Bourgeoisie

We explain what the bourgeoisie is, how it originated and the values ​​it held. In addition, what are its general characteristics and examples.

What is the bourgeoisie?

It is known as bourgeoisie to The social class that owns the means of production within a capitalist economic system. It is a term that was originally used to call the social group of merchants that arose in the European feudal society of the Middle Ages and that starred in the transformations produced by the first industrial revolution and the expansion of capitalism in the Modern Age.

The terms bourgeois and bourgeoisie come from the Middle Ages and were used to refer to The inhabitants of the “Burgos” who were the new settlements that were installed around the medieval castles. The bourgeois were merchants who accumulated wealth from the practice of a trade, of the commercial exchange or the loan of money.

In historical terms, The bourgeoisie was the European social class that grew during the seventeenth century and became the owner of large areas of land (agrarian bourgeoisie) and commercial companies (mercantile bourgeoisie). Then, in the 18th century, with the transformations of the industrial revolution, the industrial bourgeoisie appeared, which owns the factories and capital necessary for the new production system.

In political philosophy, the Marxist School of Thought, criticism of the capitalist system, defines the bourgeoisie as the social class of the owners, owners of the means of production, which is enriched from the exploitation of the labor of the proletariat (labor sector). Many times, from this perspective, the term is derogatory as “parasitic bourgeoisie” or “exploiting bourgeoisie”, among other examples.

For their part, sociology and history sometimes use the term to specifically define certain groups in the different societies they study. Therefore, the “bourgeoisie” concept, as well as the social class to which it refers, has varied over time.

At present, the term “bourgeoisie” is also used in social sciences to define a social group that has certain characteristics (such as the possession of goods, tools and capital) in opposition to other social groups (such as the aristocracy, the working class or the peasantry).

See also: Causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution

History of the bourgeoisie

The origin of the bourgeois (fourteently and fifteenth centuries)

The historical origin of the bourgeoisie is found in the social groups of merchants and artisans of the European feudal society that lived in the cities. The expansion and empowerment of this social group were key factors in the transition of the medieval feudal system to the appearance of capitalism in the modern age.

The bourgeois were not subject to any feudal lord in the same way as the peasantry. They had no privileges such as nobility and clergy, but they were not tied to the servitude and agricultural work of the earth.

Their trades were valued by the upper classes, since the members of the nobility and the clergy could access luxury goods brought by the merchants or manufactured goods produced by specialized artisans.

See also: Feudalism

The growth of the bourgeoisie (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries)

The conditions that differentiated the bourgeois of the peasants during the Middle Ages allowed the bourgeois of different parts of Europe to grow as a social group and accumulate monetary wealth.

On the other hand, the economic changes of the 16th and 17th centuries made Europe society more complex and more varied. Differences appeared within the different social groups and the bourgeoisie began to have internal divisions.

In England and other Western European countries, it appeared The agrarian bourgeoisie, made up of enriched peasants that had become great landowners and began to hire day laborers (wage labor) for land work. It was a social group that did not work personally their lands (so they were not peasants) but was not consisting of nobles (which was the social class that was traditionally owned by the lands).

On the other hand, a group called “The high bourgeoisie”, made up of richer merchantsowners of the companies that organized the exchanges between European kingdoms with America, Asia and Africa. Due to their enormous profits and the great accumulation of wealth, they also became money lenders and among their clients were noble, clergy and kings from different parts of Europe.

In cities, another part of LUrban bourgeoisie was composed of teachers who controlled artisans. The richest were those who controlled the production and prices of luxury goods (such as fine fabrics, furniture and jewels) for the consumption of the nobles.

Finally, another bourgeois group appeared that was linked to trade and local and regional markets. These were businessmen who developed the rural industry at home: a form of production organization that used peasant labor (located in the fields) to produce goods that were later sold in urban markets.

