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Proletariat
The proletariat (/ˌproʊlɪˈtɛəriət/; from Latin proletarius 'producing offspring') is the social class of
wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant value is their labour
power (their capacity to work).[1] A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philosophy
considers the proletariat to be exploited under capitalism, forced to accept meager wages in return for
operating the means of production, which belong to the class of business owners, the bourgeoisie.

Marx argued that this oppression gives the proletariat common economic and political interests that
transcend national boundaries, impelling them to unite and take over power from the capitalist class,
and eventually to create a communist society free from class distinctions.

Roman Republic and Empire

The proletarii constituted a social class of Roman citizens who owned little or no property. The name
presumably originated with the census, which Roman authorities conducted every five years to
produce a register of citizens and their property, which determined their military duties and voting
privileges. Those who owned 11,000 assēs (coins) or fewer fell below the lowest category for military
service, and their children—prōlēs (offspring)—were listed instead of property; hence the name
proletarius (producer of offspring). Roman citizen-soldiers paid for their own horses and arms, and
fought without payment for the commonwealth, but the only military contribution of a proletarius
was his children, the future Roman citizens who could colonize conquered territories. Officially,
propertyless citizens were called capite censi because they were "persons registered not as to their
property...but simply as to their existence as living individuals, primarily as heads (caput) of a
family."[2][note 1]

Although included in the Comitia Centuriata (Centuriate

Assembly), proletarii were the lowest class, largely deprived of
voting rights.[3] Late Roman historians such as Livy vaguely
described the Comitia Centuriata as a popular assembly of early
Rome composed of centuriae, voting units representing classes of
citizens according to wealth. This assembly, which usually met on
the Campus Martius to discuss public policy, designated the
military duties of Roman citizens.[4] One of the reconstructions of
Secessio plebis, a form of protest in the Comitia Centuriata features 18 centuriae of cavalry, and 170
ancient Rome where the plebeians centuriae of infantry divided into five classes by wealth, plus 5
would leave the city, causing the centuriae of support personnel called adsidui, one of which
economy to collapse represented the proletarii. In battle, the cavalry brought their
horses and arms, the top infantry class full arms and armor, the
next two classes less, the fourth class only spears, the fifth slings,
while the assisting adsidui held no weapons. In voting, the cavalry and top infantry class were enough
to decide an issue; as voting started at the top, issues were usually decided before the lower classes
voted.[5]

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After the Second Punic War in 201 BC, the Jugurthine War and various conflicts in Macedonia and
Asia reduced the number of Roman family farmers, and the Republic experienced a shortage of
propertied citizen soldiers.[6] The Marian reforms of 107 BC extended military eligibility to the urban
poor, and henceforth the proletarii, as paid soldiers, became the backbone of the army, which later
served as the decisive force in the fall of the Republic and the establishment of the Empire.[7]

Modern use
In the early 19th century, many Western European liberal scholars
—who dealt with social sciences and economics—pointed out the
socio-economic similarities of the modern rapidly growing
industrial worker class and the classic proletarians. One of the
earliest analogies can be found in the 1807 paper of French
philosopher and political scientist Hugues Felicité Robert de
Lamennais. Later it was translated to English with the title
"Modern Slavery".[8]

Swiss liberal economist and historian Jean Charles Léonard de

Jean-François Millet - The man with
Sismondi was the first to apply the proletariat term to the working
the hoe
class created under capitalism, and whose writings were frequently
cited by Karl Marx. Marx most likely encountered the term while
studying the works of Sismondi.[9][10][11][12]

Marxist theory

Marx, who studied Roman law at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin,[13] used the term
proletariat in his socio-political theory (Marxism) to describe a progressive working class untainted
by private property and capable of revolutionary action to topple capitalism and abolish social classes,
leading society to ever higher levels of prosperity and justice.

Marx defined the proletariat as the social class having no

significant ownership of the means of production (factories,
machines, land, mines, buildings, vehicles) and whose only means
of subsistence is to sell their labor power for a wage or salary.[14]

Marxist theory only vaguely defines the borders between the

proletariat and adjacent social classes. In the socially superior, less
progressive direction are the lower petty bourgeoisie, such as small
Adolph Menzel - Iron rolling mill shopkeepers, who rely primarily on self-employment at an income
(1872-1875) comparable to an ordinary wage. Intermediate positions are
possible, where wage-labor for an employer combines with self-
employment. In another direction, the lumpenproletariat or "rag-
proletariat", which Marx considers a retrograde class, live in the informal economy outside of legal
employment: the poorest outcasts of society such as beggars, tricksters, entertainers, buskers,
criminals and prostitutes.[15][16] Socialist parties have often argued over whether they should organize
and represent all the lower classes, or only the wage-earning proletariat.

