What is the Working class. 9.

Marx's social classes and exploitation

The first part of this talk focuses on Marx's concept of class and the formation of class society. How did social classes come into being? How were relations of exploitation formed? From a historical perspective, we will mobilize concepts such as the social division of labor, labor power, surplus product and alienation.

The genesis of the proletariat and its revolutionary potential

The second part provides an overview of the historical evolution of the proletariat. We begin with what Marx calls primitive accumulation, which created the conditions for the emergence of the working class. We'll then look at this evolution since manufacturing and the industrial revolution, highlighting in particular the battles waged over working hours. A more political aspect, namely the conception of working-class self-emancipation, which signifies a break with earlier socialist thought and practice, will also be addressed in this section.

The working class today

Part Three will look at the composition of the class today, particularly in the age of neoliberalism. We'll start with the proletarianization of intellectual labor in late capitalism, discuss the concepts of precarity, social reproduction and racial capitalism. We will also debate the experiences and possibilities of organizing, as well as the obstacles to it.