Against the Dangerous Classes

A Conternporary View at the Plebeian Culture in Vienna before 1848

Abstract

This article analyses the specific modes of expression of plebeian ways of life and culture of the pauperized masses in pre-1848 Vienna. This analysis is based on criticism at the way of life of the poor expressed by philanthropic or repressive bourgeois groups. Taking excessive consumption of alcohol, addiction to games of hazard and the persistence of traditional rhythms of working as examples, the author reconstructs the logic of this plebeian culture shortly before its final transformation into a proletarian way of life, which was a consequence of the victory of the industrial-capitalist modes of production.