that it is comfortable to sit on for extended periods; the use-value of a cup is that it holds liquids in a way that makes them easy to drink. While all this might seem inane on its own, the importance of the concept of use-value is brought to light when contrasted with “value” and “exchange-value” in Marx’s explanation of how capitalism works. See also commodity, exchange-value, value.

Utopian socialism

Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) describes an imaginary ideal society. The term derives from the Greek words ou-topos (“no place”) and eu-topos (“good place”), and subsequently became associated with early socialist thought. Some early socialist intellectuals planned out ideal model communities in which the “social problem” would, they hoped, be resolved. In the early nineteenth century, there were a number of such movements, often associated with attempts to sidestep the class struggle. The industrialist Robert Owen (1771–1858), for example, advocated the transformation of society into small, democratic collectives, and set up a community called New Lanark, which provided people with decent homes, schools, free health care and affordable food.

Friedrich Engels used the word “utopian” to describe these movements. According to him, these projects failed because they viewed socialism purely as an intellectual and ethical ideal: they held, in his words, that “socialism is the expression of absolute truth, reason and justice, and has only to be discovered to conquer all the world by virtue of its own power”. This led the utopian socialist movement to develop as an eclectic collection of rival geniuses and sects, all touting competing models. Engels counterposed this to “scientific” socialism, based on an understanding of historical development and the role class struggle plays in social transformation. In the Marxist movement, “utopian” is still used to characterise ideas that draw their power from attractive, but probably unrealisable, plans for a future society, without any plausible argument about how this society might come into existence. See also Marxism, scientific socialism.

V

Value

Vanguard

Literally “advanced guard”. Refers to the most class-conscious section of the working class. A vanguard does not always exist—sometimes there isn’t any discernible leading and class-conscious section of a country’s working class. A vanguard is created through a process of class struggle. Examples are Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) metalworkers in the 1917 Russian Revolution and car manufacturing workers in northern Italy in the Hot Autumn of 1969-70.

Variable capital

Voluntarism

The belief that social change can be achieved through sheer willpower and determined action. Some political currents are proudly voluntaristic: certain strains of anarchism reject any idea that “objective conditions” should limit revolutionary action, and consider Marxist “materialism” to be nothing more than an excuse for inaction. In some cases, the lines are blurred, and people who theoretically renounce voluntarism can still express it. A terrorist who thinks their assassination campaign will provoke a mass uprising, a small clique who launch a coup and call it a “revolution”, or a political celebrity who thinks their personal genius can overcome any obstacle, might all be accused of voluntarism. See also substitutionism.

W

Wages

The money paid to workers in exchange for their labour power. See also labour power, commodity, exploitation.

White supremacy

The belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore rule society. Its ideological foundations date back to seventeenth-century “scientific racism”, the discredited pseudoscientific belief that the human species is divided into a hierarchy of biologically distinct races, with white people at the top, and all other races considered inferior. The theory was used to justify slavery and colonialism. It persists today among far-right groups and ideologies in the United States, Europe and Australia, among other places.

Woke

Derived from African-American vernacular, woke originally meant being “awake” or alert to racial injustice and oppression. Early usage comes from the Black nationalist activist Marcus Garvey as early as the 1920s; by the 1930s, the phrase “stay woke” was popularised. Later usage was broadened to encompass awareness of other issues of social injustice, such as LGBTI oppression. From the late 2010s, and as a backlash grew against the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, “woke” began to be used by the political right as a pejorative term against the left and progressives. For example, people who are opposed to racism and other forms of bigotry, and who argue that society ought to be more equal, are often described as having “the woke mind virus”—which is a rhetorical manoeuvre by right-wingers to make bigotry appear sensible/rational, and anti-racism pathological.

Worker

A member of the working class.

Workers’ control

Workers’ council

Workers’ government

Workers’ movement

Workers’ self-management

Working class

X

Y

Z

Zionism