Proletariat in modern social stratification: a new dangerous formation

Proletariat (from English precarious — unstable, risky) is an emerging social class characterized by unstable employment, lack of social guarantees and professional identity, as well as political and legal vulnerability. Unlike the traditional proletariat, the proletariat has a more complex structure and specific consciousness, making it a key actor and challenge for modern stratification.

Genesis and theoretical understanding

The concept of the proletariat has been actively developed since the early 2000s, most fully represented in the works of British sociologist Gaya Standing ("The Proletariat: A New Dangerous Class", 2011). Standing considers the proletariat as a result of neoliberal reforms ("global transformation of labor markets"), including:

De-regulation of labor relations (weakening of protection against dismissals).

Individualization of labor contracts.

Active state support for the flexibility of the labor market.

The proletariat is not a synonym for "poor" or "unemployed". It is a class of people whose labor is systematically devoid of stability, guarantees, and prospects for growth. It is located between the traditional working class (stable employment + social rights) and lumpenized groups.

Structure and composition: diverse unity

The proletariat is internally diverse, which makes its self-identification difficult, but it is united by common features. It includes:

Platform (gig-) economy workers: Couriers, taxi drivers, freelancers on exchanges. Their employment is regulated by algorithmic management, not a labor contract. Example: an Uber driver, whose income depends on dynamic pricing and rating, does not have paid sick leave or vacation.

Employees with non-standard employment: Temporary, seasonal workers, working under short-term contracts (outsourcing, staffing).

Young specialists with higher education ("educated proletarians"). Forced to agree to internships, projects without guarantees, low-paying jobs not by specialty. Their investments in human capital do not yield the expected returns.

Migrants (legal and illegal). Often employed in the shadow sector, most vulnerable to employer abuse.

Workers in creative industries and NGOs. Employment is project-based, payment is irregular, social guarantees are minimal.

Interesting fact: According to Eurofound data in the European Union, about 40% of young workers (15-24 years) are in precarious employment. In some countries in Southern Europe (Spain, Italy), this is the dominant form of entering the labor market.

Key characteristics of the proletariat as a class

Standing highlights several dimensions of precarity:

Relationship to work (instability): Lack of long-term contracts, predictable schedule, and guaranteed income.

Relationship to distribution (lack of guarantees): No rights to pension, paid vacation, full unemployment insurance. Access to social benefits is often conditional on complex conditions.

Relationship to the state (political vulnerability): The proletariat is often excluded from full political representation, their voice is weak. They pay taxes but do not receive proportional social benefits, feeling themselves denizens (unfull citizens) rather than full citizens.

Specific class consciousness: Predominance of feelings of anxiety, anomie (loss of norms), and anger. "Educated proletarians" experience frustration due to unfulfilled expectations. "Politics of resentment" is forming.

Position in social stratification: a new lower class?

The stratification of industrial society (upper class — middle class — working class — lower class) is today supplemented and complicated.

Difference from the working class: The working class of the 20th century fought for improvement of conditions within the framework of stable employment. The proletariat is devoid of this stability — the subject of struggle of the past.

Difference from the "service proletariat": The service proletariat (cleaners, security guards) often has a formally permanent contract. The proletariat is a status outside such employment.

Relationship with the middle class: The proletariat is what a significant part of the middle class risks becoming in the conditions of outsourcing, digitalization, and cost-cutting.

Thus, the proletariat occupies the position of a new "negative" class, defined more by the absence of rights and guarantees than by a general positive status. It is at the base of the updated stratification pyramid, but does not merge with the traditional "lower class" (marginalized groups), retaining a higher cultural and educational capital among some of its representatives.

Social and political consequences

Economic: Undermining the foundations of the social state, increasing inequality, and reducing consumer demand due to uncertainty about future income.

Psychosocial: Epidemics of anxiety and depression, postponement of important life decisions (family creation, childbirth, buying a house).

Political: The rise of populist movements both from the left and the right, as the proletariat seeks any political force that recognizes its existence and problems. The proletariat is potentially a revolutionary class, but its protest forms are often fragmented (flashmobs, local actions) due to a lack of unity.

Example: The "Fight for $15" movement in the USA (fight for raising the minimum wage) and protests by food delivery drivers in different countries for the rights of platform workers — this is the politicization of the proletariat.

Future and possible scenarios

Standing sees the way out in the formation of a "policy of paradise" for the proletariat, the key elements of which are:

Restoration of rights related to labor.

Introduction of an unconditional basic income as a way to ensure economic security.

Rethinking the concept of "work" and recognizing the value of unpaid activities (care, creativity, volunteering).

Conclusion

The proletariat is not a marginal group, but a systemic product of global financial capitalism, creating a new axis of social inequality. Its emergence indicates a profound transformation of social stratification: in place of the bipolar model "bourgeoisie — proletariat" and a stable "society of two-thirds" comes a more complex and worrying configuration.

In it, the proletariat occupies the position of a structurally vulnerable core, whose disorder becomes the main challenge to social stability in the 21st century. Understanding the proletariat is the key to analyzing modern social conflicts, political upheavals, and seeking a new architecture of the social contract, in which economic flexibility will not be achieved at the expense of human dignity and security. Without solving the "precarious question", sustainable development of society becomes impossible.
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