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Line 1: − + − In its wider sense it means those of the middle class, originally neither [[aristocrat]]ic nor [[peasant]] and was the French equivalent of [[Burgess]] ([[English]]) or Burgher ([[German]]). All were citizens or freemen of the [[medieval]] ''burgh'' or town from whence we get the modern "Borough". By extension, the adjective "bourgeois" can mean hum-drum, unimaginative, conventional and the like. + − + − * [[Social class]] − * [[Aristocracy]] or [[Nobility]] − * [[Proletariat]] − ==References==+ − {{reflist|2}} − [[Category:Dictionary]]+ − [[Category:Economics]]+ − [[Category:Marxist Terminology]]+
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'''Bourgeoisie''' is a term used in classical [[Marxism]] for the social [[class]] that controls the means of production. In opposition to the [[proletariat]] class, who earn [[income]] from the sale of their labor, the bourgeoisie class generates income through the processes of [[capital]].
The '''capitalist class''' or '''bourgeoisie''' (from the French term "bourgeois", meaning: from the city) is the ruling [[class]] of the economic and political system of [[capitalism]]. It is characterized by owning large quantities of [[capital]], and [[Wage labour|hiring]] [[proletariat|proletarian]] laborers to produce commodities.
Whereas the proletariat is the subject, exploited, disposed class in capitalist society, the bourgeoisie is the master, exploitative, and possessor class. The bourgeoisie owns the [[means of production]] and the means of living, including, but not limited to: factories, farmland, workshops, offices, and even housing. The proletariat and bourgeoisie stand in direct opposition to one another, and their differences are irreconcilable, resulting in [[class struggle]].
==See also==
== Origins ==
Historically, the bourgeoisie emerged as artisans and petty tradesman during the late stages of [[feudalism]], and from there clashed with their rivals, the landlords of the estates. Feudal states were often [[physiocracy|physiocratic]], preventing the bourgeois from industrializing (Marx details this hypocritical struggle in his second manuscript of his [[Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts]] of 1844. [22]), as well as [[protectionism|protectionist]], preventing the bourgeois from gaining wealth through [[foreign trade]]. [[Bourgeois revolution|Bourgeois revolutions]] throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in Western Europe and the Americas destroyed most of feudalism, ushering in [[liberal capitalism]].
== See also ==
{{NavClasses}}