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According to Marxism, capitalism is based on the exploitation of the

proletariat by the bourgeoisie: the workers, who own no means of
production, must use the property of others to produce goods and
services and to earn their living. Workers cannot rent the means of
production (e.g. a factory or department store) to produce on their
own account; rather, capitalists hire workers, and the goods or
services produced become the property of the capitalist, who sells
them at market.

Part of the net selling price pays the workers' wages (variable costs); a
second part renews the means of production (constant costs, capital
investment); while the third part is consumed by the capitalist class,
split between the capitalist's personal profit and fees to other owners
(rents, taxes, interest on loans, etc.). The struggle over the first part
A 1911 Industrial Worker
(wage rates) puts the proletariat and bourgeoisie into irreconcilable
publication advocating industrial conflict, as market competition pushes wages inexorably to the
unionism based on a critique of minimum necessary for the workers to survive and continue working.
capitalism. The proletariat "work The second part, called capitalized surplus value, is used to renew or
for all" and "feed all". increase the means of production (capital), either in quantity or
quality.[17] The second and third parts are known as surplus value,
the difference between the wealth the proletariat produce and the
wealth they consume.[18]

Marxists argue that new wealth is created through labor applied to natural resources.[19] The
commodities that proletarians produce and capitalists sell are valued not for their usefulness, but for
the amount of labor embodied in them: for example, air is essential but requires no labor to produce,
and is therefore free; while a diamond is much less useful, but requires hundreds of hours of mining
and cutting, and is therefore expensive. The same goes for the workers' labor power: it is valued not
for the amount of wealth it produces, but for the amount of labor necessary to keep the workers fed,
housed, sufficiently trained, and able to raise children as new workers. On the other hand, capitalists
earn their wealth not as a function of their personal labor, which may even be null, but by the juridical
relation of their property to the means of production (e.g. owning a factory or farmland).

Marx argues that history is made by man and not destiny. The instruments of production and the
working class that use the tools in order to produce are referred to as the moving forces of society.
Over time, this developed into the levels of social class where the owners of resources joined to
squeeze productivity out of the individuals who depended on their labor power. Marx argues that
these relations between the exploiters and exploited results in different modes of production and the
successive stages in history. These modes of production in which mankind gains power over nature is
distinguished into 5 different systems: the Primitive Community, Slave State, Feudal State, Capitalist
System, and finally the Socialist Society. The transition between these systems were all due to an
increase in civil unrest among those who felt oppressed by a higher social class.[20]

The contention with feudalism began once the merchants and guild artisans grew in numbers and
power. Once they organized themselves, they began opposing the fees imposed on them by the nobles
and clergy. This development led to new ideas and eventually established the Bourgeoisie class which
Marx opposes. Commerce began to change the form of production and markets began to shift in order
to support larger production and profits. This change led to a series of revolutions by the bourgeois
which resulted in capitalism. Marx argues that this same model can and should be applied to the fight

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for the proletariat. Forming unions similar to how the merchants

and artisans did will establish enough power to enact change.
Ultimately, Marx's theory of the proletarians struggle would
eventually lead to the fall of capitalism and the emergence of a new
mode of production, socialism.[20]

Marx argued that the proletariat would inevitably displace the

capitalist system with the dictatorship of the proletariat,
abolishing the social relationships underpinning the class system
and then developing into a communist society in which "the free
development of each is the condition for the free development of
all".[21]

During the Chinese revolution, the concept of the proletariat

emphasized having a proletarian class consciousness, rather than
having proletarian social attributes (such as being an industrial
worker).[22]: 363  In this way of defining the proletariat, a
proletarian class consciousness could be developed through a
Soviet propaganda in Moscow,
subjective standpoint with political education supplied by the
1984
Communist Party.[22]: 363  This conception of the proletariat
allowed for a Marxist theoretical framing under which the Chinese
revolution could address the relative weakness of industrial
working classes in China. [22]: 
3 63  Exactly what constituted a proper proletarian class consciousness
was subject to intellectual and political debate.[22]: 97 

Proletarian culture

Marx argued that each social class had its characteristic culture and politics. The socialist states
stemming from the Russian Revolution championed and created the official version of proletarian
culture.

Some have argued that this assessment has become outdated with the advent of mass education, mass
communication and globalization. According to this argument, the working-class culture of capitalist
countries tend to experience "prole drift" (proletarian drift), in which everything inexorably becomes
commonplace and commodified. Examples include best-seller lists, films, and music made to appeal
to the masses, and shopping malls.[23]

See also
Working class – Social class composed of those employed in lower-tier jobs
Blue-collar worker – Working-class person who performs manual labour
Consumtariat – Global upper-class that bases its power on a technological advantage
Laborer – Low-skilled or unskilled worker
Peasant – Agricultural laborer or farmer with limited land ownership
Precariat – Class of wage-earners in a tenuous job situation close to unemployment
Proles (Nineteen Eighty-Four) – 1949 dystopian novel by George Orwell
Prolefeed – Fictional language in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Proletarianization

