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lumpenproletariat vs. unproductive labour (lemmy.ml)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I provide a service for direct use (forgot the real term).

as an independent worker with my own business I am not an organized worker and have no solidarity with ppl who do the same job. true lumpen.

but then learned about the whole concept of unproductive labour. there is no capitalist who steals my surplus value. true unproductive worker?

what am I?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I'm going off memory, but IIRC lumpenproletariat refers to the disorganised and marginalised class of people who still don't survive off of Capital. Small-time criminals, "errand boys", drug dealers, sex workers, people who aren't directly employed by Capital, and are segregated to the fringes of society, but still live off of their labour. It doesn't apply to your case.

The situation you describe seems to fit better into petit bourgeois if you actually own some sort of business. But if you're one of those "be your own boss" doordash deliverypeople, then that's just enticing propaganda to mask away being part of the disorganised and alienated section of the proletariat.

Either you survive from your labour, from owning property, or a mixture of the two. That's the principal distinction between proletarian and bourgeois. The material interests of the petit bourgeoisie often align with that of the proletariat, but it's also a source for reactionary elements and footsoldiers of capital.

Here's the definition of lumpen on the MIA glossary:

https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/l/u.htm