Glossary

Updated 29 June 2026

anarchism (n):

  1. the political ideology and movement that seeks the dissolution of hierarchies, especially those of the state and capitalism. See also libertarianism.

antifa (n):

  1. a decentralized movement of militant radicals opposing antifascists by discovering and exposing them to their communities and workplaces, and protesting and counterprotesting fascist appointments and policies; the name antifa is a reference to the short-lived Antifaschistische Aktion group, a militant organization within the German Communist Party (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, or KPD) in 1932-1933.

black bloc (n):

  1. a tactic employed by left-wing protesters to act in solidarity and protect involved individuals, in which all members dress in black clothing, often including balaclavas or other facemasks.

Bolshevism (n):

  1. the Marxist policies of the USSR under the administration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which evolved from the Bolshevik (Russian: majority) faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and was led by Vladimir Lenin. See also *Marxism-Leninism.

capitalism (n):

  1. a society in which the means of production are privately owned and owners (i.e. capitalists) hire wage workers to create products which belong to the owner and are sold to make them a profit.

Castroism (n):

  1. the Marxist policies of Cuba under the administration of Fidel Castro.

center (n):

  1. the center of the political spectrum represents the status quo for a society.

communism (n):

  1. a society in which communities and trades are managed by those who live and work in them; a movement that seeks to establish this kind of society. See also socialism(1).
  2. the revolutionary socialists, including most Marxists and anarchists.
  3. when capitalized and/or contrasted with Socialism and Anarchism, the revolutionary movement to achieve a communist society via Marxist (or Marxist-Leninist, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, etc.) methods.

democratic socialism (n):

  1. the evolutionary or reformist movement to achieve a socialist society, often contrasted with Communism(3) and Anarchism. See also Socialism(3).

dialectical materialism (n):

  1. the academic, scholarly, or "scientific" method employed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It is the application of Georg Friedrich Hegel's dialectics to the material world (instead of mind/spirit).

historical materialism (n):

  1. the theory devised by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that human history is marked by distinct stages through which we progress. The stages are marked by the society's property relations, specifically the group of people (i.e. class) that controls the means of production.

left-wing (adj):

  1. progressive, i.e. forward-looking, political positions
  2. political positions that seek a greater distribution of power in society

libertarianism (n):

  1. in general, a political ideology and movement critical of state power.
  2. a political ideology and movement that seeks to restrict state power to the enforcement of private property or, in the case of anarcho-capitalists, the privatization of state functions that enforce private property; also known as modern American libertarianism or, disparagingly, propertarianism.
  3. see anarchism.

libertarian Marxism (n):

  1. a variant of Marxism that emphasizes the libertarian/anarchistic principles.

Marxism (n):

  1. the category of socialism that applies Karl Marx's dialectical materialism to first examine material conditions, then act within that framework to progress society toward a socialist(1)/communist(1) society; also known as scientific socialism.

Marxism-Leninism (n):

  1. the Marxist policies of the USSR under the administration of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Also known as Bolshevism.

Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (n):

  1. the Marxist policies of China under the administration of Mao Zedong.

radicalism (n):

  1. a category for left-wing ideologies that seek to transform or replace current norms, laws, and institutions; from Latin radix, meaning root: to completely change society from the root.

right-wing (adj):

  1. conservative or reactionary—"backward-looking"—political positions
  2. political positions that seek a greater concentration of power in society

scientific socialism (n):

  1. see Marxism.

socialism (n):

  1. a society in which communities and trades are managed by those who live and work in them; a movement that seeks to establish this kind of society. See communism.
  2. the general category of left-wing ideologies, including democratic socialism, communism, anarchism, Marxism, etc.
  3. when capitalized and/or contrasted with Communism(3) and Anarchism, the evolutionary or reformist movement to achieve a socialist society; see democratic socialism.

social democracy (n):

  1. the political ideology and movement that seeks to ameliorate the negative effects of capitalism with state policies, funding social welfare programs through progressive taxation.

Stalinism (n):

  1. the Marxist policies of the USSR under the administration of Josef Stalin.

Trotskyism (n):

  1. the Marxist ideas of Lev "Leon" Trotsky.

utopian socialism (n):

  1. the category of socialism that appeals to moral characters and idyllic harmonious societies (in contrast to Karl Marx's dialectic materialism), often associated with anarchism.