proletarianize

proletarianize

The factory's automation began to proletarianize the skilled artisans.

Definition

Verb: - To make proletarian: "proletarianize" means to convert or transform (a person, group, or society) into the proletariat — the class of wage-earners who do not own the means of production. This often involves reducing individuals or groups to a working-class status, either economically, socially, or politically.

Usage Examples
  • (To transform farmers into wage-earning workers.)
  • (To reduce professionals to a proletarian-like status.)
Advanced Usage

  • "to be proletarianized": to undergo the process of becoming part of the proletariat.

    • Artisans were proletarianized as their craft shops were replaced by large factories. (They were forced into the working class.)

  • "proletarianizing effect": a phenomenon that pushes people into the proletariat.

    • The automation of manufacturing had a proletarianizing effect on many middle-class technicians. (It reduced their economic standing.)
Variants and Related Words

  • Proletarianization (n): the process or result of becoming proletarian.

    • The proletarianization of the peasantry occurred rapidly during the 19th century. (The process of becoming wage-earners.)

  • Proletarian (adj/n): relating to the working class; a member of the proletariat.

    • The proletarian movement fought for better working conditions. (Working-class movement.)

  • Proletariat (n): the class of wage-earners who do not own the means of production.

    • The proletariat grew as factories expanded. (The working class.)
Synonyms
  • Lumpenize: to reduce to a lower social class, especially the most impoverished part of the proletariat.
  • Deprive of capital: to strip someone of ownership or economic independence.
Related Idioms
  • To drive into the working class: an informal equivalent meaning to force someone into wage labour.
    • Economic policies drove many small business owners into the working class. (They became proletarianized.)
Phrasal Verbs
  • Proletarianize down: (rare) to lower economic status to a proletarian level.
    • The new tax system began to proletarianize down the middle class. (It gradually reduced their economic standing.)