lumpenproletariat

lum·pen·pro·le·tar·i·at

L0288350 (lŭm′pən-prō′lĭ-târ′ē-ət, lo͝om′-)n.1. The lowest stratum of the proletariat. Used originally in Marxist theory to describe those members of the proletariat, especially criminals, vagrants, and the unemployed, who lacked awareness of their collective interest as an oppressed class.2. An underclass.

[German : Lumpen, pl. of Lump, ragamuffin (from Middle High German lumpe, rag) + Proletariat, proletariat (from French prolétariat; see proletariat).]

lumpenproletariat

(ˌlʌmpənˌprəʊlɪˈtɛərɪət) n (Sociology) (esp in Marxist theory) the amorphous urban social group below the proletariat, consisting of criminals, tramps, etc[German, literally: ragged proletariat]

lum•pen•pro•le•tar•i•at

(ˈlʌm pənˌproʊ lɪˈtɛər i ət, ˈlʊm-)

n. (esp. in Marxist theory) the lowest level of the proletariat comprising unskilled workers, vagrants, and criminals and characterized by a lack of class consciousness. [1920–25; < German (Marx, 1850) =Lumpen rag or Lumpen-, comb. form of Lump ragamuffin + Proletariat proletariat]

lumpenproletariat

The lowest level of the proletariat, made up of criminals, vagrants, and the permanently unemployed.

Thesaurus

Noun

lumpenproletariat - (Marxism) the unorganized lower levels of the proletariat who are not interested in revolutionary advancementMarxism - the economic and political theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that hold that human actions and institutions are economically determined and that class struggle is needed to create historical change and that capitalism will ultimately be superseded by communismlabor, labour, proletariat, working class - a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages; "there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field"

lumpenproletariat

nounA group of persons regarded as the lowest class:dreg (often used in plural), rabble, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, trash.Slang: scum.Idioms: scum of the earth, tag and rag, the great unwashed.

lumpenproletariat

literally, the ‘proletariat of rags’, from the German Lumpen meaning ‘rag’. MARX and ENGELS were two of the first 19th-century writers to recognize the existence of a class drawn from all classes, living on the margins of society, not in regular employment and gaining their subsistence mainly from crime. According to Marx, the composition of the Parisian lumpenproletariat in the mid-19th century included vagabonds, discharged soldiers and jailbirds, escaped galley slaves, swindlers, pickpockets, tricksters, gamblers, pimps, brothel-keepers, ragpickers and beggars. These groups were sharply differentiated from the industrial working class by both politics and by being outside the normal social relations of wage labour. Marx and Engels distrusted the lumpenproletariat because it did not make an obvious contribution in the struggle of the working class for socialism. They therefore considered the lumpenproletariat were ‘the dangerous class’, ‘the social scum’ whose parasitic ways of life prepared them for becoming bribed agents of reactionary elements in the ruling class. They threatened to lead workers into arbitrary violence and their highest forms of political activity were mob agitation and street fighting. These were primitive forms of political action, according to Marx and Engels, who maintained that where large scale capitalist production exists, modern revolution demands the mass seizure and control of the means of production by the working class.

Dissenting from the Marxist view, the African socialist, Fanon, in The Wretched of the Earth (1967), stressed that the lumpenproletariat or ‘classless idlers’ living in the shanty towns of Third World societies could play an important role in revolutionary struggles.

lumpenproletariat

noun

Synonyms for lumpenproletariat

noun a group of persons regarded as the lowest class

Synonyms

dreg
rabble
ragtag and bobtail
riffraff
trash
scum

Words related to lumpenproletariat

noun (Marxism) the unorganized lower levels of the proletariat who are not interested in revolutionary advancement

Related Words

Marxism
labor
labour
proletariat
working class