“Language is powerful. It can open the world up like sunrise and it can block out the sky like prison walls” – from Mindful Occupation, Rising Up Without Burning Out
Some people on the left use unusual words to explain oppression and resistance, which can be helpful. The problem though is that not all of us understand what these terms mean – which in itself can exclude people! So, here’s a glossary to help:
- Ableism – Exclusion and prejudice against people that society calls ‘disabled’. This can happen directly or by simply not making an effort to meet accessibility needs
- Apologist – A person of group that makes excuses for, tries to rationalise or plays down the impact/importance of horrible, horrible things. e.g. a Nazi apologist would say “you know the Third Reich did some good things too”
- Autonomous/autonomy – A group that is self-controlled (without the influence of a party, outside leader or other meddling busy body) is autonomous
- Binary – A system where only two options are allowed, and people are expected to be one or the other with no space in between. This is applied to a lot of ‘social categories’, for example the gender-binary. Binaries are almost always wrong.
- Capitalism – “An economic and political system based around exploiting those forced to sell their labour, in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit” (from the Anarchist Federation’s “The Role of the Revolutionary Organisation”)
- Cissexism – Exclusion and prejudice against transgender people and their perspectives, and the assumption that the sex you were assigned at birth is all there is to gender
- Consensus – A decision making system famous for getting people to show they agree by using jazz-hands (waving hands in the air), rather than by voting. This isn’t all it’s about - it is also a well thought out process that tries to ensure the views and opinions of all those involved are respected and heard. See the resources section for a proper explanation of the process and how to use it.
- Democratic Centralism – The belief that groups can be both centralised and democratic – normally held by Marxist-Lenninist groups. A typical “democratic centralist” structure will have most decisions between meetings made by an elected secretary or committee. The committee or “secretariat” is also responsible for making these decisions happen, which essentially gives them the power to derail any proposal they do not like, even if the majority have asked for it. The fact that they do more work than others can also create resentment against the rest of the group, who are always asking for them to do things. On the other hand, supporters claim it leads to faster decisions, and that it is possible to hold the central committee accountable. Compare this to it’s alternative – direct democracy (see below)
- Dialectical – A theory that says change comes from conflict between opposing forces. Put simply, there’s a contradiction between factor A and factor B. The conflict between them creates a new factor C. Some Marxists use this (in very complex ways) to describe everything that ever happened or will happen.
- Dichotomy – A bit like a binary. Where two alternatives (say, capitalism and state-socialism) are presented as being totally opposed to each other, and the only options to chose between. When a dichotomy isn’t true it’s called a “false dichotomy”
- Direct Action – Direct action means using our action to force things to change, rather than asking politicians, bosses, or Vice Chancellors to change things for us. This can be done by making it impossible for the university to work unless our demands are met – for example through an education strike against tuition fees. It can also be done by changing things right now – for example, by all getting together and refusing to pay rent for over-priced student housing
- Direct Democracy – Where all decisions are made by people in the group (normally by voting at meetings) rather than by a representative elected to make decisions for them. When a decision needs people to implement it, the meeting will assign a “working group” or “commission” to carry it out, which will then dissolve as soon as the task is complete
- Diversity of Tactics – Where people try to work together even if they use different tactics (normally, this means pacifists and non-pacifists not condemning each other). As Malcolm X said: “Our people have made the mistake of confusing the methods with the objectives. As long as we agree on objectives, we should never fall out with each other just because we believe in different methods or tactics or strategy to reach a common goal.”
- Economic Class and Social Class – Everyone seems to mean something slightly different when they talk about ‘class’. Is it just about wealth, or has it got more to do with culture? Are you born into a class or is it something that you can change? Some people try to make things simpler by using the terms ‘economic class’ and ‘social class’. Economic Class is about your position in the economy – you are “working class” if you have no choice other than working for a wage or living on benefits. Social Class is more about your social status – how other people perceive you, the cultural background of your family, etc. Your social class is working class if you come from a working class background, hold working class values, and are not treated as a member of the ‘middle class’ by society
- Facilitate – To allow or make it possible for something to happen, without being in control or taking credit. Most consensus based meetings have a “facilitator” rather than a “chair person”.
- Fash/Fascist – Very often misused against anything a bit authoritarian. Fascists (or ‘the fash’) are usually violent, racist, ultra-nationalists who want to suppress workers’ rights, enforce ‘traditional’ oppressive hierarchies, centrally control all of society and boot anyone they don’t think fits into their version of the nation out of it. Very bad people. (see Dr. L. Britt’s Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism for more)
- Heteronormativity – is a description of how society’s idea of “normal” is for everyone to fit into two genders (man and woman) with natural roles in life and who are “meant” to only be attracted to their opposite. Being homosexual, transgender, or simply not fitting society’s idea of a “real man” or “real woman”, then becomes “not normal” or even criminalised. Thatcher’s law that banned “promotion of homosexuality” in schools is a good example of heteronomativity.
- Intersectionality – An annoyingly complex word to describe a pretty simple concept. Put briefly, the idea that oppressions - such as racism and sexism - don’t exist separately from each other but overlap, intersect and are equally important.
- Kyriarchy – This is a term used to describe the total system of all oppressions – the combination of patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, etc
- Libertarian – Concerned with upholding and increasing the liberty (autonomy, freedom of choice etc.) of people. For example, ‘Libertarian Communists’ believe in communism without a state telling people what to do. Recently the word has been hijacked by right wingers and rich people who only care about the liberty to make money.
