Working class
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The term working class is used to denote a social class. The definition of the term "working class" is controversial, and depends on the politics and period of the person making the definition and on the society being discussed. For example, pre-World War II British writers often defined class as being at least partly inherited, whereas Americans were more likely to emphasize current income and employment status.
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Definitions
The term is frequently used as a less emotionally-charged substitute for "lower class" in comparison to middle class and upper class. Similarly, it often designates an intermediary class between poverty or unemployment, and the greater financial security of "middle class" business owners, managers, and professionals.
A common distinction is that the working class are paid wages rather than salaries. So defined, they consititute about 80% of the workforce in the United States. Also in the United States, following a slight rise in real wages during the dot com boom of the late 1990s, their income has slipped during the first years of the 21st century. [1] (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/business/18WAGES.html)
Karl Marx defined the "working class" or proletariat as "those individuals who sell their labor and do not own the means of production", and he believed them responsible for creating the wealth of a society. For example, the members of this class physically build bridges, craft furniture, and grow food, but do not themselves own the land or the factories. The proletariat are further subdivided by Marxists into the ordinary proletariat and the lumpenproletariat (rag-proletariat), who are extremely poor and cannot find legal work on a regular basis. These may be prostitutes, beggars, or homeless people.
Views of the working class
Explanations for the situation of the working class have varied dramatically over the centuries and are still hotly contested. The main points of contention are what causes an individual to be a member of the working class, and what are the causes for the troubles faced by the working class.
In feudal Europe (during which the lower/middle/upper-class distinction as it is known today evolved) the working class were presumed to be of inferior lineage and their place in society ordained by God. As such their status and their hardship were not anyone's "fault" per se, but just the natural order of things.
Over time, some of the more wealthy members of society came to blame many of the problems of working class people on the working class themselves. They pointed to excessive consumption of alcohol (and more recently drug abuse), what they saw as laziness, and failure to save money. In sarcastic reference to the temperance movement slogan that "drink is the curse of the working classes," Oscar Wilde said, "Work is the curse of the drinking classes."
Another perspective to gain prominence in modern times is that if the working class does show more dysfunctional behavior, this could be the result of the sparse opportunities and constant hardships that they face. Such behavior could be a result of socioeconomic conditions as much as those conditions could be a result of dysfunctional behavior; the cause-effect relationship is not well-established.
Marxists identify capitalism as the source of misery for the working class and poor, and steadfastly refuse the notion that workers bring their poverty upon themselves. While some view religion as the key to overcoming the perpetual problems faced by the working class, Karl Marx spoke of religion as "...the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people" (A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, 1844). He argued that it gives "false hope" and encourages passivity among the working class.
See also
Trade union, Social class, Underclass, Middle class, Upper class, Blue collar, White collar, Illegal immigrant, Minimum wage, Living wage, Wage slavery, Proletariat, Bourgeoisie, Ruling class, Unfree labour, Globalisation
External links
- The Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University (http://www.as.ysu.edu/~cwcs/)
- International Labor and Working-Class History (http://www.newschool.edu/gf/history/ilwch/)
Further reading
- Moran, W. (2002). Belles of New England: The women of the textile mills and the families whose wealth they wove. New York: St Martin's Press, ISBN 0312301839.
- Michael Zweig, Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret, Cornell University Press (2001), trade paperback, 198 pages, ISBN 0801487277
- Thompson, E.P, The Making of the English Working Class - paperback Penguin, ISBN 0140136037et:Proletariaat
