Proletariat
The term "proletariat" refers to the industrial working class as defined by Karl Marx, a 19th-century German philosopher. In Marxist theory, the proletariat is seen as being in a constant struggle against the bourgeoisie, the wealthy class that profits from their labor. Marx criticized capitalist societies for perpetuating inequality, highlighting how the laboring masses often live in poverty while the upper class accumulates wealth. He proposed that this exploitation would ultimately lead to a revolution, where the proletariat would rise up to dismantle the bourgeoisie’s power. This revolution aims to establish a Communist society, where resources and labor are shared equitably, and class distinctions are abolished. Historical examples of Marxist revolutions include the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949. In both cases, the proletariat took control of the state, aiming to create a society based on the principles of communism as envisioned by Marx. The concepts surrounding the proletariat continue to be influential in discussions of social class and economic structures today.
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Proletariat
According to Marxism, the political philosophy developed by nineteenth-century German philosopher Karl Marx, the proletariat is comprised of the members of a society's industrial working class. Marx claimed that capitalist societies—in which individuals make profit through private industry—are inherently unfair because the poor proletariat is perpetually exploited by the rich bourgeoisie class, which profits from the proletariat's labor.
The eventual solution to this inequality, Marx argued, is a revolution of the proletariat, the rising up of the working class to destroy the bourgeoisie. Marx asserted that the fall of capitalism would precipitate the creation of a Communist society, or one in which the people share equally in their labor and resulting wealth. In this way, social class disappears, and the people can live in equality and happiness.
Overview
Karl Marx devised his concept of the proletariat—that of the proletariat being in constant struggle against the bourgeoisie—within the context of his own time and place in history. The German political philosopher and economist, who died in 1883, witnessed the industrialization of Europe throughout the 1800s. Cities grew larger and more crowded with the expansion of business, making upper-class business owners even wealthier. Meanwhile, the masses of people who actually performed the labor were destitute.
Marx saw the disparity between social classes in his society as simply a continuation of the way human societies had functioned throughout history. In the ancient and medieval eras, for instance, the wealthy landowners took advantage of the poor laborers. Even in later centuries, when growing industry created a middle class with some wealth and power, the rich continued to exploit the poor.
Marx saw nineteenth-century capitalist Europe the same way, with the proletariat performing all of the work that made the bourgeoisie wealthy. He challenged the view that capitalism was the best kind of society ever devised by humans. Marx praised capitalism's ability to create an abundance of resources for every member of society, but he criticized the unfair way in which those resources were distributed.
Therefore, as part of his revolutionary political philosophy known as Marxism, Marx described what he called the revolution of the proletariat. This would involve the poor classes rising up against the bourgeoisie because of their long-held resentment of them. The violent revolution would lead to the destruction of the wealthy class.
Marx then asserted that the formerly capitalist society would be ruled by a dictatorship of the proletariat. The working classes would refashion their society so that people contribute what they could based on their abilities and receive resources based on their needs. Every person would share equally in the society's labor and subsequent financial rewards. Consequently, the state would be replaced by the proletariat. The equal, classless, stateless ideology practiced in such a society would be known as communism.
Two of the most notable Marxist proletarian revolutions to occur in the twentieth century were the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949. In the first instance, Vladimir Lenin led a group of militant proletariats called the Bolsheviks to seize state power from the czar, the emperor of Russia. Decades later, in China, proletariats under the command of Mao Zedong violently defeated China's ruling government and took control of the country. Both Russia and China became Communist societies following their proletarian revolutions.
Bibliography
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