Brenda Vanessa Dacres (born November 1966) is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who is Mayor of Lewisham . In 2024 she became the first black woman directly elected mayor in England .
41-545: Dacres is working class . She was born to Windrush generation parents. She formerly served as mayor and deputy mayor and on Lewisham London Borough Council . She was elected in New Cross ward in 2014 and 2018 and Deptford ward in 2022 . She first stood in 2017 for selection as the Labour candidate for Mayor of Lewisham but was beaten by Damien Egan , who was subsequently elected as Mayor in 2018. Dacres applied to be
82-429: A social revolution , at which point the contradictory relationship between technological advancement and the value of labor force is resolved by the emergence of a new mode of production based on a different set of social relations including, most notably, different patterns of ownership for the means of production. Ownership of the means of production and control over the surplus product generated by their operation
123-449: A "slum of hope" from the 1920s and 1930s, members of this class are given hardly any chances of attaining membership of the formal economic structures. Diane Reay stresses the challenges that working-class students can face during the transition to and within higher education, and research intensive universities in particular. One factor can be the university community being perceived as a predominately middle-class social space, creating
164-470: A key change in these Soviet-style societies has been a new type of proletarianization , often effected by the administratively achieved forced displacement of peasants and rural workers. Since then, four major industrial states have turned towards semi-market-based governance ( China , Laos , Vietnam , Cuba ), and one state has turned inwards into an increasing cycle of poverty and brutalization ( North Korea ). Other states of this sort have collapsed (such as
205-402: A mixed economy, private ownership of capital goods are protected and a certain level of the market economy is allowed. However, the government has the right to intervene in the market and economic activities for social objectives. Different from the pure capitalism, the government regulation exists to control particular means of production over the private business sector. Different from communism,
246-401: A self-identification with the working class group. This subjective approach allows individuals, rather than researchers, to define their own "subjective" and "perceived" social class. Karl Marx defined the working class or proletariat as those individuals who sell their labour power for wages and who do not own the means of production . He argued that they were responsible for creating
287-412: A sense of otherness due to class differences in social norms and knowledge of navigating academia. Working classes in different countries Means of production In political philosophy , the means of production refers to the generally necessary assets and resources that enable a society to engage in production . While the exact resources encompassed in the term may vary, it
328-558: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary -based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour . Most common definitions of "working class" in use in the United States limit its membership to workers who hold blue-collar and pink-collar jobs, or whose income
369-745: Is a loss in the economic value of capital goods or tangible assets (e.g. machinery, factory equipment) due to wear and tear, and aging. This is known as the depreciation of capital goods. NML: The analysis of the technological sophistication of the means of production and how they are owned is a central component in the Marxist theoretical framework of historical materialism and in Marx's critique of political economy , and later in Marxian economics . In Marx's work and subsequent developments in Marxist theory,
410-475: Is consistent with the bulk of Marxist theory in which Politics and Religion are seen as mere outgrowths ( superstructures ) of the basic underlying economic reality of a people. Factors of production are defined by German philosopher Karl Marx in his book Das Kapital as labor, subjects of labor , and instruments of labor: the term is equivalent to means of production plus labor. The factors of production are often listed in economic writings derived from
451-418: Is defined as social ownership of the means of production so that the surplus product accrues to society at large. Marx's theory of class defines classes in their relation to their ownership and control of the means of production. In a capitalist society, the bourgeoisie , or the capitalist class, is the class that owns the means of production and derives a passive income from their operation. Examples of
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#1732794014601492-484: Is deserving of aid. In other contexts the term working class refers to a section of society dependent on physical labour , especially when compensated with an hourly wage (for certain types of science, as well as journalistic or political analysis). Working-class occupations can be categorized into four groups: unskilled labourers, artisans, outworkers , and factory workers. Common alternative definitions of Working Class include definition by income level, whereby
533-443: Is distinct from bourgeoisie and proletariat as they can buy the labour of others but also work along with employees. In contrast, the proletariat , or working class , comprises the majority of the population that lacks access to the means of production and are therefore induced to sell their labour power for a wage or salary to gain access to necessities, goods and services. According to Marx, wages and salaries are considered as
574-408: Is insufficiently high to place them in the middle class , or both. However, socialists define "working class" to include all workers who fall into this category; thus, this definition can include almost all of the working population of industrialized economies . As with many terms describing social class , working class is defined and used in different ways. One definition used by many socialists
