Proletariat
The class that is defined by lack of ownership of means of production that must work to sustain itself.
Tag: basic terms
Rate of profit
(see also, tendency of the rate of profit to fall) This is the general rate at which capital investment makes returns.
Red Terror
Red Terror refers to the active suppression of the bourgeoisie after the Revolution.
Relations of production
(see also, means of production) Classes are made of complexes or networks of productive and property relations. The raw material of
Reproductive labor
The conditions that permit people to exercise their labor power don’t occur naturally; that is, the work force must eat, sleep, replenish
Revolutionary masses
The proletariat and lower sections of the petit-bourgeoisie when taken together en masse. The revolution springs from the revolutionary masses.
Socialist construction
This is the period during which the material basis for socialism is being laid down. Productive relations are being changed, social formations
State
(see also, class dictatorship) The “public power” which no longer directly coincides with the population organizing itself. This public power becomes
Surplus value
Any period during which the worker has already made back the value of their wage and yet is still producing commodities for
Tendency of the rate of profit to fall
(see also, rate of profit; composition of capital) The general rate of profit has a tendency to decrease over time. As
Value
Marx identifies three values that exist under commodity production: labor value, a quantitative measure of how much work is expended to create
Wage labor
An element of commodity production – the mode of production whereby one sells their labor power in exchange for a wage.
White terror
White is the color taken up by the old nobility, counter-revolutionary nationalists, and other conservative forces during the 19th and 20th century.