social change midterm

Labor movements

Organized efforts by workers to improve their rights and working conditions.

Class struggle

The conflict between different classes in society, notably between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

Appalachian mine wars

A series of early 20th-century conflicts between coal miners and mine operators over labor rights.

Battle of Blair Mountain

One of the largest labor uprisings in US history, where coal miners fought for better conditions in 1921.

Bread and Roses strike

Labor strike in Lawrence, MA in 1912 demanding fair wages and dignified working conditions.

Company towns

Towns where businesses control housing, stores, and wages, keeping workers economically dependent.

Conflict theory

A perspective that views social structures as defined by conflict between dominant and oppressed groups.

Exploitation

The process of capitalists profiting from workers' labor without fair compensation.

Labor as a commodity

The concept that labor can be bought and sold like goods.

Communist Manifesto

An 1848 political pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels advocating for proletarian revolution.

Proletariat

The working class in a capitalist society.

Surplus value

The extra value produced by workers that is taken by capitalists.

Trade unions

Organizations formed by workers to advocate for labor rights.

Scabs

Workers who continue to work during strikes, undermining the strike.

General strike

A strike across various industries to protest broader social injustices.

Workingmen's benevolent association

A 19th-century labor organization where coal miners advocated for better working conditions.

Monopoly capitalism

An advanced stage of capitalism where a few large companies dominate industries.

Molly Maguires

A secret labor organization in 19th-century Pennsylvania coal mines accused of violent resistance.

Railroad imperialism

Using railroad expansion as a means to control economies.

Scrip

Currency issued by companies in company towns.

Pinkerton Detective Agency

A private security force hired to break strikes and suppress labor movements.

Colonialism

The control and exploitation of one country by another, often involving settlements.

Imperialism

Political, economic, and military domination of one country over another.

Settler colonial state

A system where settlers establish permanent control over a territory.

Colonial monoculture

Producing a single cash crop for export, dominating local economies.

Doctrine of Discovery

A legal concept that justified colonization under the guise of Christianity.

Enclosures

The privatization of common lands, restricting access to the local population.

Neocolonialism

Continuation of colonial-like control after a country has achieved formal independence.

Haitian Revolution

A successful revolution of enslaved people against French rule, resulting in the first black republic.

Maroons

Communities formed by escaped enslaved people seeking independence.

Internal colony

Marginalized communities within a nation that are exploited like a colony.

Turtle Island

A term often used to describe North America in Indigenous contexts.

Hegemony

The dominance of one group over another, maintained through cultural means.

Historical materialism

A Marxist theory stating that economic structures shape social and political life.

Great man theory

The idea that history is made by extraordinary individuals rather than social forces.

Sociological imagination

A concept by C. Wright Mills that encourages understanding personal experiences in relation to social structures.

Dispossession

The forced removal of people from their land and resources.

Triplets of systemic violence

The interplay of structural, direct, and cultural violence in perpetuating oppression.

Primitive accumulation

The process by which capitalists acquire wealth through dispossession.

Sullivan-Clinton campaign

A military campaign against the Haudenosaunee in 1779.

Biological determinism

The belief that social and cultural differences are rooted in biology.

Cyclical crises

Economic crises that arise due to contradictions in capitalism.

Latent functions

Unintended social effects of an institution or action.

Manifest functions

The intended functions of an institution.

Structural functionalism

A theory that views society as a system of interconnected parts working together.