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A derogatory term originally used by Lenin which in my classes is used fairly similarly to refer to a section of the proletariat that delusively sees its objective interests to lie more closely with that of capital (capitalists) than other workers because of access to privileges not enjoyed by all workers (e.g., possession of “whiteness” that permits the “purchase” of better pay and working conditions relative to those who lack this property value; or possession of a relatively well-paying job in an environment of massive underemployment and unemployment.) (n1)
(n1) In its original usage, Lenin was commenting on the politics of trade unions, that is whether they were an institutional embodiment of pro-capital proclivities and therefore not suited to revolutionary politics or whether they were authentic proletarian organizations but often hijacked by labor “aristocrats.” Here is the key paragraph:
But we wage the struggle against the “labor aristocracy” in the name of the masses of the workers and in order to win them to our side; we wage the struggle against the opportunist and social-chauvinist leaders in order to win the working class to our side. To forget this most elementary and most self-evident truth would be stupid. And it is precisely this stupidity the German “Left” Communists are guilty of when, because of the reactionary and counter-revolutionary character of the trade union top leadership, they jump to the conclusion that… we must leave the trade unions!! that we must refuse to work in them!! that we must create new and artificial forms of labor organization!! This is such an unpardonable blunder that it is equal to the greatest service the Communists could render the bourgeoisie (Lenin 1965 (1920): 43–44).
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