Table of Contents
Definition of Class Consciousness
(noun) According to Karl Marx (1818–1883), workers’ recognition of membership in a class and their relationship to the means of production.
Example of Class Consciousness
- Treating people in the service industry as less deserving of a living wage.
Class Consciousness Pronunciation
Syllabification: class con·scious·ness
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /klAs kAHn-shuh-snuhs/
- British English – /klAHs kOn-shuh-snis/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /klæs ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/
- British English – /klɑːs ˈkɒnʃəsnɪs/
Usage Note
- Plural: class consciousnesses
Related Videos
Additional Information
Related Terms
- bourgeoisie
- caste
- class
- education
- false consciousness
- inequality
- means of production
- power
- prestige
- stratification
- wealth
Works Consulted
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.
Brinkerhoff, David, Lynn White, Suzanne Ortega, and Rose Weitz. 2011. Essentials of Sociology. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Dillon, Michele. 2014. Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kornblum, William. 2008. Sociology in a Changing World. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Class Consciousness
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “class consciousness.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 13, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/class-consciousness/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
class consciousness. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/class-consciousness/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “class consciousness.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 13, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/class-consciousness/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“class consciousness.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 13 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/class-consciousness/>.