Emergence of the WORKER class

The emergence of the working class is closely linked to the Industrial Revolution, a period in which workers' working conditions begin to deteriorate. At unProfesor we tell you.

It was one of the most important moments in the history of humanity, causing a series of changes that transformed society and the economy forever. For all these reasons, it is very important to talk about the emergence of this class, in order to understand how the world has evolved since that moment.

Index

1. What is the working class?
2. How and where did the working class emerge?
3. When did the labor movement emerge in Spain?

Before talking about the emergence of the working class, let's get to know what we mean when we talk about the working class. This social class is also known as working class or proletariat and is dedicated to provide labor for different productive tasks, receiving a salary for this, but not being at any time the owners of the means of production that work on them.

The term working class comes from the English name working class, which began to be used in the 19th century due to the studies of important philosophers such as Marx or Engels. These thinkers created a series of ideas contrary to capitalism, centered on the fact that the working class was the one who should have power.

We can say that The working class is the opposite of the bourgeoisie, since these are the owners of the means of production, who according to Marxist thought take advantage of the workers to obtain benefits without having to work.

We must take into account that There is another social class, the artisans, who are different from both the bourgeoisie and the working class, by both owning the means of production and working on them.

Here we leave you a summary of the labor movement.

The rise of the working class goes hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution, moment in which workers' rights begin to worsen. During this revolution many of the ideas and processes were born. characteristic processes of capitalism.

The Industrial Revolution brought changes in the industrialization of production, changing the feudal system that until then had been widespread. Along with the emergence of capitalism, there was born the concept of the city as a productive center, since they are beginning to be the places where the industry is centralized, having a larger population and greater economic resources.

He rise of the bourgeois class, the shift to cities, and industrialization caused the emergence of a working social class, which was responsible for working in factories, and whose rights were much lower than those of the upper classes.

For a time, the working class was not aware of itself, since it was not centralized, and each worker only had himself to criticize the powerful structure of capitalism. It was in the revolutions of 1848 when workers protested for their rights for the first time, since in the 1830s they had been promised rights that never came. Therefore, it is at this moment when the first revolutionary workers movements emerge.

As the years went by, the working class evolved, with the emergence of unions as organizations that worked so that this class could have a greater number of rights. The working class stopped having little power, and began to have some influence on decisions that were taken in their country.

The power of the working class increased, and was even able to govern in regions such as Cuba or Laos. And even in some regions with Marxist elements they occupied the means of production, thereby ending their position as the working class. Therefore, today it is a social class with great relevance throughout the world.

To continue this lesson from a Teacher on the rise of the working class, we must talk about the origin of this social class in Spain, being key to understanding the role that this group of people has had in our society, being an exceptional case in Europe.

The Industrial Revolution was a late process in Spain, being one of the last Western European nations to join this process of economic transformation. For this reason, the Spanish working class was slow to begin to have relevance on Spanish soil, many maintaining the position of serfs in the countryside that they had had during feudalism.

The emergence of the working class in Spain took place in Catalonia, which was one of the main industrial points in Spain at that time, especially due to its great capacity for textile production. Textile workers were the first to have the working hours and the various problems that had characterized the working class in the rest of Europe. Spanish workers had less production capacity than European workers, but they had the same problems regarding their rights.

It was in the 1830s and 1840s when cotton workers in Catalonia began to carry out the first protests regarding workers' rights. It was there where the first strikes, and the formations of unions, Therefore, it is a place of great relevance for the workers' revolution.

Over the years, The working class and capitalism expanded throughout Spain, until having a presence in the main cities of the nation. Over time, people abandoned the towns and began lives in cities with workers in industry, thus emerging the Spanish working class.

If you want to read more articles similar to Rise of the working class, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• Thompson, E. Q. (1977). The historical formation of the working class. ISO 690
• Jones, O. (2013). Chavs. The demonization of the working class. Sociology, 601, 607.
• Thompson, E. P., Domènech, A., & Hobsbawm, E. J. (1989). The formation of the working class in England (Vol. 2). Barcelona: Criticism.