Class

[anti-authoritarian]

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" - Communist Manifesto

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Capitalism in a nutshell is based around the relationship of the two major social classes:

- The Bourgeoisie who own the means of production and use their power to exploit their workers in order to achieve profit
- The Proletariat who survive on the value of their own labour power

In short Capitalism practises a form of hierarchy based around the individual’s relationship to the control of production. As stated above, the bourgeoisie are those who 'have' and the proletariat are those who 'have not'. As the lust of the bourgeoisie increases, so does their drive for profit. This leads to further exploitation of the proletariat. This ongoing process of exploitation leads the proletariat to realisation - they have to organise.

"Their relationship involves a mutual conflict of interest" - Axtmann/Grant - Democratic Politics

According to Marxism, this conflict of interest will eventually result in revolution. As a result the transfer from Capitalism to Communism (via 'dictatorship of the proletariat') is a historic inevitability. As the economic/material divide between rich and poor widens the proletariat become increasingly alienated from the system. It becomes apparent that the state has been acting all along to serve the interests of the bourgeoisie.

"(A)n instrument for the oppression of the exploited class" - Lenin

Then... revolution. Socialism is imposed via means of dictatorship of the proletariat. The state will then wither away and finally classless society is achieved - Communism.

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Other viewpoints:

Economic Determism - many theorists (including Gramsci and Lukács) reject this idea that society is based purely around economics

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Other Classes

Petit Bourgeoisie - the self employed who own their own means of production
Lumpenproletariat - the unemployed
Peasantry - regarded by some as 'rural' proletarians. Landowning peasants are the 'Kulaks'

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This is a sort of work in progress. It's only really intended to be a basic guide. I would appreciate suggestions for expansion/improvement.

[Pirate Utopian]

the lumpen-proletariat also includes criminals, beggars and homeless people.

[Janus]

Landowning peasants are the 'Kulaks'
All peasants "own" some sort of land or at least have it leased out to them by the landlord. Kulaks are simply the more wealthy peasants.

[Q]

Kulaks are not a class in every country: look for example in the industrialised countries where farmers own lots of land, but aren't a seperate class. The classification of "kulak" is interesting in a semi-feudal society, but not in any general fashion.

[Fawkes]

Originally posted by Big [email protected] 01, 2007 10:54 am
the lumpen-proletariat also includes criminals, beggars and homeless people.
All of whom are unemployed. I think this is a good guide. Of course, me being an anarchist, there are some parts that I disagree with, but all in all a good guide.

[bolshevik butcher]

No, those who are unemployed workers, are proletarians as they are part of the labour pool. They are sucked up into work in times of economy prosperity and made unemployed in times of recession, capital relies on having extra labour to use during economic booms.

[Pirate Utopian]

criminals are not per se unemployed, they could do crime outside of their job

[anti-authoritarian]

Originally posted by Freedom for all...ALL+January 01, 2007 11:23 pm--> (Freedom for all...ALL @ January 01, 2007 11:23 pm)
Big [email protected] 01, 2007 10:54 am
the lumpen-proletariat also includes criminals, beggars and homeless people.
All of whom are unemployed. I think this is a good guide. Of course, me being an anarchist, there are some parts that I disagree with, but all in all a good guide.[/b]
Coincidently I'm an Anarchist as well!

Thanks for the comments guys. I sort of got to the Lenin quote then gave up, but I'll do some more work over the weekend.