IS 105 – Key Vocabulary on Capitalism, Colonialism, Inequality & Resistance

Vocabulary flashcards covering central terms on capitalism, colonialism, migration, inequality, environmental crisis, social movements, media, and digital economies for IS 105 review.

Capitalism

Economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, profit motive, wage labor, and market exchange.

Colonialism

Practice of domination in which one people subjugate another through settlement and economic exploitation.

Settler Colonialism

Colonial form focused on permanently displacing Indigenous populations to establish new societies (e.g., Canada, Australia).

Extractive Colonialism

Colonial form geared toward resource extraction and economic domination (e.g., British India, Congo).

Atlantic Slave Trade

Forced trans-Atlantic transport and labor of enslaved Africans that fueled early capitalist accumulation.

Plantation Economies

Systems focused on the extraction of surplus value through coerced labor

Resource Extraction

Removal of natural resources that fed European industrialization during colonialism.

Colonial Infrastructure

Railways, ports, and roads built to move capital and resources abroad rather than serve local needs.

Racial Capitalism

Ideology linking economic exploitation to racial hierarchy to justify domination.

Civilizing Mission

Colonial moral claim that domination and plunder brought ‘progress’ to colonized peoples.

Industrial Capitalism

19th-century phase marked by factories, urban migration, deskilled labor, and heightened class stratification.

Neocolonialism

Post-independence continuation of labor exploitation, land grabs, and economic dependency.

Migration

Movement of people across space; includes voluntary (work, study, family) and forced (war, persecution, disaster).

Displacement

Condition of being uprooted from home, land, or community, often by conflict or development projects.

Refugee

Person who flees their country to escape conflict, violence, or persecution and has the right to seek asylum.

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

Individual forced to flee home but remaining within national borders.

Stateless Person

Individual whom no state recognizes as a citizen.

International Migration

Movement of people across international borders.

Primitive Accumulation

Marx’s concept of violently transforming non-capitalist life into capitalist conditions by displacing people from land.

Global Labor Market Creation

Process by which capitalism generates surplus labor and organizes cross-border labor migration.

Neoliberalism

Policy regime of privatization and austerity that has produced mass displacement, especially in the Global South.

Development-Induced Displacement

Forced movement caused by mega-dams, special economic zones, or urban gentrification.

Climate Displacement

Migration or uprooting driven by climate change—disproportionately affecting formerly colonized nations.

Exile

State of being barred from one’s country, whether forced or self-imposed, producing a profound sense of rupture.

Diaspora

Scattered population whose origin lies in a separate geographic locale.

Cultural Displacement

Loss or rupture experienced when uprooted from cultural context.

Home and Belonging

Ideas of identity and rootedness challenged by exile and migration.

Transnational Identity

Sense of self that spans multiple nations or cultures, common in diasporas.

Class Structure

Hierarchical social arrangement based on income, wealth, and resource access.

Economic Inequality

Unequal distribution of income, wealth, or resources in society.

Labor

Work performed for wages; central to power dynamics in capitalism.

Wealth Accumulation

Process by which wealth concentrates when return on capital (r) exceeds economic growth (g).

Labor Exploitation

Marxist idea that capitalism extracts surplus value from workers for bourgeois gain.

Meritocracy

System claiming success is based on talent and effort but undermined by inherited wealth.

Income Inequality

Unequal distribution of earnings among individuals or groups.

Precarity

Labor conditions marked by instability, insecurity, and lack of protections (e.g., gig work).

Labor Movements

Collective efforts of workers to improve employment conditions (e.g., unions).

Social Mobility

Ability of individuals or groups to move within social hierarchies.

Malthusian Theory

Idea that population growth will outpace food production, causing catastrophe unless checked.

Marxist View of Inequality

Theory that capitalism’s exploitation leads to wealth concentration and eventual proletarian revolution.

Generational Wealth

Assets passed down through families, reinforcing patrimonial capitalism.

Progressive Taxation

Policy of higher tax rates on higher incomes/wealth to reduce inequality.

Anthropocene

Proposed epoch in which human activity is the dominant geological force.

Climate Crisis

Rapid, large-scale environmental changes such as rising temperatures and extreme weather.

Environmental Justice

Fair treatment and involvement of all people in environmental decision-making.

Ecological Despair

Emotional distress (grief, anxiety) arising from environmental degradation.

