Final answer:
Karl Marx is the thinker who believed class consciousness was critical for the proletariat, arguing that this awareness is essential for the working class to push for a social revolution and establish a communist society.
Step-by-step explanation:
The thinker who believed class consciousness was crucial for the proletariat to develop was Karl Marx. Marx theorized that in order for society to achieve social revolution, the working class, or proletariat, needed to become aware of their social and economic position within the capitalist system. This awareness, or class consciousness, was essential for them to recognize their collective power and advocate for transformative social change. Marx and his collaborator, Friedrich Engels, explained these ideas in their seminal work, The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848. Marx envisioned a global proletariat revolution that would overthrow the bourgeoisie, seize control of the means of production, and ultimately establish a classless, communist society.
Marx's views influenced many future thinkers and played a significant role in shaping the sociological perspective known as social conflict theory. This theory underscores the role of socioeconomic class conflicts as drivers of historical change. Lenin later expanded on Marx's ideas by introducing the concept of the "vanguard party," which he believed was necessary to guide the working class towards full-scale revolutionary change, suggesting workers alone might not make this leap without direction.