615-589: Is that the working class includes all those who have nothing to sell but their labour, a group otherwise referred to as the proletariat . In this sense, the working class includes white and blue-collar workers, manual and menial workers of all types, excluding individuals who derive their livelihood from business ownership or the labour of others. The term, which is primarily used to evoke images of laborers suffering "class disadvantage in spite of their individual effort", can also have racial connotations, applying diverse themes of poverty and implications about whether one
656-505: Is the fundamental factor in delineating different modes of production . Capitalism is defined as private ownership and control over the means of production, where the surplus product becomes a source of unearned income for its owners. Under this system, profit-seeking individuals or organizations undertake a majority of economic activities. However, capitalism does not indicate all material means of production are privately owned as partial economies are publicly owned. By contrast, socialism
697-445: Is widely agreed to include the classical factors of production ( land , labour , and capital ) as well as the general infrastructure and capital goods necessary to reproduce stable levels of productivity . It can also be used as an abbreviation of the "means of production and distribution" which additionally includes the logistical distribution and delivery of products, generally through distributors ; or as an abbreviation of
738-532: The Soviet Union ). Since 1960, large-scale proletarianization and enclosure of commons has occurred in the third world , generating new working classes. Additionally, countries such as India have been slowly undergoing social change, expanding the size of the urban working class. The informal working class is a sociological term coined by Mike Davis for a class of over a billion predominantly young urban people who are in no way formally connected to
779-554: The classical school as "land, labour and capital". Marx sometimes used the term " productive forces " equivalently with " factors of production "; in Kapital , he uses "factors of production", in his famous Preface to his Critique of Political Economy : A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy , he uses "productive forces" (that may depend on the translation). Production relations (German: Produktionsverhältnis ) are
820-408: The global economy and who try to survive primarily in slums . According to Davis, this class no longer corresponds to the socio-theoretical concepts of a class, from Marx, Max Weber or the theory of modernization . Thereafter, this class developed worldwide from the 1960s, especially in the southern hemisphere. In contrast to previous notions of a class of the lumpen proletariat or the notions of
861-454: The wealth of a society, asserting that the working class physically build bridges, craft furniture, grow food, and nurse children, but do not own land or factories . A sub-section of the proletariat, the lumpenproletariat ( rag-proletariat ), are the extremely poor and unemployed, such as day labourers and homeless people. Marx considered them to be devoid of class consciousness. In Marxist terms wage labourers and those dependent on
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#1732794014601902-403: The welfare state are working class, and those who live on accumulated capital are not, and this broad dichotomy defines the class struggle . In The Communist Manifesto , Marx and Friedrich Engels argue that it is the destiny of the working class to displace the capitalist system, with the dictatorship of the proletariat (as opposed to the " dictatorship of the bourgeoisie ") abolishing
943-450: The "means of production, distribution, and exchange" which further includes the exchange of distributed products, generally to consumers . The concept of "Means of Production" is used by researchers in various fields of study — including politics , economics , and sociology — to discuss, broadly, the relationship between anything that can have productive use, its ownership , and the constituent social parts needed to produce it. From
984-548: The English Working Class , E. P. Thompson argues that the English working class was present at its own creation, and seeks to describe the transformation of pre-modern labouring classes into a modern, politically self-conscious, working class. Starting around 1917, a number of countries became ruled ostensibly in the interests of the working class (see Soviet working class ). Some historians have noted that
1025-410: The Labour candidate in the 2018 Lewisham East by-election . She was a supporter of the Labour for free movement campaign. She appeared on an all ethnic minority women shortlist but was beaten by Janet Daby . In 2024 she was elected Mayor of Lewisham. The by-election was called after Damien Egan was elected to Parliament in the 2024 Kingswood by-election . This article about an English politician
1066-549: The capital value. The social means of production are capital goods and assets that require organized collective labor effort, as opposed to individual effort, to operate on. The ownership and organization of the social means of production is a key factor in categorizing and defining different types of economic systems . The means of production includes two broad categories of objects: instruments of labor (tools, factories , infrastructure , etc.) and subjects of labor ( natural resources and raw materials ). People operate on
1107-432: The capitalist class include business owners, shareholders and the minority of people who own factories, machinery and lands. Countries considered as the capitalist countries include Australia, Canada, the U.S., and other nations which hold a free market economy. In modern society, small business owners, minority shareholders and other smaller capitalists are considered as Petite bourgeoisie according to Marx's theory, which
1148-514: The late 18th century, under the influence of the Enlightenment , European society was in a state of change, and this change could not be reconciled with the idea of a changeless God-created social order. Wealthy members of these societies created ideologies which blamed many of the problems of working-class people on their morals and ethics (i.e. excessive consumption of alcohol, perceived laziness and inability to save money). In The Making of
