Working class
Construction workers stand at the base of St. Paul's Hospital Cardiac center in Ethiopia during 2017. They represent a group often labeled as working class by observers worldwide. Most common definitions within the United States limit this membership to those holding blue-collar or pink-collar jobs. Some definitions also require income levels insufficient enough to place them in the middle class. Socialists offer a broader view that includes all who rely on wage labor to subsist. This perspective can encompass almost every worker in industrialized economies. One definition used by many socialists describes the group as having nothing to sell but their own labor power. This category is otherwise referred to as the proletariat. It includes white and blue-collar workers, manual and menial workers of all types. Individuals deriving livelihood from business ownership or the labor of others are excluded from this specific definition. Common alternative definitions focus strictly on income level rather than job type. These definitions contrast the working class with a middle class based on access to economic resources. Cultural interests and other goods and services form another basis for distinction. The New York Times loosely defined the white working class as comprising white people without college degrees. Researchers in Australia suggest defining status subjectively through self-identification. This approach allows individuals to define their own perceived social class.
Striking teamsters battle police on the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota during June 1934. Karl Marx defined the working class or proletariat as those selling labor power for wages. He argued these individuals do not own the means of production. They create wealth physically by building bridges, crafting furniture, growing food, and nursing children. Yet they remain separate from land or factory ownership. A sub-section called the lumpenproletariat exists within this broader group. These are extremely poor and unemployed people like day laborers and homeless individuals. Marx considered them devoid of class consciousness. Wage laborers and those dependent on the welfare state fall into the working class under Marxist terms. Those living on accumulated capital stand outside this category. This broad dichotomy defines the struggle between classes. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Friedrich Engels argue that it is the destiny of the working class to displace the capitalist system. They envision a dictatorship of the proletariat abolishing existing social relationships. This process would eventually develop into a communist society where free development becomes possible for all. A drawing based on a leaflet of the Union of Russian Socialists illustrates this socialist conception of class society in 1900, 1901.
William Hogarth painted six servants in his work titled Servants during the late 18th century. In feudal Europe, the working class as such did not exist in large numbers. Most people belonged to a laboring class made up of different professions and trades. A lawyer, craftsman, and peasant were all part of the same third estate unit. Similar hierarchies existed outside Europe in other pre-industrial societies. Their social position was viewed as ordained by natural law and common religious belief. Peasants contested this position particularly during the German Peasants' War. European society entered a state of change around the late 18th century under Enlightenment influence. Wealthy members created ideologies blaming many problems on worker morals and ethics. Excessive consumption of alcohol and perceived laziness became central themes. E. P. Thompson argues that the English working class was present at its own creation. He describes the transformation of pre-modern laboring classes into a modern political entity. Starting around 1917, several countries began ruling in the interests of the working class. Some historians note forced displacement of peasants and rural workers as key changes. Four major industrial states have turned toward semi-market-based governance since then. China, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba represent these shifts. One state has turned inward into an increasing cycle of poverty and brutalization. Other similar states collapsed like the Soviet Union. Large-scale proletarianization occurred globally from 1960 onward. Enclosure of commons generated new working classes in the third world. Countries such as India slowly undergo social change expanding urban working class size.
A ragpicker works amidst refuse in Delhi, India today. Mike Davis coined the term informal working class for over a billion predominantly young urban people. These individuals exist outside formal global economic structures entirely. They try to survive primarily within slums according to Davis's research. This class no longer corresponds to socio-theoretical concepts from Marx or Max Weber. It also defies traditional theory of modernization frameworks. Members develop worldwide from the 1960s especially across the southern hemisphere. Previous notions described this group as lumpen proletariat or a slum of hope from the 1920s and 1930s. Today members face hardly any chances attaining membership of formal economic structures. The concept challenges existing sociological understanding of class dynamics. It highlights survival strategies employed by those excluded from standard employment systems. Urban environments host these populations who operate without formal connection to global markets. Their existence represents a significant shift from historical labor patterns observed earlier.
Up Next
Continue Browsing
Common questions
What is the working class definition used by socialists?
Socialists define the working class as individuals who have nothing to sell but their own labor power. This category includes all white and blue-collar workers, manual and menial workers of all types. It excludes those deriving livelihood from business ownership or the labor of others.
When did Karl Marx define the proletariat in The Communist Manifesto?
Karl Marx defined the working class or proletariat as those selling labor power for wages in The Communist Manifesto. He argued these individuals do not own the means of production yet create wealth physically. Marx and Friedrich Engels stated it was the destiny of the working class to displace the capitalist system.
Who created the term informal working class according to Mike Davis research?
Mike Davis coined the term informal working class for over a billion predominantly young urban people. These individuals exist outside formal global economic structures entirely and try to survive primarily within slums. Members develop worldwide from the 1960s especially across the southern hemisphere.
Why do working-class students face challenges entering higher education institutions?
Diane Reay stresses that university communities are perceived as predominately middle-class social spaces creating barriers. Working-class students often lack cultural capital required for success in these settings. Systemic barriers compound personal struggles when entering academic environments leading to lower retention rates.
Which countries turned toward semi-market-based governance since 1917?
Four major industrial states have turned toward semi-market-based governance since 1917 including China, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba. Large-scale proletarianization occurred globally from 1960 onward generating new working classes in the third world. Countries such as India slowly undergo social change expanding urban working class size.