Working class

The working class is a social class found mainly in industrialised capitalist societies or in urban centres. While some writers dispute the existence of a working class, many sociologists, historians and political theorists make use of the concept in their academic writing.

Debate over meaning

Due to the political interest in the working class, debate has been raging over the nature of the working class since the early 19th century. Two broad schools of definitions emerge, those aligned with 20th century sociological stratum models of class society, and those aligned with the 19th century historical materialism economic models developed by Marxists and Anarchists.

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Non-Marxist sociological definitions

The parameters which define working class depend on the schema used to define social class. For example, a simple stratum model of class might divide society into a simple hierarchy of lower class, middle class and upper class with working class not specifically designated.

Related Topics:
Parameter - Define - Social class - Stratum model of class - Lower class - Middle class - Upper class

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A more finely divided stratum model such as that of Paul Fussell breaks out three categories of blue-collar workers which he designates as "high prole" skilled blue-collar workers; "mid prole" workers in factories and the service industry; and "low Prole" manual laborers. He places office workers in the "middle class" and professionals in the "upper-middle class." At the lower end he places the homeless in a class he terms the "destitute."

Related Topics:
Paul Fussell - Blue-collar worker - Office worker - Professional - Homeless

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Identification of a person as a member of the working class is often based on the nature of the work performed (Blue collar/White collar) by the person, the income of the person, or the extent of formal education that the person has completed. However, studies of social class generally focus on other traits, such as the basis for the person's access to the means of production, or amount of control that the person has over his work environment.

Related Topics:
Blue collar - White collar - Social class

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Working class people are generally paid wages, usually on a weekly or monthly basis. In popular American political discourse, medium-income skilled laborers and tradesmen are termed "middle class" despite having minimal investment income as are college-educated white collar workers.

Related Topics:
Wage - Skilled labor - Tradesmen

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Marxian definitions

Karl Marx defined the "working class" or proletariat as the multitude of individuals who sell their labor power for wages and do not own the means of production, and he believed them responsible for creating the wealth of a society.

Related Topics:
Karl Marx - Proletariat

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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.

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As Marxist definitions of class hinge around paid labour and lack of property, key issues in Marxist arguments about working class membership include:

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• Temporary and permanent unemployment
• Domestic labour, particularly the children and spouses (historically wives) of workers who do not themselves work
• Ownership of personal property
• Ownership of housing
• Ownership of non-economically effective tools (tradesmen etc.)
• Self-employment
• The class position of students in society
• Workers who are also engaged in petit-bourgeois production, for example, part-time workers who also run a retail shop.