unit 6 socialism Flashcards
(26 cards)
Historical Materialism:
Historical Materialism: The idea that economic structures shape societal development and history.
Example: The shift from feudalism to capitalism driven by changes in production methods.
class struggle
Class Struggle: Conflict between classes over control of resources.
Example: Workers fighting for better wages against factory owners.
surplus value
Surplus Value: The value produced by workers beyond their wages, which is retained by capitalists as profit.
Example: A worker produces goods worth $100 but is paid only $50; the $50 is surplus value.
MOP
Means of Production: Resources and tools used to produce goods.
Example: Factories, machinery, and land.
Labor Alienation:
Workers feel disconnected from their work, products, and colleagues.
Example: Factory workers performing repetitive tasks without understanding the final product.
Process Fragmentation:
Process Fragmentation: Breaking down tasks into small, unskilled parts.
Example: Assembly line production in modern factories.
Utopian Socialism:
: Idealistic visions of equitable societies without detailed implementation plans.
Example: Robert Owen’s model communities.
Marxist Socialism:
Focuses on class struggle and revolution to achieve communism.
Example: The Russian Revolution (1917).
anarchism
Advocates for stateless, self-managed societies.
Example: Spanish Civil War anarchist collectives.
social democracy
Promotes gradual reforms within capitalism to achieve social justice.
Example: Nordic welfare states.
planned economy
Planned Economy: State control over production and distribution to meet societal needs.
Example: Five-Year Plans in the Soviet Union.
Class Consciousness:
Class Consciousness: Awareness of one’s social class and its interests.
Example: Workers organizing trade unions.
Dictatorship of the Proletariat:
Dictatorship of the Proletariat: A transitional phase where workers govern before a classless society emerges.
Example: Soviet governance under Lenin.
Positive Freedom:
Positive Freedom: Freedom to achieve one’s potential through access to resources and rights.
Example: Free education enabling individual development.
Economic, Political, and Cultural Bases:
socialism
Economic: Redistribution of resources, planned economies, and public ownership.
Example: Nationalization of industries.
Political: Emphasis on collective decision-making and equality.
Example: Workers’ councils (soviets).
Cultural: Promotes solidarity, cooperation, and egalitarianism.
Example: Cultural celebrations of workers’ achievements.
Real Socialism: * -
Real Socialism: Implementation of socialist ideas in states like the USSR, often diverging from theoretical principles.
Positive Outcomes: Universal healthcare, reduced inequality.
Negative Outcomes: Authoritarianism, inefficiency, and suppression of dissent.
Absolute Deprivation
Absolute Deprivation: Lack of basic resources for survival.
Example: Extreme poverty in developing regions.
Relative Deprivation:
Relative Deprivation: Feeling disadvantaged compared to others in society.
Example: A middle-class worker perceiving inequality when comparing themselves to the wealthy.
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism: Belief in equal rights and opportunities for all.
Example: Progressive tax systems.
Socialism
Socialism: Focuses on collective ownership and equitable distribution within a structured state.
Example: Social democracies.
Communism
Communism: A stateless, classless society achieved after socialism.
Example: Theoretical vision of Marxist communism.
Popular Sovereignty:
Popular Sovereignty: People as the ultimate source of political power.
Example: Referendums on national policies.
Liberal vs. Socialist Democracy:
Liberal: Focuses on individual freedoms.
Socialist: Prioritizes equality and collective welfare.
