social murder en · NOUN
Etymology
Calque of German sozialer Mord, first attested in Friedrich Engels' Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England. Engels attributes the phrase to English workers' newspapers.
Meanings
-
The knowing causing of the inevitable premature death of members of an oppressed class by deliberately and structurally exposing them to potentially lethal conditions.
Ich werde nun zu beweisen haben, daß die Gesellschaft in England diesen von den englischen Arbeiterzeitungen mit vollem Rechte als solchen bezeichneten sozialen Mord täglich und stündlich begeht; […]
1962 [1845], Friedrich Engels, “Resultate”, in Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England (Marx-Engels Werke), volume 2, page 325; English translation from “Results”, in Florence Kelley, transl., The Condition of the Working Class in England (Marx/Engels Collected Works), volume 4, translation of original in German, 1975, page 394:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| social murders | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (2)
de sozialer Mord (systemic causation of premature death) · nl sociale moord (systemic causation of premature death)