Proletariat

Used primarily in relationship to Marxist political philosophy, proletariat collectively refers to the working-class members of a capitalist society (known individually as proletarians). In this school of philosophy these wage-earners are viewed as people whose only significant possession of material value is their labor-power. The proletariat do not have access to the means of production in a capitalist society which includes manufacturing systems, raw materials such as natural resources, machinery, tools, and the capital to finance production. Since the proletariat has no access to the means of production they are forced to sell their labor power for a wage.