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Marx test
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24
Sociology
Undergraduate 3
03/01/2009

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Term
Capitalism
Definition
A form of economic organization in which individuals accumulate and invest capital
Term
Socialism
Definition
A form of economic organization that relies on state planning and publicly held property.
Term
Communism
Definition
A social system characterized by a lack of government and class system where everyone has a hand in ownership.
Term
Social Classes (as used by Engels and Marx)
Definition
Economic stratification – class systems founded purely on a material basis
Term
Bourgeoisie
Definition
Those who own the means of production
Term
Capitalists
Definition
Those who own the means of production under capitalism and are therefore in a position to exploit the workers
Term
Proletariat
Definition
The class of industrial wage earners who possessing neither capital nor production means, must earn their living from their labor power
Term
Class Consciousness
Definition
The ability of a class, in particular the proletariat, to overcome false consciousness and attain an accurate understanding of the capitalist system.
Term
False Consciousness
Definition
Both the bourgeoisie and proletariat have an understanding of their class, themselves and their relationship to one another.
Term
Idealism
Definition
Emphasizes the importance of the mind and mental products rather then the material world.
Term
Materialism
Definition
The mode of production of material life conditions the social, political and intellectual life process in general
Term
Dialectical Materialism
Definition
The way members of a society are organized to produce things creates social classes that are inevitably in conflict. This conflict and other internal contradictions leads the society to change.
Term
Commodity
Definition
An object outside of us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of some sort or another.
Term
Fetishism of Commodities
Definition
The process which workers fail to recognize that it is their labor that gives the commodities their value. They fetishize those commodities and come to believe that value arises from the natural properties of the things themselves.
Term
Means of Production
Definition
Those things that are needed for production to take place.
Term
Relations of Production
Definition
Reciprocal relations established between people in the process of producing material goods.
Term
Use Value
Definition
Embodies usefulness or pleasures for people. Must combine matter and labor to make something useful.
Term
Exchange Value
Definition
The amount of money for which you can sell something. The amount of the object does not lie in the commodity, but what is deemed good by society's standards.
Term
Surplus Value (profit)
Definition
The difference between the value of the product and the value of the elements consumed in the formation of that product.
Term
Labor Power and how labor power is different from all other commodities
Definition
Labor power - labor itself is sold on the market just like any other commodity.

1. It is attached to a person - feelings needs, etc.
2. It is labor power that adds value - the worker works more hours than it costs to pay their salary
Term
Marx's rejection of Hegel's idealism
Definition
Rejected it because he believed in the idea that things are actually real, unlike Hegel, in the sense that if you’re hungry, you are actually hungry. Don’t need to rely so much on human consciousness and spiritualism, you must focus on the practical subjects.

You also can’t change people’s perceptions of reality.
Term
What Marx accepted from Hegel
Definition
Did agree with Hegel’s dialectical approach.
Term
Why are owners and workers inevitably in conflict with each other?
Definition
Owners was an efficient system and reduced cost of labor where as workers want more pay and better working conditions.
Term
From a Marxist perspective, why do electoral systems of democracy work well to protect the interests of the capitalists in capitalist societies?
Definition
The state is usually run by the bourgeoisie, or the dominant class. Since they are the ones who are the dominant class, they have more power overall.
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