The bourgeoisie in the Industrial Revolution

In the second half of the 18th century, in Europe there were a series of economic changes that are known as the first industrial revolution. By 1760, in England it began A transformation in the way of producing goods that consolidated the power of the bourgeoisie in front of the rest of society. The little and large merchants, the bankers and the artisans were the great beneficiaries.

In urban areas, factories began to be created that used steam machines to mechanize certain tasks of the production process. The first manufacturing entrepreneurs were bourgeois They had various origins, such as union teachers, businessmen from the rural home industry or merchants who invested in production.

With the creation of factories, the poorest inhabitants of rural areas began migrating to cities to take salaried jobs. This new social class, made up of people who did not have land or production tools, constituted the proletariat.

In this way, the capitalist society that was divided into two large social groups was established: the capitalist bourgeoisie owned by the means of production (the factories, the machinery, the raw materials and the capital to invest) and the proletariat, composed of the workers or workers who only had their work capacity to offer change of a salary.

The bourgeois revolutions

The deep economic and social changes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries led to the growth of the bourgeoisie as a social class. While it was the most wealthy class and with greater economic power, this was not reflected in the political structure of the different European societies, which was dominated by the aristocracy.

The French Revolution of 1789 was the first expression of this conflict. Then, during the nineteenth century, in Europe they followed a series of revolutions that sought to limit the power of landowners and promote political systems according to the interests of the bourgeoisie.

These revolutionary waves are known as “bourgeois revolutions” or “liberal revolutions” and were characterized by having ended the absolutist governments and having established liberal forms of government.

Ideology of the bourgeoisie

Over time, the bourgeoisie developed its own ideology based on the values ​​and principles that best represented their interests. The main current of bourgeois thought was political liberalism (Which today is called “classical liberalism”, to differentiate it from other later ideas).

Classic liberalism argued that society was composed of a set of rational and free individuals, whose freedoms should be guaranteed in a legal framework. The individual was the basis of society and their rights and needs were more important than those of the State and religion.

For liberal political philosophers, the State had a duty to guarantee the safety of individuals without limiting personal freedoms. Liberalism promoted freedom of expression, association and commerce and was based on the right of private property.

In its political expression, it argued that the rights of people should be guaranteed through the creation of a Constitution and that the Government should be constituted by representatives chosen by citizens.

The bourgeois revolutions of the nineteenth century followed liberal thinking and sought to limit the absolute power of the king and create parliamentary governments. Other characteristics of liberal thought were the defense of census suffrage (that is, of the vote of people with properties), the separation of the Church and the State, and the division of powers.

Among the main thinkers of classical liberalism are John Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamín Franklin and Alexis de Tocqueville.

Differences between bourgeoisie and aristocracy

The aristocracy was the class that stopped power in the feudal order. The members of this caste shared a noble origin and were the great land and property holders. The origin of his nobility was linked to the stories of great military heroes that had defended European kingdoms.

The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, did not have titles of nobility of origin or great properties, but the ability to generate and manage money. This led to the fact that during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more and more families of the nobility were related to wealthy families of the bourgeoisie

Differences between bourgeoisie and proletariat

Unlike the bourgeoisie, the proletariat and the peasantry were composed of the lower classes of society, which had nothing else to offer their workforce, their strength and work capacity.

In the Middle Ages the peasants worked the lands of a feudal man, to whom they were subject to the ties of vassalage that characterized the feudal society. With the appearance of the capitalist production system, part dThe impoverished peasantry who had no land to work moved to cities to be used in factories as wage earners.

This new urban social class was called proletariat and was characterized in just possessing its work capacity, since it did not own any type of production medium (land, tools, raw materials or capital). The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, was the owner of the means of production and was enriched with the work of the proletariat.

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References

• Ryan, Alan (2023). “Bourgeoisie”. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• Stearns, P. (1994). “Liberalism”, “Middle Class” and “Working Class”. Encyclopedia of Social History. Garland Publishing.
• Wilczynski, J. (1981). “Bourgeoisie”. An encyclopedic dictionary of marxism, socialism and commune. Macmillan Reference Books.