Lumpenproletariat

The term lumpenproletariat is most commonly traced to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’s thought. They used this term to refer to a social group that is distinct from both the capitalist and the proletariat classes. The English word lumpen is derived from the German word lump, which means a vagabond, and the word lumpen literally means rags and tatters. In a sociological sense, the term can be associated with the urban poor living in slums and shanty towns, without any regular occupation, and in conditions worse than those who are engaged as laborers in the organized sector. This category of people is a major feature of the contemporary Third World, with major cities of countries including Argentina, Chile, India, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay, and Venezuela ...