Professor Scanlan's OpenLab Course Site

Bourgeoisie and Proletariat

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles wrote a pamphlet called the Communist Manifesto. They introduced a social construct that created two classes in society. The two social classes were the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoise were the capitalists. They oversaw the means of production. By them overseeing the means of production that meant they were in charge of the proletariat. A negative impact of the bourgeoisie being in charge meant that they exploited the proletariat. The bourgeoisie were politically and economically powerful. This meant they had the authority to implement property and legislation rights. Having all this power also meant the bourgeoisie owned the majority of the wealth. On the other hand, the proletariats were the working class laborers. They produced materials in factories using an assembly line method. They created profit for the capitalist. This caused the proletariats to face exploitation. Some of the ways they were exploited were by unfair wages and being replaced quickly. This starts the revolution between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

1 Comment

  1. Professor Sean Scanlan

    Thanks for the definition.
    -Prof. Scanlan

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