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Proletarian internationalism – Marxist social class concept

Proletarian literature – Literature mainly written for or by the working class
Wage slavery – Dependence on wages or salary

Notes
1. Arnold J. Toynbee, especially in his A Study of History, uses the word "proletariat" in this general
sense of people without property or a stake in society. Toynbee focuses particularly on the
generative spiritual life of the "internal proletariat" (those living within a given civil society). He also
describes the "heroic" folk legends of the "external proletariat" (poorer groups living outside the
borders of a civilization). Compare Toynbee, A Study of History (Oxford University 1934–1961), 12
volumes, in Volume V Disintegration of Civilizations, part one (1939) at 58–194 (internal
proletariat), and at 194–337 (external proletariat).

References
1. "proletariat" (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/proletariat). Retrieved 2013-06-06 – via The Free
Dictionary.
2. Adolf Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (Philadelphia: American Philosophical
Society 1953) at 380; 657.
3. Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (1953) at 351; 657 (quote).
4. Titus Livius (c. 59 BC – AD 17), Ab urbe condita, 1, 43; the first five books translated by Aubrey de
Sélincourt as Livy, The Early History of Rome (Penguin 1960, 1971) at 81–82.
5. Andrew Lintott, The Constitution of the Roman Republic (Oxford University 1999) at 55–61, re the
Comitia Centuriata.
6. Cf., Theodor Mommsen, Römisches Geschichte (1854–1856), 3 volumes; translated as History of
Rome (1862–1866), 4 volumes; reprint (The Free Press 1957) at vol. III: 48–55 (Mommsen's Bk.
III, ch. XI toward end).
7. H. H. Scullard, Gracchi to Nero. A History of Rome from 133 BC to AD 68 (London: Methuen
1959, 4th ed. 1976) at 51–52.
8. de Lamennais, Félicité Robert (1840). Modern Slavery (https://books.google.com/books?id=-1MX
AAAAYAAJ&q=proletarian&pg=PA9). J. Watson. p. 9.
9. Ekins, Paul; Max-Neef, Manfred (2006). Real Life Economics. Routledge. pp. 91–93.
10. Ekelund, Robert B. Jr.; Hébert, Robert F. (2006). A History of Economic Theory and Method: Fifth
Edition. Waveland Press. p. 226.
11. Lutz, Mark A. (2002). Economics for the Common Good: Two Centuries of Economic Thought in
the Humanist Tradition. Routledge. pp. 55–57.
12. Stedman Jones, Gareth (2006). "Saint-Simon and the Liberal origins of the Socialist critique of
Political Economy". In Aprile, Sylvie; Bensimon, Fabrice (eds.). La France et l'Angleterre au XIXe
siècle. Échanges, représentations, comparaisons. Créaphis. pp. 21–47.
13. Cf., Sidney Hook, Marx and the Marxists (Princeton: Van Nostrand 1955) at 13.
14. Marx, Karl (1887). "Chapter Six: The Buying and Selling of Labour-Power" (https://www.marxists.o
rg/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch06.htm). In Frederick Engels (ed.). Das Kapital, Kritik der
politischen Ökonomie [Capital: Critique of Political Economy]. Moscow: Progress Publishers.
Retrieved 10 February 2013.
15. "Lumpenproletariat | Marxism" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lumpenproletariat).
Encyclopedia Britannica.

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16. Marx, Karl (February 1848). "Bourgeois and Proletarians" (https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/

works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm). Manifesto of the Communist Party. Progress
Publishers. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
17. Luxemburg, Rosa. The Accumulation of Capital. Chapter 6, Enlarged Reproduction,
http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1913/accumulation-capital/ch06.htm
18. Marx, Karl. The Capital, volume 1, chapter 6. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-
c1/ch06.htm
19. Marx, Karl. Critique of the Gotha Programme, I.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/ch01.htm
20. M., Rius (1994). Marx for beginners (http://worldcat.org/oclc/442879412). Icon Books. ISBN 1-
874166-14-5. OCLC 442879412 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/442879412).
21. Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto, part II, Proletarians and Communists
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch02.htm
22. Cai, Xiang; 蔡翔 (2016). Revolution and its narratives : China's socialist literary and cultural
imaginaries (1949-1966). Rebecca E. Karl, Xueping Zhong, 钟雪萍. Durham: Duke University
Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-7461-9. OCLC 932368688 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/932368688).
23. Fussell, Paul (October 1992). Class, A Guide Through the American Status System (https://books.
google.com/books?id=aPbF1kuayJYC). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-31816-9.

Further reading
Blackledge, Paul (2011). "Why workers can change the world" (http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/a
rticle.php?articlenumber=11839). Socialist Review. London. "364"
Hal Draper, Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution, Vol. 2; The Politics of Social Classes. (New York:
Monthly Review Press 1978).

External links
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