Oxford Communist Corresponding Society, 29 November 2018
See A. A. Bogdanov, Vseóbščaja organizaciónnaja naúka (tektológija), 3rd edn., Leningrad and Moscow: Kniga, vol. i 1925, vol. ii 1927, vol. iii 1929
complex (kómpleks) — anything, considered as made up of two or more elements
conjugation (kon"jugácija) — any process whereby complexes come into contact and affect one another, up to and including merging completely
conjugational crisis, C crisis (kon"jugaciónnyj krízis, krízis C) — phase of a crisis involving conjugation
conservative selection (konservatívnyj podbór) — selection leading a complex to remain in a more or less constant state
continuous (slítnyj) — concentrated in such a way as to present a comparatively small surface area to the environment
convergence (skhoždénie) — process whereby complexes become more similar, due to similar or analogous environments
counter-differentiation (kontr-differenciácija) — conjugation of divergent complexes, leading them to become more similar to one another
degression (degréssija) — process by which a highly plastic complex acquires or creates a less plastic shell, framework, skeleton, etc., restricting its movements but making it more resilient
disingression (dezingréssija) — modification of two or more elements (including by introduction of a third element) in such a way as to hinder their conjugation or facilitate their division
disjunctive crisis, D crisis (dis"junktívnyj krízis, krízis D) — phase of a crisis involving division
disorganized complex (dezorganizóvannyj kómpleks) — a complex where the resistance that can be overcome by the elements together is in practice less than the sum total of the resistance they could overcome separately
divergence (raskhoždénie) — process whereby two elements or two complexes become increasingly dissimilar, due to the effects of (perhaps initially small) differences in their composition and environment
division (razdelénie) — separation of a complex into two or more new complexes
egression (ègréssija) — process whereby one element (or more than one) acquires a central/determining role within a complex
element (èlemént) — anything, considered as forming part of a complex
equilibrium (ravnovésie) — state of affairs in which opposing processes of change balance one another out, so that the initial situation is continuously re-created
form (fórma) — the totality of the connections between the elements making up a given complex
ingression (ingréssija) — modification of two or more elements (including by introduction of a third element) in such a way as to facilitate their conjugation
law of increasing difference (zakón vozrastánija ráznosti) — as a complex grows, expands, develops, etc., its form becomes more complicated and divergence among its elements increases
law of the least (zakón naimén'šikh) — the level of resistance a complex is able to overcome is determined by the element that can overcome the least resistance (relative to how much resistance that element would need to overcome in order for the complex as a whole to be able to overcome a given level of resistance)
negative selection (otricátel'nyj podbór) — progressive selection in a negative direction, e.g. favouring contraction
neutral complex (nejtrál'nyj kómpleks) — a complex where the resistance that can be overcome by the elements together is in practice equal to the sum total of the resistance they could overcome separately
organized complex (organizóvannyj kómpleks) — a complex where the resistance that can be overcome by the elements together is in practice greater than the sum total of the resistance they could overcome separately
overcoming resistance (preodolevánie soprotivlénija) — general term for what complexes do
plasticity (plastíčnost') — ability of a complex to alter its form; flexibility
positive selection (pozitívnyj podbór) — progressive selection in a positive direction, e.g. favouring expansion
progressive selection (progressívnyj podbór) — selection leading a complex to change in a consistent direction, e.g. to expand or to contract
representative selection (reprezentatívnyj podbór) — selection based on a limited set of indicators
selection (podbór) — process by which a complex changes in response to internal and/or external factors favouring certain elements or processes over others
tectology (tektológija) — the general science of organization (from Greek téctōn ‘builder, craftsman, planner’)