Chapter 9 Concepts Flashcards
The economic system of a society, made up of technology ( the means of production ) and class relations between people ( the relations of production )
Base
The property owning class
Bourgeoisie
The legislature - like body body of a communist party
Central Commitee
A communist economic system in which the state explicitly allocates resources by planning what should be produced and in what amounts, the final pieces of goods, and where they should be sold
Central Planning
A political - economic system in which all wealth and property are shared so as to eliminate exploitation, oppression, and, ultimately, the need for political institutions such as the state.
Communism
Process of historical change that is not evolutionary but revolutionary; the existing base and superstructure (thesis) would come into conflict with new technological innovations, generating growing opposition to the existing order (antithesis) - this would culminate in revoution, overthrowing the old base and superstructure (synthesis)
Dialectical Materialism
Literally, “openess”; the policy of political liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s
Glasnost
Politically sensitive or influential jobs in the state, society, or economy that were staffed by people chosen or approved by the Communist Party
Nomenklatura
A political system in which power flows directly from the ruling political party to the state, bypassing government structures
China and Russia are examples of this
Party - State
Literally, “restructuring”; the policy of political and economic liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s
Perestroika
Top policy - making and executive body in the Communist Party
Politburo
A process of rapid marketization
Shock therapy
An noneconomic institutions in a society ( ex. religion, culture national identity ) these ideas and values derive from the base and serve to legitimize the current system of exploitation
Superstructure
Lenin’s argument that an elite communist party would have to carry out revolution, because as a result of false consciousness , historical conditions would not automatically lead to capitalism’s demise
Vanguard of the Proletariat