what/who exactly is the bourgeoisie?
In: 3097
From Old French, the word *bourgeois* meant “town-dweller,” and *bourgeoisie* was the ~~plural~~ collective noun. So, at one point, it meant those who lived in the walled market-towns of the age, with the peasants and farmers, living outside the city, relegated to another social stratum.
During this time period, the term referred to craftsmen and artisans — those existing between the peasants and the landlords, who weren’t quite “on top,” but existed in the middle: the ancient middle class.
Nowadays, however, with the ideas of Karl Marx firmly entrenched in the academic space, *bourgeoisie* has come to refer to the economic ruling class; those who own the means of production and exploit the *proletariat,* or the working class — those who own, and can sell, nothing but their own labor.
You also see reference sometimes to the *petite bourgeoisie*; this is most similar to the Middle Ages understanding of the term.
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