The Historical Persistence of Working-Class Culture: How Laborers Created the Ethical Foundation of Western Civilization

Abstract

This article highlights four historical events that shape our present: the world’s first industrial strike in ancient Egypt to protest workers’ health and safety; working-class efforts to improve labor conditions during the Roman Republic and Middle Ages through strikes and the creation of guilds; the social justice activism of the prophets of Western religions (all working-class folks!); and the creation of the selfie and the transition from a culture of character to our present obsession with celebrities and individualism that began during the Renaissance. Each case highlights unique features of working-class culture, working class reactions to societal changes, and the success of working-class resistance efforts. What all these different events have in common is that they demonstrate the historical persistence of working-class culture which, I believe, remains Western civilization’s greatest asset.