Terms from Marxist analysis for two classes defined by their relationship to productive property. The bourgeoisie own the means of production — factories, land, capital. The proletariat own none and sell their labour for wages. The distinction is about ownership, not income: a well-paid employee is still proletariat in these terms.
The core difference
- bourgeoisie — those who own the means of production and derive income from that ownership.
- proletariat — those who own no productive property and live by selling their labour.
The dividing line is the source of income, not its size. Someone earning a large salary but owning no capital is proletariat by this definition; someone with a modest income from a small business is bourgeois.
Where the words come from
- Proletariat — from Latin proletarius, the lowest class in Roman census terms, whose contribution to the state was their offspring, proles.
- Bourgeoisie — from French bourgeois, originally a town-dweller, a burgher: a merchant or tradesman class distinct from both nobility and peasantry.
The related terms in the same framework
- petite bourgeoisie — small proprietors, shopkeepers, self-employed artisans: they own productive property but also work it themselves.
- haute bourgeoisie — the wealthiest owners of capital.
- lumpenproletariat — Marx's term for those outside regular employment entirely.
How the words are used now
Both have drifted well beyond their technical meanings. Bourgeois is most often used loosely to mean conventional, materialistic or middle-class in taste, a sense that owes more to nineteenth-century cultural criticism than to economics. Proletariat stays closer to its origin but is largely confined to political and historical writing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie?
The bourgeoisie own the means of production and earn from that ownership; the proletariat own none and sell their labour for wages.
Is it about how much you earn?
No — about the source of income. A highly paid employee who owns no productive property is proletariat in these terms; a modest small-business owner is bourgeois.
What does "petite bourgeoisie" mean?
Small proprietors — shopkeepers and self-employed artisans who own productive property but also work it themselves.