Proletarianization
Encyclopedia
Proletarianization is a concept in Marxism
and Marxist sociology
. It refers to the social process whereby people move from being either an employer, unemployed or self-employed, to being employed as wage labor by an employer. In Marxist theory, proletarianisation is often seen as the most important form of downward social mobility
.
. The growth of capital meant the growth of the working class
. The expansion of capitalist markets involved processes of primitive accumulation and privatisation, which transferred more and more assets into capitalist private property, and concentrated wealth in fewer and fewer hands. Therefore, an increasing mass of the population was reduced to dependence on wage labour for income, i.e. they had to sell their labour power
to an employer for a wage or salary because they lacked assets or other sources of income. The materially-based contradictions within capitalist society would foster revolution. Marx believed the proletariat would eventually overthrow the bourgeoisie as the 'last class in history'.
Many intellectual
s have described proletarianization in advanced capitalism
as "the extension of the logic of factory labor to a large sector of services and intellectual professions."
In most countries, entitlement to unemployment benefits is conditional on actively looking for work, and that means people, assuming they are not sick, are compelled to seek employment either as salaried worker or as self-employed worker.
Geographically and historically, the process of proletarianization is closely associated to urbanization
because it has often involved the migration of people from rural areas where they engaged in subsistence farming, family farming and share-cropping to the cities and towns, in search of waged work and income in an office or factory (see rural flight
).
has caused a huge increase of the number of wage and salary earners within the world's working population. But they argue that:
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and Marxist sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. It refers to the social process whereby people move from being either an employer, unemployed or self-employed, to being employed as wage labor by an employer. In Marxist theory, proletarianisation is often seen as the most important form of downward social mobility
Social mobility
Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...
.
Marx's concept
For Marx, the process of proletarianization was the other side of capital accumulationCapital accumulation
The accumulation of capital refers to the gathering or amassing of objects of value; the increase in wealth through concentration; or the creation of wealth. Capital is money or a financial asset invested for the purpose of making more money...
. The growth of capital meant the growth of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. The expansion of capitalist markets involved processes of primitive accumulation and privatisation, which transferred more and more assets into capitalist private property, and concentrated wealth in fewer and fewer hands. Therefore, an increasing mass of the population was reduced to dependence on wage labour for income, i.e. they had to sell their labour power
Labor power
Labour power is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist political economy. He regarded labour power as the most important of the productive forces of human beings. Labour power can be simply defined as work-capacity, the ability to do work...
to an employer for a wage or salary because they lacked assets or other sources of income. The materially-based contradictions within capitalist society would foster revolution. Marx believed the proletariat would eventually overthrow the bourgeoisie as the 'last class in history'.
In modern capitalism
The classic historical study of proletarianization is E.P. Thompson's The Making of the English Working Class (1963), in which the author portrays the meanings, struggles and conditions of an emerging proletariat.Many intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s have described proletarianization in advanced capitalism
Advanced capitalism
In political philosophy, advanced capitalism is the situation that pertains in a society in which the capitalist model has been integrated and developed deeply and extensively and for a prolonged period of time...
as "the extension of the logic of factory labor to a large sector of services and intellectual professions."
In most countries, entitlement to unemployment benefits is conditional on actively looking for work, and that means people, assuming they are not sick, are compelled to seek employment either as salaried worker or as self-employed worker.
Geographically and historically, the process of proletarianization is closely associated to urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
because it has often involved the migration of people from rural areas where they engaged in subsistence farming, family farming and share-cropping to the cities and towns, in search of waged work and income in an office or factory (see rural flight
Rural flight
Rural flight is a term used to describe the migratory patterns of peoples from rural areas into urban areas.In modern times, it often occurs in a region following the industrialization of agriculture when fewer people are needed to bring the same amount of agricultural output to market and related...
).
Criticism of the concept
Non-Marxist sociologists will often admit that the development of the capitalist mode of productionCapitalist mode of production
In Marx's critique of political economy, the capitalist mode of production is the production system of capitalist societies, which began in Europe in the 16th century, grew rapidly in Western Europe from the end of the 18th century, and later extended to most of the world...
has caused a huge increase of the number of wage and salary earners within the world's working population. But they argue that:
- this fact does not necessarily mean or imply proletarianization. For example, the new middle classMiddle classThe middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
es (professionals, managers etc.) also earn salaries, but these salaries are sufficiently high to permit a lifestyle and asset ownership which cannot be called "proletarian" anymore.
- if we only look at wages and salaries earned, we might come to wrong conclusions. We also have to take into account asset ownership and household wealth; non-wage income can be a large component of personal income, and households may obtain income from various sources, of which money-wages are only one.
- proletarianization is not a process uniquely associated with capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. For example, a proletarian element existed also in the Roman empireRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and in feudal Europe, and more importantly, hundreds of millions of peasants in the USSR and China were "proletarianized", not as a result of private enterprise, but as a result of state enterprise.
See also
- capital accumulationCapital accumulationThe accumulation of capital refers to the gathering or amassing of objects of value; the increase in wealth through concentration; or the creation of wealth. Capital is money or a financial asset invested for the purpose of making more money...
- Embourgeoisement thesisEmbourgeoisement thesisEmbourgeoisement is the process of migration of individuals into the bourgeoisie as a result of their own efforts or collective action, such as that taken by unions in the US and elsewhere in the 1930 through 1960s that established middle class status for factory workers and others that would not...
- primitive accumulation
- proletariatProletariatThe proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
- surplus labourSurplus labourSurplus labour is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. It means labour performed in excess of the labour necessary to produce the means of livelihood of the worker . According to Marxian economics, surplus labour is usually "unpaid labour"...
- WorkerismWorkerismWorkerism is a name given to different trends in left-wing political discourse, especially anarchism and Marxism. In one sense, it describes a political position concerning the political importance and centrality of the working class. Because this was of particular significance in the Italian...
- working classWorking classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
Further reading
- Karl MarxKarl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Das KapitalDas KapitalDas Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
. - E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
- Hal DraperHal DraperHal Draper was an American socialist activist and author who played a significant role in the Berkeley, California, Free Speech Movement and is perhaps best known for his extensive scholarship on the history and meaning of the thought of Karl Marx.Draper was a lifelong advocate of what he called...
, Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution, Vol 2: The Politics of Social Classes. New York: Monthly Review Press. - Ernest MandelErnest MandelErnest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter , was a revolutionary Marxist theorist.-Life:...
, Workers under Neo-capitalism
External links
- Workers under neocapitalism