Bourgeoisie

We explain what the bourgeoisie is and how this social class emerged. Also, what are the bourgeois values ​​and the types of bourgeoisie.

What is the bourgeoisie?

The bourgeoisie is the social class that owns the means of production in a capitalist society. As such, it concentrates economic power and, in some cases, also political power.

From a Marxist perspective, it is considered an antagonistic class with respect to the working class, the latter deprived of the means of production and forced to sell its labor power. In a more traditional sense, the term refers to the wealthy middle class, owners of businesses, factories or industries, who Since the Middle Ages it has been differentiated from both the salaried sectors and the hereditary nobility..

The term “bourgeoisie” comes from French bourgeoisiewhich designates the entire bourgeoisie. For its part, the word “bourgeois” emerged in the Middle Ages to name a new urban social class, the inhabitants of the Burgosthat is, the new parts of a medieval city or the neighborhoods that were established next to a crossroads or a castle. These bourgeois were neither feudal lords (nobles or clerics) nor serfs or peasants, but merchants, artisans and moneylenderswhose economic and legal position allowed them to occupy an intermediate step within medieval society.

The appearance and The growth of the bourgeoisie in the West marked the passage from the feudal era to the Age modernwhen its economic power began to come into conflict with the political power held by the nobility of the Old Regime (that is, in absolutist monarchies). Between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the first bourgeois revolutions against the monarchical and aristocratic order took place.such as the French Revolution of 1789, which began the Contemporary Age, or the independence of the United States in 1776, which led to the formation of the first modern republican regime. The bourgeoisie also promoted the Industrial Revolution starting in the mid-18th century and consolidated itself as a politically dominant class in the 19th century.

See also: Scientific communism

The bourgeoisie according to Marxism

According to Marxist thought, the bourgeoisie occupies a dominant place in the production structure of capitalism, since The bourgeois are the owners of the means of production (factories, workshops) and they obtain their wealth from the exploitation of the labor force of the proletariat.

These production relations make it possible to manufacture goods or provide services from the sale of which the bourgeoisie obtain profits, since They pay workers with a salary monthly but they appropriate the capital gain (that is, the part of the value of a good or service that is not paid to the worker).

Given the influence of Marxism in the social sciences of the 20th century, the terms “bourgeois” and “bourgeoisie” are often used in the sense formulated by Karl Marx (1818-1883). However, today's forms of social and labor organization present a level of complexity that was not contemplated in the work of Marx, who limited himself to analyzing 19th century society, which is why many researchers dispense with these concepts or the statements of Marxism.

In some cases, the terms “bourgeois” and “bourgeoisie” are used in a pejorative sense, as synonyms for exploiter and well-off or privileged person.

See also: Marxism

How did the bourgeoisie emerge?

The bourgeoisie It emerged in Europe in the Middle Ages, between the 11th and 13th centuries.but it gained greater notoriety from the Late Middle Ages, between the 14th and 15th centuries. The bourgeois or inhabitants of the Burgos They were free people who did not enjoy the privileges of hereditary nobility but were also not subject to the feudal order or relations of servitude. They were dedicated to artisanal production, commerce and finance..

The bourgeoisie was gaining importance thanks to the accumulation of capitals and propertieswhich often meant that many bourgeois families became ennobled (by purchasing titles of nobility), became major moneylenders, and even gained some local political power, especially in the city-states of the time, such as Venice or Florence. The key to this was that they were not subject to feudal jurisprudence, since they constituted a relatively new social class.

During the Modern Age, the decline of the feudal model, commercial competition between nations derived from mercantilism and the expansion of European empires contributed to the greater enrichment of the bourgeoisies. The new bourgeois and republican values ​​ended up supplanting the values ​​of the nobility and overthrowing the absolutist model of the State, which concentrated political power in the hereditary monarchy. This was achieved in part thanks to the Industrial Revolution, which began in the mid-18th century in England, which strengthened the economic position of the industrial, commercial and financial bourgeoisie. However, The engine of change was the bourgeois revolutions of the late 18th and 19th centuries..

In the French Revolution of 1789, the bourgeoisie led the so-called third estate, made up of all sectors that did not have aristocratic privileges, and managed to conquer political power. This position was consolidated thanks to the European revolutions of the 19th century. Also in the United States, since the declaration of independence in 1776, a regime inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment and liberalism, promoted by bourgeois politicians and intellectuals, was imposed.

Throughout the 19th century, the bourgeoisie consolidated itself as the dominant class in almost the entire world, not only in the economic sphere but also in the political sphere. The impoverished nobility often needed financial support from the bourgeoisie and they aspired to obtain the status reserved for the nobles and control of the State, which is why a world dominated by the bourgeoisie ended up taking shape.

This bourgeois order led to an antagonism between the interests of the bourgeoisie and those of the proletariat, which unleashed a series of social and political conflicts during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, interpreted as a class struggle for Marxism and other socialist currents.

What are bourgeois values?

The rise and expansion of the bourgeoisie introduced new cultural values ​​to the West, expressed during the French Revolution with the motto “liberty, equality, fraternity.” The new constitutional and republican political regimes were built on these values ​​starting at the end of the 18th century.

These values ​​come largely from the moral and intellectual contributions of the Enlightenment and liberalism, and include the following:

• The individual rights and guarantees that correspond to all citizenssuch as freedom of religion, press, expression, assembly and association, based on the defense of the individual against the power of the State.
• Respect for private property and freedom of enterprise as the foundations of individual freedom and economic prosperity.
• He rule of lawthat is, the organization of the State on a legal basis that guarantees individual rights and prevents abuses of power, such as the division of public powers (executive, legislative and judicial), the promulgation of equality before the law of all citizens and the drafting of a national Constitution.
• Social mobilitywhich in theory allows any individual to ascend or descend the social scale based on their effort and their economic or intellectual merits, and not on their blood, lineage or membership in a social stratum.

Types of bourgeoisie

Broadly speaking, the bourgeoisie is divided into different categories according to the analysis criteria used:

• Gentry. It is the most important and enriched sector of the bourgeoisie, which usually constitutes the so-called “upper class” of society, that is, the wealthy elite, which in many ways behaves like a new aristocracy and influences politics.
• petite bourgeoisie. It is an intermediate sector between the upper bourgeoisie and the proletariat, made up of small merchants, professionals, artisans or businessmen who do not employ (or employ very little) salaried labor and do not accumulate large sums of capital.
• Enlightened bourgeoisie. This is usually called a sector of the bourgeoisie that emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries that cultivated the values ​​of culture, arts and education, influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment. Sometimes the term is used to also refer to the university or artistic middle class.
• industrial bourgeoisie. It is the sector of the bourgeoisie that is dedicated to the production of goods and services in factories and companies, and whose wealth and social position were consolidated after the Industrial Revolution.
• commercial bourgeoisie. It is the sector of the bourgeoisie that is dedicated to the commercial exchange of goods and services, and whose profits are due to its role as an intermediary between producers and consumers.
• financial bourgeoisie. It is the sector of the bourgeoisie that is dedicated to finance, such as banking management, the stock market, granting loans, investments and financial speculation.
• agrarian bourgeoisie. Although the bourgeoisie was originally linked to urban life, this term is often used to designate landowners and large agricultural producers.

See also:

References

• Bobbio, N., Matteucci, N. and Pasquino, G. (Dirs.). (2015). Politics Dictionary. 21st century.
• Ryan, A. (2024). Bourgeoisie. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Wilczynski, J. (1981). Bourgeoisie. In J. Wilczynski, An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Marxism, Socialism and Communism (p. 48). Macmillan Reference Books.