opportunism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From French opportunisme, equivalent to opportune + -ism.
Meanings
- (countable, uncountable) The practice of taking advantage of any situations or people to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.
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(Marxism, countable, uncountable) The political line of Communist Party members who zealously support the Party, but whose trait is that they yield to the mood of the moment, they are unable to resist what is fashionable, leading to the sacrifice of the permanent and essential interests of the Party to the momentary and minor interests.
Opportunism today, as represented by its principal spokesman, the ex-Marxist Karl Kautsky, fits in completely with Marx's characterization of the bourgeois position quoted above, for this opportunism limits recognition of the class struggle to the sphere of bourgeois relations. (Within this sphere, within its framework, not a single educated liberal will refuse to recognize the class struggle "in principle"!) Opportunism does not extend recognition of the class struggle to the cardinal point, to the period of transition from capitalism to communism, of the overthrow and the complete abolition of the bourgeoisie. In reality, this period inevitably is a period of an unprecedently violent class struggle in unprecedentedly acute forms, and, consequently, during this period the state must inevitably be a state that is democratic in a new way (for the proletariat and the propertyless in general) and dictatorial in a new way (against the bourgeoisie).
1917, V. I. Lenin, chapter II, in The State and Revolution, section 3:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| opportunisms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
opportunity · opportune · opportunistic · opportunist
Translations (30)
fr opportunisme (the taking of opportunities) · de Opportunismus (the taking of opportunities) · pt oportunismo (the taking of opportunities) · el οπορτουνισμός (Marxist terminology) · id oportunisme (the taking of opportunities) · fi opportunismi (the taking of opportunities) · pl oportunizm (the taking of opportunities) · da opportunisme (the taking of opportunities) · es oportunismo (the taking of opportunities) · ru оппортунизм (the taking of opportunities) · ko 편의주의 (the taking of opportunities) · ja 日和見主義 (the taking of opportunities) · ja 御都合主義 (the taking of opportunities) · ca oportunisme (the taking of opportunities) · sq oportunizëm (the taking of opportunities) · eo oportunismo (the taking of opportunities) · cmn 投機主義 /投机主义 (the taking of opportunities) · cs oportunizmus (the taking of opportunities) · ml അവസരവാദിത്വം (the taking of opportunities) · hy օպորտունիզմ (the taking of opportunities) · sh oportunizam (the taking of opportunities) · cy manteisiaeth (the taking of opportunities) · cmn 機會主義 /机会主义 (Marxist terminology) · es pancismo (the taking of opportunities) · tr fırsatçılık (the taking of opportunities) · ja 便乗 (the taking of opportunities) · ko 기회주의 (the taking of opportunities) · gl oportunismo (the taking of opportunities) · cmn 機會主義 /机会主义 (the taking of opportunities) · cmn 投機 /投机 (the taking of opportunities)