Working class

The working class is a social class often contrasted with middle class and upper class in terms of the nature of work undertaken (manual labour or semi-skilled), the level of remuneration (typically low hourly rates although there are exceptions) and access to resources (limited access to capital, education and land). People in this class often rely on payment for their labour to survive. The defining characteristic is the dependence on wage-labor (or salaried employment).

The working class is mainly found in industrialised capitalist economies or in urban areas of non-industrialised economies.

Some people question the usefulness of the concept of a working class, and some deny it exists. However, many sociologists, historians and political theorists use the concept in their academic theory and practice.

Definitions

Definitions of social classes reflect a number of sociological perspectives, informed by anthropology, economics, psychology and sociology. The major perspectives historically have been Marxism and Functionalism

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.

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 of the Marxists and Anarchists.

The concept of the working class is important in Marxist, Anarchist and Socialist thought, there is a great deal of political interest in the precise definition of who the working class is. Key points of commonality amongst various ideas include the idea that there is one working class, even though it may be internally divided. The idea of one single working class should be contrasted with 18th century conceptions of many labouring classes.

Marxist definition

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.

For example, the members of this class physically build bridges, craft furniture, fix cars, and grow food, but do not themselves own the land or the factories. The proletariat are the "ordinary" proletariat and the lumpenproletariat (rag-proletariat,) who are extremely poor and cannot find legal work on a regular basis (like day laborers and the homeless). As Marxist definitions of class hinge around paid labour and lack of property, key issues in Marxist arguments about working class membership include:

• Those in a temporary or permanent position of unemployment.
• Domestic labour, particularly the children and traditionally, also the wives of male workers who do not themselves work paying jobs outside the home.
• Whether the term includes ownership of personal property.
• Whether the term includes ownership of housing;
• Whether the term includes self-employment.
• The class position of students in society.
• Part-time workers who also run a retail shop.

Other definitions

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.

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

Explanations for the situation of the working class have varied dramatically over the centuries and are still hotly contested. The main points of contention are what causes an individual to be a member of the working class, and what are the causes for troubles faced by the working class.

History

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In the late 18th century, the European society was in a state of change, and this change could not be reconciled with the idea of a changeless god-created social order. Wealthy members of these societies created ideologies which blamed many of the problems of working-class people on the morals and ethics of the working class themselves (i.e. excessive consumption of alcohol, perceived laziness and inability to save money).

These processes were identified in English history by E.P. Thompson in his book The Making of the English Working Class. Thompson argues that the English working class was present at its own creation, and seeks to describe the transformation of pre-modern labouring classes into a modern, politically self-conscious, working class.

Culture and personal characteristics

As the working class is divided among nations, and internally divided along very broad lines of rural, blue collar and white collar occupations, there is no one unitary culture. Working class cultures tend to be identified on national and occupational bases, for instance, Australian rural working class culture or New Zealand white collar working class culture. There are however many stereotypes of the working class.

Working class culture in the United States

In the United States, the working class is divided between blue-collar workers and white-collar workers, who if unionized may also be part of the Lower middle class.

See also

• Social class
  • Blue collar and White collar
  • Bourgeoisie
  • Middle class
  • proletarianization
  • Proletariat
  • Ruling class
  • Reserve army of labour
  • Underclass or Lumpenproletariat
  • Upper class
• Apprentice
• Globalisation
• Illegal immigrant
• Knowledge workers
• Living wage and Minimum wage
• Trade union
• Unfree labour
• Vocational education
• Wage slavery

External links

• The Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University
• International Labor and Working-Class History
• Images of the working class between 1840 and 1945 from the McCord Museum's online collection
• libcom.org Working Class History page

Further reading

• Engels, Friedrich, Condition of the Working Class in England [in 1844], Stanford University Press (1968), trade paperback, ISBN 0804706344 Numerous other editions exist; first published in German in 1845. Better editions include a preface written by Engels in 1892.
• Ernest Mandel, Workers under Neo-capitalism http://www.marxists.org/archive/mandel/19xx/xx/neocap.htm
• Moran, W. (2002). Belles of New England: The women of the textile mills and the families whose wealth they wove. New York: St Martin's Press, ISBN 0312301839.
• Rubin, Lillian Breslow, Worlds of Pain: Life in the Working Class Family, Basic Books (1976), hardcover ISBN 0465091454; trade paperback, 268 pages, ISBN 0465097243
• Shipler, David K., The Working Poor:Invisible in America, Knopf (2004), hardcover, 322 pages, ISBN 0375408908
• Thompson, E.P, The Making of the English Working Class - paperback Penguin, ISBN 0140136037
• Zweig, Michael, Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret, Cornell University Press (2001), trade paperback, 198 pages, ISBN 0801487277