a fortiori (la)

used to express a conclusion for which there is stronger evidence than for a previously accepted one

apogee (en)

(noun) the point in the orbit of an object (as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth / (noun) the point farthest from a planet or a satellite (as the moon) reached by an object orbiting it / (noun) the farthest or highest point; culmination

aporia (en)

(noun) an expression of real or pretended doubt or uncertainty especially for rhetorical effect / (noun) a logical impasse or contradiction / (noun) a radical contradiction in the import of a text or theory that is seen in deconstruction as inevitable

asperities (en)

(noun) rigor severity / (noun) roughness of surface; unevenness / (noun) a tiny projection from a surface / (noun) roughness of sound / (noun) roughness of manner or of temper; harshness

autarkic (en)

the condition of self-sufficiency, especially economic, as applied to a nation; a national policy of economic independence

ballast (en)

(noun) material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure; (verb) to steady or equip with or as if with ballast

biopolitics (en)

biopolitics: a term defined by Foucault (though not first) as the style of government that regulates populations through "biopower" (the application and impact of political power on all aspects of human life)

constructivism (en)

Hayek's term for the idea that all institutions in society were or should be "deliberately constructed by somebody"; "constructivists … habitually argue on the assumption of omniscience," rather than acknowledging, as Hayek does, the necessarily limited character of human knowledge in society

dialogic (en)

pertaining to a dialogue; used by the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin in his work of literary theory, The Dialogic Imagination

doxa (grk)

a Greek word meaning common belief or popular opinion (the root of words like orthodox and heterodox)

etiology (en)

(noun) cause, origin / (noun) the cause of a disease or abnormal condition / (noun) a branch of knowledge concerned with causes / (noun) a branch of medical science concerned with the causes and origins of diseases

financialization (en)

the process whereby the financial industry becomes more prominent

Frankfurt School (en)

a school of social theory and philosophy associated in part with the Institute for Social Research at the Goethe University Frankfurt; consisted of dissidents who felt at home neither in the existent capitalist, fascist, nor communist systems that had formed at the time

hermetic (en)

(of a seal or closure) complete and airtight

historical materialism (en)

(noun) the Marxist theory of history and society that holds that ideas and social institutions develop only as the superstructure of a material economic base

imbricated (en)

arranged (scales, sepals, plates, etc.) so that they overlap like roof tiles

immanence (en)

philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence in which the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world

ineluctable (en)

unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable

inter alia (la)

among other things

leitmotif (en)

a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation

Marxist (en)

relating to or denoting the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (noun or adj)

neoliberalism (en)

the postulate that markets are organised most effectively by private enterprise and that the private pursuit of accumulation will generate the most common good; accomplished by opening international markets and financial networks, and downsizing the welfare state

nomenklatura (en)

a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in the bureaucracy running all spheres of those countries' activity

operaismo (it)

workerism: a political theory that emphasizes the importance of, or glorifies, the working class

protean (en)

(adjective) of or resembling Proteus in having a varied nature or ability to assume different forms / (adjective) displaying great diversity or variety; versatile