In Marxist theory, the bourgeoisie are the middle-class people who own most of the wealth in a capitalist system.
[technical]
...the suppression of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie.
2. See also petit bourgeoisie
bourgeoisie in British English
(ˌbʊəʒwɑːˈziː)
noun
the bourgeoisie
1.
the middle classes
2.
(in Marxist thought) the ruling class of the two basic classes of capitalist society, consisting of capitalists, manufacturers, bankers, and other employers. The bourgeoisie owns the most important of the means of production, through which it exploits the working class
bourgeoisie in American English
(ˌbʊrʒwɑˈzi)
noun
1. [with sing. or pl. v.]
a.
the social class between the aristocracy or very wealthy and the working class, or proletariat; middle class
b.
in Marxist doctrine, capitalists as a social class antithetical to the proletariat
2.
bourgeois
Word origin
Fr < bourgeois: see bourgeois
Examples of 'bourgeoisie' in a sentence
bourgeoisie
They occupy a contradictory class location between the petty bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
The main axis of stratification in capitalist societies is the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
Managers and supervisors occupy a contradictory class location between the bourgeoisie andthe proletariat.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
Members of the petty bourgeoisie employ no workers and therefore cannot rely on the exploitation of labor for their income.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
By implication, class conflict is primarily a struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Harrison, David The Sociology of Modernization and Development (1988)
There is one basic social class within this simple commodity mode, the petty bourgeoisie.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
The British bourgeoisie always pursued its interests in a transnational context (cf.
Overbeek, Henk Global Capitalism and National Decline (1989)
Many layers of management, most of it very highly paid, has inserted itself in the gap between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
I came from a very different stable - Glasgow petty bourgeoisie with no inherited wealth.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other -- bourgeoisie and proletariat.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
Unlike the petty bourgeoisie, they employ at least one worker, and therefore at least partof their income is derived from the exploitation of labor power.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)