Class consciousness in political theory, particularly Marxism, refers to the set of beliefs that a person holds regarding their own social class, their economic rank in society, and their perceived class interests.[1]
While Karl Marx rarely used the term "class consciousness", he did make the distinction between "class in itself", which is defined as a category of people having a common relation to the means of production; and a "class for itself", which is defined as a stratum organized in active pursuit of its own interests.[2][3]