Sociology Terms

Glossary of terms used across sociology. Entries are grouped by theme; each links to its own page.

Anarchism and radical organization

Frameworks for non-hierarchical political action and the tendencies within them.

anarchism — the political tradition opposing the state and all coercive hierarchy
green-anarchism — anarchism grounded in ecological principles and opposition to industrialism
indigenous-anarchism — convergence of Indigenous governance traditions with anarchist practice
insurrectionary-anarchism — anarchist tendency favoring immediate revolt over organizational buildup
anarcho-nihilism — fusion of anarchist practice with nihilist rejection of imposed meaning
affinity-group — small, trust-based unit of autonomous political action
mutual-aid — cooperative survival and resource-sharing outside state and market
direct-action — political intervention without mediation by representatives or institutions
prefigurative-politics — building the social relations one wants within present-day organizing
propaganda-of-the-deed — the idea that revolutionary acts communicate political possibility
vanguardism — the party-led model of revolution, counterposed to autonomous organization
federation — horizontal coordination among autonomous groups

Political economy and labor

Terms addressing the structure of capitalist production, accumulation, and class.

class-struggle — conflict between those who own the means of production and those who labor
surplus-value — value extracted from labor beyond what workers receive
primitive-accumulation — the violent, extra-economic processes that established capitalist relations
racial-capitalism — the thesis that capitalism has always organized accumulation through racial hierarchy
social-reproduction — the unwaged labor that sustains workers and the conditions for production
historical-materialism — the method of analyzing history through material conditions and class relations
operaismo — Italian workerist tradition centering workers’ autonomy against both capital and unions
refusal-of-work — the political stance that refusing labor is a form of resistance
precarity — structural insecurity of livelihood under contemporary capitalism
producerism — populist ideology distinguishing virtuous producers from parasitic elites

State, power, and governance

Concepts for analyzing how states and institutions exercise control.

institution — a stable pattern of practices that structures how people act in a domain
practice — a repeatable, organized activity within institutions that produces knowledge and subjects
hegemony — domination maintained through cultural consensus rather than force alone
governmentality — Foucault’s framework for how populations are managed through rationalized techniques
biopolitics — the regulation of life processes as a mode of political power
necropolitics — the power to dictate who may live and who must die
legibility — the state’s drive to render populations and territories administratively readable
surveillance — systematic monitoring as a technique of control
panopticism — Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power through the possibility of being observed
slow death — Berlant’s term for populations wearing out through ordinary conditions rather than dramatic events
harm-governance — management of harm as a governing strategy rather than its elimination
recursive-governance — governance structures that fold back on themselves, governing governance
harm-governance — management of harm as a governing strategy rather than its elimination
recursive-governance — governance structures that fold back on themselves, governing governance
counterinsurgency — state strategies for suppressing political resistance
cointelpro — the FBI program of infiltration and disruption of domestic political movements
snitch-jacketing — falsely labeling someone an informant to isolate them from their community
friend-enemy-distinction — Carl Schmitt’s thesis that the political is defined by this distinction

Colonialism and decolonization

Terms for the analysis of settler-colonial structures and movements against them.

settler-colonialism — a structure of domination that replaces Indigenous populations, not a past event
decolonization — the demand for repatriation of land and Indigenous sovereignty
indigenous-resurgence — the renewal of Indigenous governance, knowledge, and life on Indigenous terms
land-back — the material claim for return of stolen land to Indigenous stewardship
grounded-normativity — ethics and governance rooted in relationship to specific land
settler-moves-to-innocence — rhetorical strategies settlers use to evade complicity
refusal — the assertion of jurisdiction by declining to engage on colonial terms

Liberalism and its discontents

Concepts for analyzing liberal political order, its crises, and what follows.

late-liberalism — the phase of liberalism that manages its own contradictions rather than resolving them
postliberalism — political frameworks that position themselves beyond the liberal consensus
procedural-liberalism — governance through neutral procedures that obscure substantive power
californication — cultural and economic export of Silicon Valley ideology
american-jeremiad — the rhetorical form of American self-criticism that reinscribes national destiny
hypernormalization — participation in systems recognized as failing because no alternative seems available
spectacle — Debord’s concept of social life mediated through images and representations

Gender, sexuality, and queer theory

Terms addressing the normative organization of gender, sexuality, and kinship.

heteronormativity — the normative framework organizing social life around heterosexual reproduction
homonormativity — assimilation of queer life into normative structures of domesticity and consumption
compulsory heterosexuality — the institution enforcing heterosexuality through economic dependence and ideology
performativity — the constitution of gender through regulated, repeated acts
disidentification — navigating dominant ideology by working on and against it simultaneously
queer of color analysis — method for reading the co-constitution of race, sexuality, and political economy
queer negativity — the refusal of the terms on which inclusion and futurity are offered
queer kinship — relational structures constituted through care and solidarity outside heteronormative reproduction
two-spirit — Indigenous gender and sexual identities outside the colonial binary
gender binary — the classificatory system dividing persons into male/female
the closet — the epistemological structure organizing secrecy and disclosure around sexuality
stigma — the social process of discrediting persons through deviation from norms
intersectionality — the co-constitution of race, gender, sexuality, and class as systems of power
assimilation politics — securing inclusion within normative institutions rather than challenging the norms
normalization — the process by which certain practices are constituted as “normal” through the production of a standard
AIDS crisis — the epidemic that transformed queer politics through state abandonment and community response

Terms addressing how people are formed by and navigate social structures.

cruel-optimism — attachment to objects or conditions that obstruct one’s flourishing
affective-infrastructure — the shared emotional patterns that sustain or undermine social arrangements
feeling-rules — social norms governing which emotions are appropriate in which contexts
attribution-theory — frameworks for how people assign causes to events and behaviors
savior-slave-subject — the subject position produced by savior narratives
organic-intellectual — Gramsci’s concept of intellectuals who emerge from and serve their class
industrial-intellectualism — knowledge production organized along industrial lines
neurotic-platformal-intellectual — the intellectual type produced by platform-mediated discourse

Abandonment and exclusion

Concepts for how systems manage populations they do not need.

organized-abandonment — the deliberate withdrawal of resources from racialized communities
economies-of-abandonment — the economic structures that produce and profit from abandonment
undercommons — the space occupied by those who inhabit institutions without belonging to them
abolition — the demand for elimination of carceral institutions, not their reform
pareto-condition — the threshold at which redistribution becomes politically impossible

Epistemology and information

Terms addressing knowledge, information pathology, and epistemic structures.

informational-malfunction — information-processing that maximizes internal coherence at the cost of correspondence with reality
epistemic-overclosure — a system’s predictive model decouples from external dynamics while internally stabilizing
fascist-grammar — the discursive structure that organizes fascist thought and speech
zen-fascism — spiritual affect deployed to aestheticize authoritarian politics

Communism

communism — the political tradition and movement aiming at collective ownership and the abolition of class
alienation
care-work
class-composition
colonialism
commodity-fetishism
commons
dual-power
enclosure
exchange-value
general-intellect
horizontal-organization
imperialism
indigenous-sovereignty
kinship
knowledge-sovereignty
labor
neoliberalism
property
reciprocity
recuperation
reification
the-state
use-value
wage-labor

Explorer