- Manarchist – Someone who claims to stand for the liberation of all and a free and equal society, but still acts like a sexist, misogynist or macho person around anyone who isn’t a man.
- ML – Marxist-Leninist – a person or group who think the Soviet Union was great, despite Lenin’s secret police, prison camps and state sponsored strike breakers.
- Neo-Liberal – The dominant political/economic way of thinking the Western world since the 1970s. Borrows the ‘free trade’ and free movement of money from ‘classical’ Liberalism but forgets all about the freedom of people. Very keen on privatising services and spending lots on the police and army. Often similar to the right wing usage of ‘Libertarian’.
- Participatory Democracy – Democracy that aims for everyone to participate in how it is run and the decisions that are made. Normally linked to direct democracy, but with more focus on including people and creating systems that encourage involvement
- Patriarchy – “Patriarchy is a term used in feminism to describe the system of gender-based hierarchy in society which assigns most power to men, and assigns higher value to men, maleness, and ‘masculine traits’” (from the geek feminism wiki). This term is often used instead of sexism, as it highlights that patriarchy is a result of systematic exploitation and oppression, rather than just simple prejudice and stereotypes
- Picket – A line set up by striking workers in front of their workplace in order to dissuade non-union members from entering and undermining their campaign. An important and valuable tool in workplace struggles, crossing a picket line is deeply disrespectful and is only done by scabs.
- Proletarian – Working class, but with connotations of flat cap wearing and factory work like something from the 1930s.
- Reactionary – Not actually someone who reacts to situations, but a person or idea that is anti-revolutionary or oppressive. Most often just applied to anyone who disagrees.
- Revolution – A total transformation of society, hopefully from the bottom up, empowering the downtrodden and oppressed. A revolution can be a ‘political revolution’ (replacing one King/president/ruling class with another), or a ‘social revolution’ (where ‘social relations’ are changed, for example getting rid of private property)
- Safer spaces – “Safer spaces” are radical ‘spaces’ (eg an occupation, a meeting, etc), where people are more included than normal because the group tries to make the space safer for people. Normally this means enforcing a ‘Safer Spaces Policy’ that says what kind of things aren’t acceptable (homophobia, abusive behavior, racism, etc). Safer spaces aren’t automatically created just because they have a policy, but because they attempt to deal with oppressive behaviour when it happens.
- Scab – A person who breaks a strike, disrespects a picket line of striking workers or otherwise betrays their class or the struggle for a better world.
- Sectarian/Sectarianism – A group that attacks or trash talks another group (or ‘sect’) on the left in order to make their own group look better and more relevant. Usually used to silence criticism, or even as an accusation to attack or trash talk another group with!
- Single Issue – A campaign or group which has one specific goal (ie stop child poverty) as opposed to one with a wider political program (ie dismantle the economic structures that causes poverty, combat the racism and classism that compounds it, construct a sustainable and decent life for all etc. etc.)
- Solidarity – The act of standing with others, recognising the importance of their struggles to your own, and acting alongside them (not for them). More often just chucked around like the lefty equivalent of ‘I’ll pray for you’, totally devoid of all meaning. The slogan “Solidarity means attack!” is used by some people to say that, in order to mean something, solidarity should involve taking militant action rather than just signing a letter
- Trigger – A word used in psychology for a symptom that people with PTSD sometimes get. Being ‘triggered’ happens when something (the ‘trigger’) reminds a person of a traumatic event, causing a strong emotional or psychological reaction. For example, someone who has experienced a violent eviction might find themselves getting flashbacks simply because someone uses the word “raid”. People who have experienced sexual assault also often find discussion of assault triggering. This is not the same as finding something upsetting, though lots of people mistake it for that. It is not always possible to avoid triggering people or to predict what things could trigger them. However, you should be aware that there are some things (eg sexual assault, racist attacks) that have been experienced by lots of people. So you need to be careful how you discuss some issues as it’s likely that people could be triggered by it. In general, try to warn people before talking about sexual assault, domestic violence, police brutality, self-harm, warzones, etc. And especially avoid graphic descriptions!
- Trigger Warning – Trigger warnings, often abbreviated to TW, are warnings we use when we are about to discuss content that may trigger someone. They are like a content warning you get on films which helps the audience decide whether this is the right film for them to watch. Trigger warnings that are commonly used include those that warn of violence, including sexual violence. However, it’s probably best to say “Content Warning” instead. More people know what that means, and there are plenty of other reasons people might not want to hear about something (eg just finding it upsetting)
- Trot – Trotskyist – a person or group who follows the ideas of Leon Trotsky and see him as some kind of socialist messiah, despite his repression of worker’s struggle and other revolutionaries when he was in power
- United Left – What left groups appeal to when they want other lefties to support them instead of other left groups. A major cause of (and supposed solution to) sectarianism
- Vanguard – A self selected group of revolutionary VIPs, who plan to lead the rest of us into revolution because we’re too thick to do it ourselves
- White Supremacy – The system which gives white people power over black people in society. This term is often used instead of racism, as it highlights that white supremacy involves the systematic exploitation and oppression of black people (and others considered non-white), rather than just simple prejudice