Proletariat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is called a proletarian. Originally it was identified as those people who have no other wealth than their sons; the term was initially used in a derogatory sense, until Karl Marx used it as a positive term to identify what he termed the working class.
The Proletariat in Marxist theory
In Marxist theory, the proletariat is that class of society which does not have ownership of the means of production. Therefore, the only source of income for proletarians is wage labor. Proletarians are wage-workers, while some refer to those who receive salaries as the salariat. For Marx, however, wage labor may involve getting a salary rather than a wage per se.
Marxism sees the proletariat and bourgeoisie (owner class) as inherently hostile, since (for example) factory workers automatically wish wages to be as high as possible, while owners wish for wages (costs) to be as low as possible.
See also: Wage slavery, Proletarian internationalism Compare: Plebs
George Orwell
In George Orwell's famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, those not directly associated with The Party (either the "Inner Party" of rulers or the "Outer Party" of bureaucrats) were referred to as proles. To Orwell, this novel is a critique of Russia as it existed under Stalin. Where although the government claimed to be Marxist the distinct class divide between bureacrats and workers and lack of democracy meant it had no resemblance to Marx's vision of communism.
