Knowra Proletariat Proletariat In Marxist theory, the proletariat is the class that sells its labor power because it does not own the means of production. Its position in production distinguishes it from classes that own productive property.
Means of production : The resources and tools used to produce goods and services, including land, machinery, and workplaces. Lack of ownership of these productive resources distinguishes the proletariat.
Exploitation (Marxism) : In Marxist theory, the appropriation of surplus value produced by workers by owners of capital. It describes the economic relation between proletarian labor and capitalist profit.
Bourgeoisie : The capitalist class that owns or controls the means of production and employs wage workers. It occupies the opposing position to the proletariat in capitalist production.
Karl Marx : A German philosopher, economist, and political theorist who co-founded Marxism. Marx developed the proletariat’s role in his critique of capitalist production.
Dictatorship of the proletariat : In Marxist theory, a transitional political rule by the working class after the overthrow of capitalism. Marx presents proletarian political power as a stage in the transition beyond class society.
Labor power : The capacity to work, which workers sell to employers for a wage. Marx distinguishes workers’ capacity to work from the labor performed in production.
Class struggle : Conflict between social classes over economic interests, power, and control of production. Marx treats conflict between workers and owners as rooted in their opposed positions.
Petty bourgeoisie : A class of small proprietors who own modest productive assets and may work alongside employees. Its mixed position combines ownership with direct labor, unlike the proletariat’s defining propertylessness.
Friedrich Engels : A German socialist theorist and collaborator of Karl Marx. Engels documented industrial workers’ conditions and helped shape their analysis of class.
Proletarian revolution : A revolution in which workers overthrow capitalist political and economic power. Marxist theory assigns the proletariat a central role in revolutionary transformation.
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