proletariat

Meaning: In Marxist theory, the proletariat is the class of workers who do not own the means of production (factories, land, tools, capital). To survive, they sell their labor for wages. The bourgeoisie, the owners, profit from the surplus value of that labor. Marx argued this relationship produces class conflict and alienation, in which workers become separated from the product of their work, the work process, other people, and their own potential.

On the MCAT: Passages on social class, capitalism, or inequality use the term to contrast conflict theory with functionalism. A typical question gives a scenario, such as factory employees and the company's owners, and asks you to label each group. Related terms are often tested alongside it. Class consciousness is the proletariat's awareness of its shared interests and exploitation, and Marx saw it as a step toward collective action. False consciousness is a belief system that hides those interests from the group itself.

Common confusion: Students equate proletariat with poverty or manual labor. In Marx's sense, the defining feature is not owning the means of production. A well-paid employee who must still sell labor to an owner fits the category, and the exam asks about this relationship to ownership, not about income level. Do not swap it with bourgeoisie, which is the owning class.