1189-473: The means of [knowledge] production; communication such as books, articles, videos disseminated both physically and digitally over the Internet are a means of [knowledge] distribution. In a broad sense, the "means of production" also includes the "means of distribution " such as stores, the internet and railroads ( Infrastructural capital ). The means of production of the firm may depreciate, which means there
1230-422: The means of production are owned privately by a small class (the bourgeoisie ) who profits off the labor of the working class (the proletariat ). Communism is a mode of production in which the means of production are not owned by anyone, but shared in common , without class-based exploitation . Besides capitalism and communism, there is another mode of production which is called a Mixed Economic System. In
1271-528: The means of production via the creation and adaptation of new technologies over time has a tendency to rearrange local and global market structures, leading to the disruption of existing profit pools, creating the possibility of massive economic impact. Disruptive technologies can lead to the devaluation of various forms of labor power, up to the point of making human labor power economically noncompetitive in certain applications, potentially widening income inequality. According to Marx, escalating tension between
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1312-439: The perspective of a firm, a firm uses its capital goods, which are also known as tangible assets as they are physical in nature. Unfinished goods are transformed into products and services in the production process. Even if capital goods are not traded on the market as consumer goods, they can be valued as long as capital goods are produced commodities, which are required for production. The total values of capital goods constitute
1353-681: The price of labour power , related to working hours or outputs produced by the labour force. At the company level, an employee does not control and own the means of production in a capitalist mode of production. Instead, an employee is performing specific duties under a contract of employment, working for wages or salaries. As for firms and profit-seeking organizations, from a personnel economics perspective, to maximize efficiency and productivity there must be an equilibrium between labour markets and product markets. In human resource practices, compensation structure tends to shift towards pay-for-performance bonus or incentive pay rather than base salary to attract
1394-452: The process of socioeconomic evolution is based on the premise of technological improvements in the means of production. As the level of technology improves with respect to productive capabilities, existing forms of social relations become superfluous and unnecessary as the advancement of technology integrated within the means of production contradicts the established organization of society and its economy . The increasing efficiency of
1435-441: The relations humans enter into with each other in using the means of production to produce. Examples of such relations are employer /employee, buyer/seller, the technical division of labour in a factory, and property relations. Mode of production (German: Produktionsweise ) means the dominant way in which production is organised in society. For instance, " capitalism " is the name for the capitalist mode of production in which
1476-532: The right workers, even if conflicts of interest exist in an employer-worker relationship. To the question of why classes exist in human societies in the first place, Karl Marx offered a historical and scientific explanation that it was the cultural practice of ownership of the means of production that gives rise to them. This explanation differs dramatically from other explanations based on "differences in ability" between individuals or on religious or political affiliations giving rise to castes . This explanation
1517-478: The same social unit , a third estate of people who were neither aristocrats nor church officials. Similar hierarchies existed outside Europe in other pre-industrial societies . The social position of these labouring classes was viewed as ordained by natural law and common religious belief. This social position was contested, particularly by peasants, for example during the German Peasants' War . In
1558-461: The social relationships underpinning the class system before then developing into a communist society in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." In feudal Europe, the working class as such did not exist in large numbers. Instead, most people were part of the labouring class, a group made up of different professions, trades and occupations. A lawyer, craftsman and peasant were all considered to be part of
1599-456: The subjects of labor using the instruments of labor to create a product; or stated another way, labor acting on the means of production creates a good. In an agrarian society the principal means of production is the soil and the shovel. In an industrial society the means of production become social means of production and include factories and mines. In a knowledge economy , learning, research, development, innovation, ideas and creativity are
1640-464: The upper and lower class is a major consequence of technology decreasing the value of labor force and the contradictory effect an evolving means of production has on established social and economic systems. Marx believed increasing inequality between the upper and lower classes acts as a major catalyst of class conflicts , which develop to a point where the existing mode of production inevitably becomes unsustainable, either collapsing or being overthrown in
1681-524: The working class is contrasted with a middle class on the basis of access to economic resources, education , cultural interests, and other goods and services, and the "white working class" has been "loosely defined" by the New York Times as comprising white people without college degrees. Researchers in Australia have suggested that working class status should be defined subjectively as