Class-Based Society, Burgeoisie and the Rise of the Workers' Movement

Class-Based Society

Causes of class-based society: new social groups appeared linked to the destratification of the main groups of the ancien regime, which disappeared or lost their power. New ideas were introduced into the political system and the economy.

Characteristics: based on class, dynamic, open, legal equality, and based on wealth.

The Bourgeoisie

Bourgeoisie: main activities included commerce, crafts, liberal professions and government posts.

• High bourgeoisie: stimulated industrialisation and enjoyed most of its profits. This led to the consolidation of a financial and industrial bourgeoisie.
• Middle bourgeoisie: consisted of individuals in the liberal professions, such as lawyers, doctors, architects and journalists.
• Low bourgeoisie: consisted of small-scale commerce and low-level employment.

The Proletariat

Proletariat: this term defines an employee, a person who works for another in exchange for a wage, in industry and in rural areas.

Workers' Movement

Workers' movement: due to the poor working conditions and the poor quality of life of these workers, they began to organise in order to obtain improvements.

• Luddism: the first movement, which was against the use of machines.
• Trade unions: the movement approved the creation of trade unions.
• Chartism: a movement based on a workers' charter, which had been sent by a committee of workers to parliament with various petitions (vote, universal suffrage). They succeeded and improved the social and working conditions.

Developments

Key developments:

• 1864: London. Meeting of European and US union representatives. They formed the Workingmen's Association, called the First International.
• 1889: Paris. To celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, a new federation was founded: the Second International, also called the Socialist International.

Political Ideologies

• Social democracy: believed in solidarity and an egalitarian society in which everyone had equality of opportunity. They believed in a classless society where economic ideas would serve everybody.
• Communism: Karl Marx believed that liberalism was false liberty and that the Declaration of the Rights of Man was focused too much on the individual. He thought that many bourgeois factory owners had used liberalism to make themselves very rich and exploit the proletariat. Lenin led the Russian Revolution.
• Anarchism: similar to communism but rejecting all types of authority: church, political parties and the state. The anarchists, guided by Bakunin, believed that politics was a form of economic oppression, and they believed in free association.

Comparison of Ideologies

• Working alone vs. working together
• Individuality vs. solidarity
• Privileges vs. equality of opportunities
• Wealth for the minority vs. wealth for everyone
• A society of individuals vs. a society without differences
• A free society vs. a truly free society
• Bourgeois control of the proletariat vs. no control
• Bourgeois control of production vs. no control