proleˈtarianism
[f. prec. + -ism.]
The condition of a proletarian; a state of things characterized by the existence of a proletarian class; the political principles and practice of the proletarians; also transf. proletarians as a class, the proletariat.
| 1861 J. G. Sheppard Fall Rome ii. 91 We speak of the perils of modern proletarianism, and we have cause. 1870 W. R. Greg Polit. Problems 326 Take the very first question..on which property and proletarianism, statesmen and democrats, are sure to take opposite sides. 1884 American VIII. 411 The descent of the masses into a hopeless proletarianism. 1918 Nation (N.Y.) 7 Feb. 131/2 Fidelity to the cause of international proletarianism..must stay the hands of the Bolshevik peace negotiators. 1975 D. Francis High Stakes v. 75 If politicians..searched diligently amongst their antecedents for proletarianism and denied aristocratic contacts..who was I to spoil the fun? |
So proleˈtarianize v., to render proletarian; proleˈtarianized ppl. a.; proleˈtarianizing vbl. n.
| 1887 Pop. Sci. Monthly Jan. 293 The largesses pauperized and proletarianized the populace of the great city. 1921 tr. Rathenau's New Society 60 To many it is not agreeable to picture to themselves the aspect of a thoroughly proletarianized country. 1937 ‘C. Caudwell’ Illusion & Reality vi. 115 Proletarianise the craftsman to the level of a labourer or machine-minder. 1949 ‘M. Innes’ Journeying Boy i. 6 The lower stratum of the intellectual class was being proletarianised. 1957 M. McCarthy Mem. Catholic Girlhood i. 40 The peculiarly fatigued, dusty, proletarianized character of American municipal entertainment. 1962 Guardian 9 Mar. 7/2 Many of the most important American cities..have become increasingly proletarianised in the worst sense. 1965 D. E. C. Eversley in Glass & Eversley Population in Hist. ii. 66 A fall in the death rate..accelerated the proletarianizing process. 1966 D. Wilson Quarter of Mankind iii. 37 The middle class has become a captive collaborator with the Communist Party, having to work for its own downfall in the interests of a reconstructed, proletarianized nation. 1974 Daily Tel. 15 Jan. 14/3 Now officially referred to..as ‘Mr Tony Benn’. So the..process by which the man who was once called Viscount Stansgate has tried so determinedly to proletarianise himself is almost complete. 1974 B. Pearce tr. Amin's Accumulation on World Scale I. 27 Analogous to this process is the mobilizing of the internal colonial reserves, as with the proletarianizing of blacks in the United States. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 354/2 The proletarianizing of the north-east coast. |