The bourgeoisie Is a concept that refers to the middle class. However, from its appearance in the Middle Ages to contemporaneity, this concept has been transformed as society itself has changed.
On the other hand, it is also necessary to consider that this is a concept that is used all over the world and yet it is not useful to describe a standardized middle class.
It is not possible to say that all the bourgeoisie are equal and that the whole middle class is not bourgeois.
The development of this social class has been of great importance in the social development of the Western world. She is owed the French Revolution and with it many of the rights conquered that at present are considered indispensable.
The transformation of the bourgeoisie continues to the present day. In fact, thanks to the social and economic transformations brought about by the massification of education and information technologies, the middle class has grown and diversified.
However, it has also received strong criticism from different political points of view. Perhaps the most important criticism of all was the one received by Marx , Who for the first time established the nature of the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
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Historical development of the term bourgeoisie
The term"bourgeoisie"was born in the Middle Ages , Where this concept was used to refer to the group of people who lived within the walled cities.
This idea arises with the development of the medieval cities where the merchants and craftsmen were concentrated. It was a term that was used in opposition to that of peasantry, that is, people who lived outside the villages and worked the land.
From the eighteenth century this term was used as a concept to define that diverse group that is between the nobility and the masses peasants and workers. This included: traders, elite nobles, professionals, financiers and civil servants of early modernity.
The workers called their bosses and peasants the"landowners"who worked.
The artisans, for their part, ceased to be considered part of the bourgeoisie because they were part of"those whose work had dirtied their hands."
During this century, the rising middle class began to demand social, economic and political rights.
It is then considered that French Revolution Was a movement of the bourgeoisie to which all modern Western society owes its conquests to the bourgeoisie.
On the other hand, thanks to the Industrial Revolution , The bourgeoisie experienced a great expansion. Thanks to this, very deep differences emerged within the same social class.
For example, the difference between the owners of the industries and their employees is remarkable, even though they are all part of the bourgeoisie.
This caused that in the late nineteenth century the original bourgeois were more related to the upper class than to the bourgeoisie itself.
Political Features
The bourgeoisie has had a very important political role within modern societies. As he took on greater economic power, he fought to gain even greater political power.
The bourgeois values include civil liberties, which include: freedom of worship, freedom of expression, freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
They also consider economic freedoms, such as: freedom of enterprise, freedom of work and freedom of the market.
These values are necessarily linked to a transformation of the State. This implies the division of powers and a representative parliamentary system.
But above all, it implies a government with limited powers and minimal intervention in the lives of citizens.
On the other hand, the bourgeoisie also includes social mobility among its values. This means the possibility of climbing the social scale thanks to labor and intellectual merit, regardless of blood or family inheritance.
The bourgeois struggles allowed society to develop the principles of equality and freedom in accordance with their values. This represented a tremendous advance, not only for this class of society, but for all of humanity.
However, this social class is also characterized by monopolizing the benefits of rights obtained by exploiting the proletarian class and generating social tensions.
In this sense, the concept of freedom acquires different interpretations. For example, freedom of enterprise may also imply the freedom to exploit another citizen who permits it, because the latter is also making use of his own freedom of work.
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Criticism of the bourgeoisie
The bourgeois values have received criticism from different ideologies. But perhaps the chief critic of them has been Karl Marx.
In a sense, Marx recognizes the historical importance of the bourgeoisie. This thinker affirms that the struggles of the bourgeoisie have implied throughout history an evolution of the whole society, from the acquisition of civil rights to the creation of the representative State.
However, on the other hand, it criticizes the fact that the public power has become a space exclusive to the bourgeoisie. Which excludes, especially, the working classes or the proletariat.
According to Marx, the bourgeoisie commits abuses against the proletariat because it is recently clothed with power and wishes to maintain that place of superiority. These abuses give rise to social tension and class struggle.
Marxist thought, however, is insufficient to understand the contemporary bourgeoisie.
This is because this doctrine analyzes a class struggle that is framed within the Industrial Revolution.
Therefore it is not possible to understand through Marx's analysis the problems of the present bourgeoisie. For example, this analysis does not have the appearance of a fringe of professionals and managers who are salaried but do not fit into the concept of proletariat.
Other criticisms have also asserted that bourgeois values are closely related to machismo. This is because the bourgeoisie defend a unique model of family structure, with well defined gender roles and where women have an essential role.
This role of women is usually located in the center of the families, where it plays a fundamental role as a caretaker and moral lighthouse.
In this sense, bourgeois values demand very closed margins of behavior for women, which oppose the idea of freedom and equality that they propose.
References
- Didactic Encyclopedia. (S.F.). Definition of bourgeois. Retrieved from: edukalife.blogspot.com.ar.
- Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. (2004). Bourgeoisie. Retrieved from: encyclopedia.com.
- Ryan, A. (2016). Bourgeoisie. Retrieved from: britannica.com.
- The free dictionary. (S.F.). Bourgeoisie. Retrieved from: encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com.
- Webdianoia. (S.F.). Fragments of works by Marx. Retrieved from: webdianoia.com.