workeristadj.n.
/ˈwəːkərɪst/, U.S. /ˈwərkərɪst/ A. adj.
Of or relating to a theory or view of society that (excessively) emphasizes the importance or centrality of the working class; advocating or upholding such a theory or view. Also more generally (esp. with depreciative reference to members of the middle or upper classes): of, relating to, or supporting the working class and its rights and interests.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [adjective] > working-class > relating to workerist view
workerist1959
1959 W. Birmingham tr. J. Daniélou in Cross Currents Fall 381/2 The workerist conception [Fr. la conception ouvriériste] locates poverty on the level of the standard of living. The ‘collectivist’ locates poverty on the level of private property.
1981 Filmnews (Austral.) May 6/2 The practice of Cinema Action was criticised as workerist for assuming that there was a unified working class.
1985 Daily Tel. 11 Feb. 12/2 The genuine proletarians of the hard Left who regard him [sc. Tony Benn] as ‘workerist’.
1991 S. Best & D. Kellner Postmodern Theory vi. 197 Laclau and Mouffe break with traditional Marxist views of socialism... They reject a narrow ‘workerist’ conception of socialism as a struggle for a classless society led by workers and for the creation of a new mode of production.
1998 Scotsman (Nexis) 21 Aug. 15 The workerist novel re-emerged in the late Fifties with the Kitchen Sink School of writers—dreary novels about factory workers and girls getting up the stick.
2009 Independent 4 Feb. 22/1 M. Besancenot's old party, despite its workerist rhetoric, was mostly middle-aged and middle class.
B. n.
A person with a workerist view of society. Also more generally: a person, esp. (depreciative) a member of the middle or upper classes, who advocates or supports the rights and interests of the working class.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > working class > one who adopts workerist values
workerist1971
1971 A. Mitchell Ride Nightmare 98 l'm an entrist, centrist, Pabloite workerist.
1974 J. Smith in E. Mandel & G. Novack Revolutionary Potential of Working Class (ed. 2) 9 While recognizing the working class as the central force opposing capitalism, the workerists ignore or downgrade the role of all other forces.
1979 Internat. Labor & Working-class Hist. No. 16. 25 In Europe the political undertow which swept workerists, old labor historians and new social historians into the same pool remains present.
1984 Sunday Tel. 2 Dec. 21/2 Oxford, long the home of what is now known as the ‘workerist’ (public school student turning very Left~wing).
1994 R. L. Sklar in D. E. Apter & C. G. Rosberg Polit. Devel. & New Realism in Sub-Saharan Afr. iv. 132 The idea of a Labor party, once urged by dyed-in-the-wool workerists, has become improbable.
2001 Guardian (Nexis) 14 Apr. (Weekend Suppl.) 3 I like most things about young, working-class women—even the stuff that other people, theoretically workerists, sneer at under cover of ‘good taste’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.1959