20th Century Social and Political Glossary
Welfare State
The type of social pact that established a more equitable sharing of benefits and wealth among the population in order to avoid the social unrest that led European countries to the Second World War.
Consumer Society
A society which corresponds to an advanced stage of capitalist industrial development and is characterized by mass consumption of goods and services made available through mass production. Linked to the concepts of market economy and capitalism.
Social Benefits
Legal benefits that the employer must pay their employees in addition to regular salary, to meet needs or to cover risks arising during the course of their employment.
Multinational Companies
Companies that are established not only in their country of origin but also in other countries to conduct their business activities (both sales and production) in the countries where they have established themselves.
Public Sector
The set of administrative agencies by which the state plays or enforces the policy or intention expressed in the laws that exist in the country.
Racial Segregation
The separation of different racial groups in daily life. It can be dictated by law or may exist through social norms. It is maintained in various forms, whether discrimination when hiring a person for a job or renting an apartment, or even violence against people of a certain race.
Nomenklatura
The elite society of the former Soviet Union, which had great responsibilities as professionals in charge of the direction of the state bureaucracy. They occupied key administrative positions in government, industrial and agricultural production, the educational system, and the cultural environment. They usually obtained great privileges as a result of these functions.
De-Stalinization
The process that began after the death of Stalin, but was not official until 1956, after the secret report of Nikita Khrushchev, then secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union, which was released after the 20th Congress of the CPSU. This process aimed to eliminate the cult of personality and the excessive power of the Stalinist period (1924-1953).
Perestroika
The process of reform based on economic restructuring begun in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev, with the help of the Prime Minister of Japan, with the aim of reforming and preserving the socialist system. Gorbachev wanted to give Soviet society a certain spirit of enterprise and innovation.
Democracies
A type of political regime. Its institutional manifestation is in the self-styled socialist states. They have used the official name of the state or the expression “Democratic Republic” or “People’s Republic” (which can therefore be regarded as a form of government).
Martin Luther King Jr.
(Atlanta, 1929-1968) was an American Baptist pastor who developed a crucial role in the U.S. at the forefront of the movement for civil rights for African Americans. He also participated as an activist in numerous protests against the Vietnam War and poverty in general.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
(Denison, 1890-1969) was a soldier and politician, who became the thirty-fourth President of the United States.
Mikhail Gorbachev
(USSR, 1931-present) is a Russian politician. He was Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1989 and chief executive of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991.
Boris Yeltsin
(USSR, 1931-2007) was a Russian politician. He was the architect of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States. He became the first President of the Russian Federation in 1991, being the first directly elected in the country’s history.
Lech Walesa
(Poland, 1943-present) is a Polish politician and former trade unionist and human rights activist. He co-founded Solidarity, the first independent trade union of the Soviet bloc.
Bretton Woods Agreements
The resolutions of the Monetary and Financial Conference of the United Nations where rules for trade and financial relations among the major industrialized countries were established. These included the creation of the World Bank and the IMF and the use of the dollar as an international currency.
New Frontier
The Kennedy administration program that identified as goals the development of social programs aimed at reducing poverty and racial discrimination and the advancement of science and technology.
Oil Crisis
Began on October 17, 1973, following the decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not to export more oil to countries that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The price increase coupled with the heavy reliance that the industrialized world had on oil caused a strong inflationary effect and reduced economic activity in the affected countries.