Lumpenproletariat

2025-08-03T08:33:50Z

75.183.21.8: Added Huey P. Newton's contributions to the analysis of the Lumpenproletariat.

The '''Lumpenproletariat''', alternatively called '''lumpenprole''' or '''lumpen''', refers to an unthinking underclass that is (but not always) exploitable by [[reactionary]] and [[Counterrevolution|counter-revolutionary]] forces. The term was coined by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]].

Marx defined the lumpenproletariat as a dangerous class and "passively rotting mass" thrown off the lowest layers of the old society.<ref>{{Citation|title=[[Communist Manifesto]]|author=[[Karl Marx]]|chapter=1|page=15|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm
|quote=The "dangerous class", [lumpenproletariat] the social scum, that passively rotting mass thrown off by the lowest layers of the old society, may, here and there, be swept into the movement by a proletarian revolution; its conditions of life, however, prepare it far more for the part of a bribed tool of reactionary intrigue.}}</ref> He and [[Vladimir Lenin]] dismissed the revolutionary potential of the lumpenproletariat. However, [[Mao Zedong|Mao]] and [[Huey P. Newton]] believed that the lumpenproletariat could be revolutionary with the correct guidance.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Mao Zedong]]|year=1926|title=Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_1.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Eldridge Cleaver|year=1969|title="On the Ideology of the Black Panther Party"|title-url=https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/Black%20Liberation%20Disk/Black%20Power!/SugahData/Books/Cleaver.S.pdf|page=2-11|quote=Essentially, what Huey did was to provide the ideology and the methodology for organizing the Black Urban Lumpenproletariat. Armed with this ideological perspective and method, Huey transformed the Black lumpenproletariat from the forgotten people at the bottom of society into the vanguard of the proletariat.|city=Oakland|publisher=Black Panther Party|trans-lang=English}}</ref>

== Etymology ==

Lumpen was a prefix for "rag"; therefore Lumpenproletariat literally means "rag proletariat".

== Instances ==

* Prostitutes
* Criminals (tramps, vagabonds, homeless persons)

=== Unemployed workers ===
[[Unemployment|Unemployed]] workers can turn into lumpenproletarians a result of being barred from employment by [[Bourgeoisie|capitalists]].

Unemployed workers typically consist of:
* Blacklisted workers
* [[Disability|Disabled]] persons

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Marxist terminology]]

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Lumpenproletariat