Bourgeoisie

Bourgeoisie [ bʊʁʒo̯a'zi ː ] (French, bourgeoisie ') is a mainly derogatory term used to describe the unused high social class in society, facing the class of the proletariat.

The term has a central importance within the going back to Karl Marx Marxist theory in which it is used as a synonym for capitalist and thus for exploiters. Based on this theory, the term has developed a derogatory rating Character: A typical bourgeois is therefore a very wealthy member of the upper class, which has a conservative or reactionary attitude.

In contrast to the broad concept of the citizen, the citizen is also attributed to the purposes of the citizen, the concept of Bourgeois includes industrial bourgeoisie of the secular elite. While there was already some bourgeois society in earlier periods, the bourgeoisie only in Europe in the feudal and absolutist age was politically significant as a separate force.

Social and structural development and conceptual history

During the 19th century the revolutionary forces were split by various bourgeois revolutions as the July Revolution in 1830, the February Revolution of 1848 and the March Revolution of 1848/1849 against the policy of restoration increasingly into two oppositely acting classes on the one hand, the Third Estate, who has been the Age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution, the spokesman of the progressive movements was, on the other hand, in the course of the Industrial Revolution rapidly proliferating proletariat, which was conceived as a Fourth Estate and increasingly acted as their own political power in the form of the labor movement in appearance.

The labor movement turned against the formerly perceived as progressive - revolutionary bourgeoisie, which reversed evolved as juste milieu to the ruling class and was by enforcing their bourgeois revolution to a conservative anti-revolutionary force. The political conflict in society was no longer between the nobility and clergy as representatives of the ancien régime on the one hand and the bourgeois- proletarian majority on the other side, but primarily between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat itself

One of the first socialists who formulated an insurmountable contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, was the journeyman tailor Wilhelm Weitling. Far Ling had a decisive effect in 1836 in the Paris emerged from the League of Outlaws League of the Just, a forerunner of the later socialist and communist parties. Weitlings influence declined as a result of disputes with Karl Marx, after the League of the Just had been renamed the Communist League in London and came under the influence of priority Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Marx and Engels built from the theory of the antagonism of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie with a scientific claim. 1848 they published the influential Communist Manifesto, in which they called for international and revolutionary class struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie, to enforce communism as a classless society.

Scientific term use

Whether the term of the bourgeoisie and with it the name Civil society should be used for the description of contemporary societies still, is within science - especially sociology - controversial. For even the division of society into social classes is doubted because of their political sensitivity.

The term civil society is scientifically still used, although no longer as dominant figure description as yet in the 1970s. In its place the socio-structural indeterminate concept of civil society occurred. The problem for the description of modern societies is, in particular, that the middle class " today socially generalized [ is ] that it seems and nothing to be everything an almost undifferentiated category. " (Mark Pohlmann: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie )

Definition Karl Marx

In the works of Karl Marx, the bourgeoisie, the capitalist upper classes when the ruling in capitalism of the two major classes appear. To this rule there is in the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, of employed wage earners. An intermediate position is occupied by the petty bourgeoisie of the smaller self-employed.

The bourgeoisie has emerged from the Third Estate of the feudal society, especially the artisans, traders, and free land-owning rich peasants accounted for. In the wake of the industrial revolution, but even during the so-called primitive accumulation, these layers developed to factory owners and large entrepreneurs.

In contrast to the dominated and exploited class of workers whose members have only their to be sold on the labor market labor power, the United Citizens are therefore the owner of the decisive means of production (such as factories, transport, minerals) and can help - and by the exploitation of workers - increase their ownership of capital resistant.

The interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are objectively contradictory and irreconcilable according to Marx. Their opposition (antagonism ) leads his prognosis according necessarily to the class struggle, which leads into a dictatorship of the proletariat. In the enforcement of socialism and then communism as the highest stage of the classless society, the historical development comes to an end: For Marx and the building on his theories of historical materialism, the whole history of mankind is to be understood as a series of class struggles in which a by revolutions each previously ruling class is overthrown, to replace an old form of society by a new one with new economic, political and cultural rules. The bourgeoisie had to throw in this context, the historically progressive role, the ruling class of the nobility in the feudal society together with the absolutism and feudalism, to the imposition of capitalism and with it the modern society.

Definition by Immanuel Wallerstein

The theorists of the world system theory, Immanuel Wallerstein, endorses Marx's theory, and enriches it by recent sociological and political science elements. Thus, the bourgeoisie for him a dynamic, so befindliches constantly evolving phenomenon represents a fixed ideal type of the bourgeois does not exist for him. Instead, there are several, spatially and temporally localized, dominant forms of organization of the bourgeoisie. These depend on the achieved level of development of the world economy as a whole, the role of spatially confined area (such as a nation state ) within the global economy, and the resulting forms of the class struggle in the global economy.

An individual who is part of this class is characterized by the participation in the following process: A Bourgeois receives because of his membership of a particular group, to certain circles, etc. a part of a multi- value, which was not produced by himself, and sets this ( wholly or partially ) to a capital accumulation.

The membership is currently experiencing bourgeoisie no restriction by the application of certain professions or disposal of a kind geartetes property. Admission to the bourgeoisie can also be done by means of a diving board or special aspiration or Talented awareness. Also belonging to the class is not guaranteed to remain in this. At this point, certain characteristics of the bourgeois are loud Wallerstein then but significantly, namely, cleverness, strength and diligence. Because the most important criterion for the league is the success on the market.

For individuals who consider themselves permanently of the bourgeoisie belong, arises with the time the question of how the bonuses are to be kept, without being constantly exposed to the tremendous competition and pressure to perform. The strategy for solving this problem lies in the Transforming the economic success in social status. The result, however, another problem for the bourgeoisie, namely the fact that new bourgeois are generated due to the economic dynamics of capitalism, while not yet have social status, but claim him. Since the precious gift of social status but its distinctive character and thus loses its intrinsic value, if too many have about it, it comes to elimination fights between the new and the old bourgeois.

Comprador bourgeoisie

In contrast to the national bourgeoisie in individual capitalist countries the concept of comprador bourgeoisie is used in reference to the history of colonialism and refers to that local class that maintains the colonialist exploitation from the outside inside the country. The comprador bourgeoisie, also called comprador class, have no interest in the building industry and the accumulation of capital but only on the accumulation of wealth. After Nicos Poulantzas, the comprador bourgeoisie acting as an agent of foreign capital.

Interior bourgeoisie

The Greek- French political theorist Nicos Poulantzas led in the 1970s, the concept of internal bourgeoisie in the mainly Marxist -style debate on imperialism one. Poulantzas distinguishes the internal bourgeoisie of which the national and comprador bourgeoisie. Its existence is the result of progressive especially after the Second World War the internationalization of production and of capital. This class is connected by Poulantzas with capital from abroad, has its reproduction based but itself While the concepts mainly take at the same time inside the state national bourgeoisie and comprador bourgeoisie ( governor - bourgeoisie ) the relationship between capitalist centers and peripheries in the view, leave to with the concept of the internal bourgeoisie capture the relationship between imperial powers like the U.S. and Europe under the internationalized capitalist relations. The inner bourgeoisie would have been in the process of internationalization to the dominant faction in the state and must do so within the national formation with the interests of the dominant imperialist capital ( Poulantzas calls the USA), the international production, world market, etc. deal. In contrast to the national bourgeoisie, which occupies a relatively autonomous position, the internal bourgeoisie is therefore inextricably intertwined with the internationalized capitalist relations, but it is based on the ( internationalized ) nation-state.