class consciousness

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noun

awareness of one's own social or economic rank in society.

a feeling of identification and solidarity with those belonging to the same social or economic class as oneself.

Nearby words

class action, class action law suit, class b drug, class c drug, class conflict, class consciousness, class day, class inclusion, class interval, class list, class mark

Origin of class consciousness

First recorded in 1885–90

Related forms

class-con·scious

[klas-kon-shuh s, klahs-] /ˈklæsˈkɒn ʃəs, ˈklɑs-/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for class consciousness

He had occasions to control several thousands of Red soldiers of different degrees of class-consciousness—most of them peasants.
Dictatorship vs. Democracy|Leon Trotsky
For, after all, this new proletarian ethic is nothing else than class-consciousness under a new name.
Socialism: Positive and Negative|Robert Rives La Monte
Not merely had he acquired the class-consciousness of the working-man, he had acquired the money-consciousness as well.
King Coal|Upton Sinclair
I am opposed to such Socialism as emphasizes "class-consciousness" and the entire abolition of private property.
Why I am opposed to socialism|Various

Fithian's Journal reveals, however, that class-consciousness was not yet apparent in the division of labor on this frontier.
The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784|George D. Wolf

Culture definitions for class consciousness

class consciousness

Identification with other members of one's own class and awareness of its relationship with other classes. According to Marxist theory, the proletariat (see also proletariat) will assume class consciousness when workers realize that they are being exploited by the bourgeoisie; then a proletarian revolution will be inevitable. Contrary to this theory, however, the American working class is primarily socially conservative.