Class consciousness arises from being looked at by oppressors, not from material hardship.

Evidence

Class consciousness is evidently the assuming of a particular “Us” on the occasion of a collective situation more plainly structured than usual. It matters little here how we define this situation; what interests us is only the nature of the “Us” which is assumed. If a society, so far as its economical or political structure is concerned, is divided into oppressed classes and oppressing classes, the situation of the oppressing classes presents the oppressed classes with the image of a perpetual Third who considers them and transcends them by his freedom. It is not the hard work, the low living standard, or the privations endured which will constitute the oppressed collectivity as a class. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1028

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines class consciousness as the assumption of a particular ‘Us’ constituted by a perpetual Third who looks at and transcends the oppressed.
• XREF: Connects to Marx’s materialist account of class formation, which Sartre here subordinates to the look/Third structure of the for-itself. — connects to: Class consciousness is formed culturally, not determined by economic experience — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 215; Oppressors use education to change the oppressed’s consciousness rather than their situation. — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 211; Adorno used class to mean proletarian class-consciousness, not objective economic position. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1050 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Class consciousness is formed culturally, not determined by economic experience #corroborates (0.88) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 215
• Oppressors use education to change the oppressed’s consciousness rather than their situation. #expands (0.75) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 211
• Adorno used class to mean proletarian class-consciousness, not objective economic position. #exemplifies (0.75) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1050
• Ideology is shaped within material institutions, not by class or economics. #corroborates (0.72) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 129
• Classes-in-themselves become forces-for-themselves through conscious organization. #contradicts (0.72)
• Oppressors only experience class unity as a feared object when the oppressed revolt #complicates (0.72) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1042