Lumpenproletariat

The Lumpenproletariat, alternatively called lumpenprole or lumpen, refers to an unthinking underclass that is (but not always) exploitable by reactionary and 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.^[1]

He and Vladimir Lenin dismissed the revolutionary potential of the lumpenproletariat.

Etymology

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

Instances

Prostitutes
Criminals (tramps, vagabonds, homeless persons)

Unemployed workers

Unemployed workers can turn into lumpenproletariats; a result of being barred from employment by capitalists.

Unemployed workers typically consist of:

Blacklisted workers
Disabled persons

References

↑ “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.”

Karl Marx. Communist Manifesto: '1' (p. 15). [MIA]

[1] “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.”

Karl Marx. Communist Manifesto: '1' (p. 15). [MIA]

[1]