RAMZY BAROUD on how Israel’s narrative collides with military failure
Should we still use the terms ‘bourgeois’ and ‘proletariat’?
Some of Marx’s terms are unfamiliar to people today, so we should be careful how we use them
“WHY use the terms ‘bourgeois’ and ‘proletariat’? Most people don’t know what they mean.”
You’re probably right. And in answer to your question; we probably shouldn’t, except in a historical context.
In a footnote to the 1883 edition of The Communist Manifesto, Engels wrote: “By bourgeoisie is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labour.
More from this author

Most currently popular arguments for degrowth describe a real problem without recognising its true cause – capitalism’s insatiable need to accumulate, argues the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY

Most phenomena have an explanation, writes the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY, but occasionally ‘anomalous’ events have led to new scientific understanding

The fight to defend public services is as important as the struggle over wages, but presents different challenges to workplace organising — especially with regards to bourgeois propaganda and conditioning, writes the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY

Marx and Engels’ concern with soil provides a focus for understanding the relationship between capitalism and the environment, argues the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Similar stories

RICHARD CLARKE recommends a hugely valuable text for those seeking theoretical analysis and practical action to defend public services

NICK WRIGHT delicately unpicks the eloquent writings on art of an intellectual pessimist who wears his Marxism lightly

Lenin’s theory of the weakest link shifted the centre of gravity of the proletarian revolution towards peoples’ struggles in the developing world, contrary to the expectation of Marx and Engels. The effect was to hinder the cause of socialism by decades. Time bring it back to its natural home, argues FAWZI IBRAHIM

Emphasising his continuous engagement in labour movement struggles, ALISTAIR FINDLAY salutes John Foster’s contribution as activist, strategist, intellectual and defender of the Morning Star