Lumpproletariat is the group of marginalized proletariat, according to Marxist sociology.
The main characteristic of the lumpenproletariat is the absence of class consciousness and consequent disinterest in workers' revolution and struggle.
The term was first used in The German Ideology, in which Karl Marx defined them as a group of degraded people who have dubious livelihoods.
It involves petty thieves, beggars, fugitives, among others who live in poverty, outside the formal labor market and without any means of subsistence.
The origin of the term comes from the German lumpenproletariat, which joins the word proletariat, which means the working class, to the lumen, which means rag or can be linked to a derogatory characteristic in human behavior, such as someone who has done something wrong or illegal. It came to be associated with those of dubious nature, and from the Marxist perspective, they represent a dangerous class because they are susceptible to the interests of the easily manipulated bourgeois classes.