agriculture

Organised farming, using tools, which allows the production of a surplus.

artisans

Skilled craftspeople, members of crafts/trades guilds, e.g. silversmiths. Produced goods and were involved in the production process from start to finish, making it a slow and inefficient (in terms of cost) process. Marx argued that these skills were lost with industrialisation, alienating the workers from their work.

base

The economic foundations of society, the class conflict that defines that society/mode of production. E.g. proletariat vs bourgeoisie, serfs vs nobility.

bourgeois

This describes something that belongs to the bourgeoisie, e.g. ‘bourgeois culture’.

bourgeoisie

This class are the elite, who own and control the means of production. They prosper under capitalism by exploiting the proletariat, by extracting surplus value.

capital

A financial surplus or financial reserve (like savings) which can then be invested in industry, equipment etc.

capitalism

Our current mode of production, based on class conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

class

Large group of people in society, defined by their relationship to the means of production.

class consciousness

An awareness of one’s own exploitation/position in society, i.e. the proletariat realise that they are not being paid the full value of their labour. Band together to overthrow the ruling class and take control of the means of production for the masses.

commodities

Goods that can be sold in the market, e.g. shoes, cars, sausages. One problem for modern Marxists is whether this should include ‘service industry’ products like restaurant meals, hotel rooms etc.

communism

A final, ideal stage that follows on from socialism.

conflict

Ongoing struggle, based on fundamental contradictions in a society. This may not always mean violence, as in ‘the conflict in the Gulf’, although it may sometimes erupt into a violent revolution.

epoch

A long period of time, defined by class relations, i.e. the mode of production. Feudalism was one epoch, capitalism is another.

exploitation

Using someone or something for your own ends, e.g. the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat.

false consciousness

Bourgeois ideology, spread through the superstructure, e.g. education, church etc, fools the proletariat into believing that capitalism is a ‘natural’ state of affairs, that they are not being exploited.

feudalism

A mode of production where the primary class relations were between serfs and the nobility, or lords/lairds. Immediately preceded capitalism.

ideology

A system of ideas, philosophy, and explanations about society, e.g. bourgeois ideology explains society in a way that favours the bourgeoisie and helps to maintain capitalism (see also false consciousness).

Industrial Revolution

Process of rapid industrialisation in the early 19^th century, which saw major developments in technology, new forms of production of goods, and a major population shift from the countryside to cities and towns.

industrialisation

See Industrial Revolution

means of production

The factories, machinery, tools, land etc required to produce commodities.

mercantile class

A new class who made a living by trading and developing trade links with the New World during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, amassing capital and challenging the existing ruling class.

mode of production

The system of production of commodities/goods, i.e. the way in which production is organised, the class relations of the time. Feudalism is a mode of production, capitalism is another. See also epoch.

New World

Parts of the globe ‘discovered’ during the 17^th and 18^th century – the Americas, Australia etc.

nobility

Ruling class who inherited their positions through birth, the aristocracy. Belong to the feudal period but still survive into capitalism, although their power has largely gone.

overproduction

The bourgeoisie wish to maximise their profits, therefore they produce more goods. The proletariat are not paid the full value of their labour, therefore they can’t afford to buy the goods they produce, or can’t buy very many of them – this causes a crisis of overproduction, where there are excess goods which cannot be sold.

primitive communalism

Early societies that were not defined by class relations as such – tribal, hunter-gatherer societies where there is enough food to survive, but nothing more.

proletariat

This class are the masses, the working class under capitalism. For Marx, this means anyone who ‘owns nothing but their own labour’, i.e. they have to sell their labour to the bourgeoisie to survive, they don’t own factories, live on rent etc.

raw materials

The materials required to produce goods, e.g. rubber, coal, cotton etc. The need for raw materials during the Industrial Revolution and throughout capitalism, Marxists argue, has led to the exploitation of the developing world and of the environment.

serfs

Subsistence farmers, smallholders who grew enough produce to feed themselves and their families, and who paid rent to the local nobility (lord/laird) ‘in kind’ e.g. gave a certain amount of their produce to the local nobility.

slavery

A mode of production where the primary class relations were between slaves and masters/slave owners, who owned their workers and forced them to work, using physical punishment if they refused.

socialism

A system whereby the proletariat would take over the means of production and oust the bourgeoisie from their position of power. Marx saw this as a transition stage between capitalism and communism, where some of the old relations (e.g. the use of money) would still exist.

superstructure

The rest of society built on the base, and determined by the class relations in that society. In capitalism, the legal system, education system etc form the superstructure, and exist to promote the interests of the bourgeoisie and maintain capitalism.

surplus

More than is needed to survive (in terms of agriculture); an excess, extra.

surplus value

The ‘extra value’ added by the workers – raw materials, machinery and labour go in, for a certain cost – the finished product comes out, and is sold for a lot more. Marx argued that the profits taken by the owners of the means of production were in fact ‘surplus value’ taken from the workers, who are not paid the full value of their labour.