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provdsa-polied-fseries/markdown/module-3-working-class.md

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title: ‘Why the Working Class? :: ProvDSA PoliEd’ …

Why the Working Class?

Objective: Building off of our definitions of socialism, this class seeks to explain the centrality of labor and class in the majority of socialist theories of change. To explain what (who) the working class is, and distinctions made by theorists that go deeper than working vs owner class, or between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

Please complete / read / listen to the following before this class:

Agenda:

  • Review the basic definition of the working class (wage laborers) and the role workers play in capitalism

  • The difference between gradational and relational descriptions of class (and why socialists use the relational)

  • The difference between exploitation and oppression

  • The existence of intermediate class positions (professionals, managers, etc.) and their relationships to capital and labor

  • Class and culture: “working class” is not a culture, but class can create cultural differences

  • What can an organization like the DSA do to reach more working-class people?

Questions

  • Why do socialists talk so much about labor and the working class?

  • How does a socialist concept of class differ from other definitions you’ve heard?

  • Are there intermediate classes between worker and capitalist? Who really “counts” as working class, and when is it useful to make distinctions?

  • What is the difference between exploitation and oppression? What power can an exploited class hold over its exploiters?

  • Is there any relationship between class and culture? How do you see class dynamics affect organizations like the DSA?

Breakouts

What can an organization like the DSA do to reach more working-class people?

Further Resources