Bourgeoisie

Composing the class of modern capitalists, the bourgeoisie are the employers of wage laborers, and the owners of the means of production.

Means of Production

The means of production include not only the physical instruments of production (tools, machines, etc.), but also the methods of working (skills, forms of cooperation, division of labor, etc.), and knowledge that can be applied to production (science, etc.).

Mode of Production

The economic structure of society that defines people's mode of living. It consists of the means of production as well as the relations of production.

Proletariat

The class of modern wage-laborers. They do not have their own means of production, and therefore they must sell their own labor in order to survive.

Relations of Production

The necessary relations between people as required for a certain form of material production. The relations of production refer to the distribution of the means of production, the forms of possession (collective and individual private property), and the distribution of the product.

Use-Value

A use-value is something that is valuable because it is useful. It can also be a measurement of the usefulness of a commodity.

Labor-Power

According to Marx, labor-power is “the aggregate of those mental and physical capabilities existing in the physical form, the living personality, of a human being, capabilities which sets in motion whenever he produces a use-value of any kind.”

Commodity

An external object that satisfies a human need either directly or indirectly. 

Communism

A mode of production based on the collective ownership of the means of production. 

Capitalism

A mode of production based on private ownership of the means of production.

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