- "whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products to everyone in the society based on need."
A political and economic system characterized by common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes.
The Communist Manifesto: Written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, this is a foundational text of communism that outlines socialist theory and the goals of the Communist Party.
Marxist Theory: The body of thought developed by Karl Marx and his followers that focuses on the relationship between labor and capital and the structures of power and exploitation that arise from it.
Dialectical Materialism: The philosophical system used by Marx to analyze society and history through the interaction of material conditions and social relations.
Historical Materialism: The idea that history is driven by material conditions and that economic and social factors are the primary drivers of social change.
Class Struggle: The conflict between the ruling and working classes and the struggle for power and resources that arises from it.
Socialism: An economic and political system that focuses on public ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods and services.
Capitalism: An economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and a market-based approach to the distribution of goods and services.
Imperialism: The domination of one country over another, typically through economic or military means.
The Dictatorship of the Proletariat: The idea that workers must seize state power and establish a socialist government in order to bring about a classless society.
Leninism: The theory and practice of revolutionary socialism as expounded by Vladimir Lenin, which emphasizes the need for a tightly organized, vanguard party to lead the proletariat in a revolution.
The Soviet Union: The first state to officially declare itself a socialist republic, established in 1917 after the October Revolution led by Lenin and the Bolshevik Party.
Maoism: A form of communism developed by Mao Zedong, which emphasizes peasant revolution and mobilization and the importance of revolutionary guerrilla warfare.
Gramsci's Theory of Cultural Hegemony: The idea that dominant social groups use cultural institutions to maintain their power and control over society.
Radical Feminism: A political theory that emphasizes the importance of gender equality and the struggle against patriarchal oppression.
Anarchism: A political philosophy that emphasizes individual freedom and the abolition of hierarchy and social oppression.
Democratic Centralism: The organizational principle used by Communist parties, which involves a hierarchy of leadership, collective decision-making, and strict adherence to party discipline.
The Paris Commune: A short-lived socialist government that controlled Paris in 1871, established after the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War.
The Spanish Civil War: A conflict that took place in Spain from 1936 to 1939, in which left-wing forces, including communists and anarchists, fought against the fascist regime of Francisco Franco.
The Cuban Revolution: A socialist revolution in Cuba led by Fidel Castro and the Communist Party, which overthrew the US-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A period of political upheaval in China from 1966 to 1976, in which Mao and his followers sought to purge capitalist and traditionalist elements from Chinese society.
- "entail the absence of private property and social classes, and ultimately money and the state (or nation state)."
- "disagree on the means to this end" and "a more libertarian approach of communization, revolutionary spontaneity, and workers' self-management" vs. "a more authoritarian vanguardist or communist party-driven approach through the development of a socialist state followed by the withering away of the state."
- "placed on the left-wing alongside socialism" and "described as radical left or far-left."
- "anarchist communism, Marxist schools of thought, and religious communism, among others."
- "the current order of society stems from capitalism, its economic system, and mode of production, that in this system there are two major social classes, that the relationship between these two classes is exploitative, and that this situation can only ultimately be resolved through a social revolution."
- "the proletariat, who make up the majority of the population within society and must sell their labor power to survive, and the bourgeoisie, a small minority that derives profit from employing the working class through private ownership of the means of production."
- "grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe" and "came into power, first in the Soviet Union with the Russian Revolution of 1917, and then in portions of Eastern Europe, Asia, and a few other regions after World War II."
- "one-party rule by a communist party, the rejection of private property and capitalism, state control of economic activity and mass media, restrictions on freedom of religion, and suppression of opposition and dissent."
- "China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam."
- "inherent inefficiencies of communist economies" and "the general trend of communist governments towards authoritarianism and bureaucracy."
- "several scholars posit that in practice the model functioned as a form of state capitalism."
- "a battleground between the anti anti-communist political left and the anti-communist political right."
- "mass killings under communist regimes and mortality rates" and "remain a controversial, polarized, and debated topic in academia, historiography, and politics when discussing communism and the legacy of Communist states."