Fraternity - The sharing of common interests and beliefs; it implies that a group with similar interests and beliefs are as close as 'if they were brothers'.

Socialists argue that our behaviour is determined by economic forces. Socialism therefore adopts a stance of economic determinism.

Co-operation - Socialism is based on the fundamental premise that human nature is a work-in-progress and that our behaviour is determined by the economic system.

Common ownership - AKA public ownership; this occurs when an organisation is run by the government for the benefit of all members of society.

Capitalism - An economic and political system in which property and resources are owned privately, rather than by the state, with the intention of generating profit.

Communism - An economic system based upon public ownership and a planned economy.

Socialism rejects the conservative argument that human nature cannot be altered.

This is in sharp contrast to liberals and to some extent conservatives who favour equality of opportunity.

The social classes can be distinguished between those who own the means of production and those who work the means of production.

The means of production is a Marxist term which refers to those elements of the production process that can be legally owned such as land and machinery.

The bourgeoisie have every incentive to pay workers the lowest wage possible in order to maximise profit. If an employee refuses to accept this arrangement, they can be threatened with the sack and be replaced by members of the reserve army of labour.

Under the exploitative conditions of the capitalist economic system, the surplus value of the proletariat is appropriated by the bourgeoisie.

The worker is little more than a cog in a heartless and brutal capitalist machine. He/She is reduced to the status of a wage slave in which their labour is exploited by the owners of capital driven solely by the profit motive.

They become de-personalised from their own work and the fruits of their labour are stolen by the bourgeoisie.

The transformation of society lies in the hands of the proletariat.

Revolutionary socialists believe that capitalists will resist the rise of a socialist movement because they have a vested interest in the status quo.

The brave comrades who stand for whole-scale change will inevitably meet the full force of the repressive state apparatus.

The provision of a welfare state and a limited degree of wealth redistribution serves to strengthen the discredited status quo.

The strand of socialism closest to the centre of the political spectrum.

Social democrats believe strongly in the virtues of co-operation between the government, the unions and management.
Wealth created within society should be reallocated via a combination of progressive taxation, an extensive welfare state programme and a significant role for both the public and private sector.

They firmly reject the view of revolutionary socialists that the means towards a better society is one that necessitates political violence.

Those further to the left of the political spectrum have claimed repeatedly that social democrats have sold-out the core values of socialism to placate powerful capitalist interests.

The creation of a society built around social justice and equality does not therefore require a mass programme of nationalisation and state control as advocated by democratic socialists.

An economic system based primarily upon private ownership can be civilized via an extensive set of left-wing policies.

A political and theoretical perspective that seeks to modify left-wing ideas towards the economic and political realities of globalisation.

Class consciousness - A stage along the course of human development at which the proletariat becomes fully aware of the exploitation.

False consciousness - A state of affairs in which the proletariat fail to gasp the truly exploitative nature of capitalism.

Dual consciousness - A situation in which an individual is said to hold two contradictory sets of beliefs at the same time.

Historical materialism - In order for human beings to continue to survive it is essential that they can produce (and reproduce) the 'material possessions/requirements' of life; how those material goods are produced is the key to understanding society.

Dialect - A process that drives social change. Hegelian philosophy stipulates that social change occurs via an internal conflict upon which all ideas and states of affairs rest.

Keynesianism - Based upon the assumption that the government should intervene within the economy to mitigate the problems of market failure.

Social democrats are flawed in their assumption that capitalism can be tamed by state intervention.

Only a revolution will lead to a better economic system and a better world.

Social class can be distinguished via the means of production.

Marx states that the biggest obstacle towards social progress is religion.

Marx predicted a global revolution led by the proletariat but this has not occurred despite capitalism facing repeated crisis.

The Marxist response that the working-classes are suffering from false consciousness seems a self-serving one, and indeed, according to Raymond Aron, Marxism itself is the 'opium of the intellectuals'.

He agrees with Marx that the means to establish a classless society was a via a bloody revolution.

As with Marx, his entire outlook was shaped by the Hegelian concept of historical materialism.

The inevitability of gradualness - the gradualist parliamentary strategy for achieving evolutionary socialism.

Beatrice and Sidney Webb wrote the original Clause 4 of the Labour Party's constitution.
This pledged that Labour would 'secure for the workers by hands or by brains the full fruits of their industry.'

Co-founded the anti-war Spartacus League and the newspaper 'The Red Flag' to raise awareness of exploitation under capitalism.