Reference

Glossary

Key terms and concepts for navigating Marxist theory.

ABCL
A

Alienation

That feeling that your life doesn't belong to you — because under capitalism, it kind of doesn't. Marx had a word for it.

Foundations
B

Base and Superstructure

The economy shapes everything else — politics, law, culture, religion — but not as simply as you'd think. It's a metaphor, and like all metaphors, it leaks.

Foundations
C

Commodity

Anything produced not because you need it, but because you can sell it. It's the basic unit of capitalism — and the reason everything has a price tag.

Political Economy

Communism

Both a living political movement and a vision of a society organized around human need instead of private profit. It's simpler than they want you to think.

Foundations
L

Labor

The thing that makes us human — conscious, purposeful activity that transforms the world. Also the thing capitalism steals from you eight hours a day.

Political Economy