DaC Glossary
ascriptive status
A mechanism by which people are stratified into social classes based on qualities not in their control—for example, gender or race
capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership of means of production, wage labor, and the accumulation and investment of capital through profits; a system of social classes organized by access to ownership of capital
class
A group that shares economic, political, and/or social status
commoning
Social labor that manages the resources of a commons through participatory, nonhierarchical methods
commons
Any form of shared wealth or value, including the provision of services
communal labor
Labor to support a commons based on expectations of participation by its community, whether explicit or implicit
community economy
An economic system that encourages local forms of production, resource allocation, and social forms of labor and exchange
conspicuous consumption
Consuming goods for their symbolism of status
constituent
An empowered member of a community; one part of a whole
consumerism
Social, economic, and political organization based on the theory that increased consumption of goods is desirable; preoccupation with buying of consumer goods
contradictory class locations
Professions or individuals occupying multiple class positions between capital and labor, based on access to authority and/or particular skills or expertise
critical theory
Critique of culture and society through the lens of power structures; engaging philosophy to help overcome social structures that oppress or dominate people
degrowth
Political and economic theories and movements emphasizing minimal production, ecological and social sustainability, and cooperation and working against paradigms of economic growth
discourse
The use of language about a subject that shapes how that subject is thought about, how it is communicated, and (in disciplinary terms) how it is practiced.
endogenous growth theory
Theory arguing that economic growth is primarily the result of increasing knowledge of and about technology, distributing access to knowledge and thus growing potential for innovation; “economics of ideas” rather than of objects
erosion
The action of transcending the structures and neutralizing the harms of capitalism in civil society while also neutralizing the harms inflicted by capitalist government to create new forms of economic and social functioning
excludability
Whether goods or services are available only to people who pay for their use or ownership (excludable) or are freely available (nonexcludable)
Fordism
Assembly-line methods for increased production efficiency; division of labor and specialization of production operations for mass production
functionalism
Modernist design ethos that “form follows function”; technical, material, and aesthetic unity under the demands of instrumental purpose
hacker class
McKenzie Wark’s term for the class of creative producers of cultural forms of value in an “information political economy”
hegemony
Pervasiveness of a system of thinking or doing that asserts itself over other possibilities, often without being chosen or without even being noticed
innovation pessimism
Belief or concern that technological achievements are of decreasing significance for humanity
Keynesianism
Governmental policies and programs to increase employment as well as consumer demand and spending; named for the British economist John Maynard Keynes
labor theory of value
Theory aruguing that the economic value of a good or service is determined by the amount of "socially necessary labor" required to produce it.
latent agency
A person’s or group’s unused or not (yet) enabled capacity to act in a certain way
marginal production costs
The cost required to produce one additional unit of a good or service
Marxism
Socioeconomic analysis that evaluates modes of material production to understand class relations and views class conflicts as the primary driver of historical change; named for the German political philosopher Karl Marx
mass culture
Capitalist consumer society in which public opinion, values, and political views are shaped by mass (broadcast) media and the mass production of consumable goods
military Keynesianism
Economic policy that advocates government spending on the military to boost economic growth
neoliberalism
Twentieth-century resurgence of free-market liberalism; associated with privatization, globalization, deregulation, free trade, austerity of public spending, and minimal government for protections of private rights and ownership
planned obsolescence
Design or production of a product with an artificially limited lifespan through deliberately decreased functionality
postmodernism
Broad social, philosophical, and cultural movement emerging in the late twentieth century that challenged claims of universality and “grand narratives” of modernism; the ambiguous historical era after modernity
product (or design) obsolescence
Design of a product so that it becomes less usable and/or less desirable or appears out of date before reaching its functional lifespan
proletarianization
the social process of people becoming wage laborers rather than working for their own subsistence
reciprocal labor
Labor to support a commons in which community members contribute time or effort with the expectation of reciprocity
rivalry
Whether a good’s consumption by one consumer prevents consumption by others (rivalrous) or simultaneous consumption by multiple consumers is possible (nonrivalrous)
scientificity
The quality of being or seeming scientific
social relations
Interactions between two or more people or groups that can be shaped by the cultural, political, and economic conditions of society
spillover effects
Economic events in one context that occur because of events in a seemingly unrelated context
stagflation
An economic condition of high inflation and high unemployment
subjective theory of value
Theory arguing that the value of goods and services is determined by the individual choices regarding the perceived benefit or pleasure provided, not by the amount of labor or materials costs
subjectivity
cultural understandings of one’s self and the world based on external phenomena
surplus value
The difference between the value of the inputs of production (labor, materials, tools, knowledge) and the value they produce
Taylorism
Scientific approach to production to increase factory efficiency; evaluating each step in a manufacturing process to break it down into specialized, repetitive tasks with measurable inputs and outputs
toil glamour
The presentation of intense cultural or cognitive work as attractive or exciting
vectoralist class
McKenzie Wark’s term for the class of owners who own, operate, and control information networks and platforms in an “information political economy”
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