Short for lumpenproletariat. A catch-all term used primarily by self-styled Marxists to describe people "below" the proletariat. The lumpen include all people who might belong to the working class, if they worked. The unemployed, disabled, prisoners, and homeless are all part of the lumpen.
Also, the name of a political and cultural zine from Chicago.
Also, the name of a political and cultural zine from Chicago.
The Black Panther Party attempted to organize the lumpen. Eldridge Cleaver: "Armed with this ideological perspective and method, Huey transformed the Black lumpenproletariat from the forgotten people at the bottom of society into the vanguard of the proletariat."
by wildgift September 28, 2007
N. the person who hate the life as lumpen, that dropped out own life, wander from place to place by laboring a variety of short-time work.
As an anti-lumpener, I think people should avoid taking a aimless life such as wandering and roaming
by lumpen1123 September 12, 2009
The tendency of individuals from non-lower-class backgrounds to romanticize, aestheticize, or hyperfixate over the perceived qualities of the lower classes—particularly aspects related to crime, poverty, and social marginalization. This often involves framing such conditions as more “authentic,” “raw,” or even revolutionary, while overlooking the structural hardships and lived realities behind them.
Middle- and upper-class youth consuming media like drill rap or gangster movies purely for their perceived “gritty realism” or “badass” appeal is peak lumpen-fetishism.
by neonexxus June 14, 2025