Denialism

Active rejection or obstruction of scientific evidence for ideological or economic reasons.

Responsibility and Agency (Environmental)

Debate over who causes climate change and how individuals, states, or corporations should act.

Authoritarianism

Governance by a leader or elite lacking accountability, suppressing dissent and media.

Revolution

Rapid, deep transformation of political, social, and/or economic order through mass mobilization.

Civil Resistance

Nonviolent tactics (boycotts, strikes, sit-ins) used to challenge unjust systems.

Social Movements

Organized collective efforts seeking social or political change outside formal institutions.

State Violence

Use of force or coercion by state actors to control populations or suppress dissent.

Mass Mobilization

Organization of large numbers of people for collective action.

Legitimacy

Public belief that authority has the right to rule; its loss can spark crisis.

Patriarchy

Social system in which men hold primary power across societal spheres.

Multiple Patriarchies

Sylvia Walby’s idea of overlapping economic, political, religious, and familial patriarchies.

Private Patriarchy

Form where individual men control women within households.

Agency

Capacity of individuals/groups to act independently and resist power structures.

Islamophobia

Irrational fear or prejudice toward Islam or perceived Muslims; a structural racism.

Intersectionality

Framework showing how race, gender, class, and other oppressions intersect (Crenshaw).

Representation of Muslim Women

Stereotyped portrayals that depict Muslim women as oppressed and justify interventions.

Feminism

Advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality.

Global Feminism

Transnational solidarity seeking universal gender rights—but can risk reproducing hierarchies.

Local Feminisms

Community-specific gender struggles rooted in local contexts and cultures.

Racialized Violence

Violence targeting groups based on race to maintain hierarchy (e.g., colonial repression).

National Liberation

Struggle of colonized peoples to gain political independence (e.g., FLN in Algeria).

Cultural Identity

Shared customs, language, and values connecting individuals to a community.

Resistance

Acts—violent or nonviolent—that challenge oppression or occupation.

Dehumanization

Depicting groups as less than human to justify mistreatment or exclusion.

Decolonization

Process of achieving political, cultural, and psychological independence from colonial rule.

Collective Memory

Shared social remembrance shaped by education, rituals, and media.

Historical Trauma

Intergenerational psychological wounding from events like slavery or genocide.

Gendered Violence

Harm inflicted based on gender within systemic power imbalances.

War Narratives

Stories that shape understanding and memory of war experiences.

Historical Revisionism

Reinterpretation of history that can minimize or deny past atrocities.

Testimony

Personal account bearing witness to injustice or trauma.

Propaganda Model

Chomsky & Herman’s theory of media serving elite interests via five filters.

Surveillance State

Government extensively monitoring citizens through data collection and technology.

Media Manipulation

Distortion or fabrication of information to sway public opinion.

Freedom of Expression

Right to voice opinions without censorship or legal penalty.

Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)

Althusser’s institutions (media, schools, religion) that reproduce dominant ideology.

Censorship

Suppression or control of speech or media deemed objectionable.

Recognition Politics

State processes that officially acknowledge marginalized groups, sometimes reinforcing power hierarchies.

Self-Determination

Right of peoples to decide their political status and pursue development (e.g., UNDRIP).

Indigenous Resurgence

Grassroots revitalization of Indigenous traditions and governance outside state frameworks.

Cultural Sovereignty

Right of a people to preserve and develop their own cultural practices and knowledge.

Structural Violence

Social structures that harm people by preventing them from meeting basic needs.

Surveillance Capitalism

Economic system where firms monetize personal data to predict and influence behavior.

Behavioral Surplus

Extra personal data extracted beyond service needs, sold for targeted advertising and AI.

Platform Economy

Economic model where digital platforms mediate transactions and profit from network effects.

Digital Labor

Work performed on or through digital platforms where user activity becomes commodified.

Algorithmic Governance

Use of automated algorithms to make decisions about populations, often opaque.

Globalization

Growing interconnectedness of economies, cultures, and people across borders.

Virtual Community

Social group whose interactions occur primarily through digital networks.

Disaster Capitalism

Exploiting crises to impose radical free-market policies benefiting elites.

Resilience

Capacity to recover from difficulties; in climate politics, maintaining democratic and social systems amid crises.

Social Justice

Fair and equitable distribution of rights, opportunities, and resources in society.

Structural Reform

Fundamental changes to political, economic, or social systems to tackle root inequalities.