class consciousness

American  

noun

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

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

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class consciousness Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• class-conscious
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of class consciousness

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

class consciousness

“If they destroy the Lakers, guys with Kobe back tattoos are going to start the proletariat revolution. I think that the closest we’re getting to class consciousness is fast food and sports teams.”

From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026

The fallout from Austria’s defeat in World War I gave a first taste of class consciousness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Generally, Marxism relied on the proletariat, the industrial workers in the factories, gaining class consciousness.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

Historians used to believe that while European societies were burdened by ferocious class antagonisms, Americans had relatively little class consciousness.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2022

You wish us to preach human brotherhood in Christ, and then we see that the one chief enemy of brotherhood between men and nations is economic strife, the root of class consciousness and war.

From Christianity and Progress by Harry Emerson Fosdick