the dictionary definition (I swore I'd
never do this for you)
lumpen adj (G fr MHG lumpe = rag) lumpenproletariat, degraded and
contemptable section of the proletariat. An amorphous group
of dispossessed and uprooted individuals set off by their inferior status
from the economic and social class with which they are identified.
examples:
"exclusion of the rootless lumpenproletariat from a leading
role in the revolutions." -- Amer Polit. Sci. Rev.
"The new unemployed intelligensia...will not become lumpenintellectuals."
-- Daniel Bell
My usage of it to describe the condition you cite Foucault on, that human
beings are becoming redundant to production generally and that this
constitutes a new class, is not based on anyone's writing, although I
don't doubt it is so used by others.
(__) Sourcerer
/(<>)\ O|O|O|O||O||O "RL is a story told in cyberspace"
\../ |OO|||O|||O|O -- Sweet Poly
|| OO|||OO||O||O
[Next appendix] | [Return to index for Appendix A4] | [Return to index for Appendix A]