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[[James Burnham]] had proposed the idea of an emerging managerial class in his 1941 book ''[[The Managerial Revolution]]'', but the term "professional–managerial class" was first coined in 1977 by [[John Ehrenreich|John]] and [[Barbara Ehrenreich]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=On the Origins of the Professional-Managerial Class: An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich |url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/on-the-origins-of-the-professional-managerial-class-an-interview-with-barbara-ehrenreich |access-date=May 3, 2021 |website=Dissent Magazine|last = Press|first = Alex}}</ref> They defined the PMC as educated professionals who were historically independent of corporate leadership structures, such as scientists, lawyers, academics, artists, and journalists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ehrenreich |first1=John |title=Between Labor and Capital |year=1979 |publisher=South End Press |location=Boston |isbn=0-89608-037-4 |edition=1st |first2=Barbara |last2=Ehrenreich |editor-first=Pat |editor-last=Walker |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/betweenlaborcapi00walkrich}}</ref> In a 2013 follow-up, the Ehrenreichs estimated that in the 1930s, PMC occupations made up less than 1% of total U.S. employment, but the share had risen to 24% by 1972, and 35% by 2006.<ref name = Crash>{{cite web |last1=Ehrenreich |first1=Barbara |title=Barbara and John Ehrenreich: The Real Story Behind the Crash and Burn of America's Managerial Class |url=https://www.alternet.org/2013/02/barbara-and-john-ehrenreich-real-story-behind-crash-and-burn-americas-managerial-class/ |work=[[AlterNet]] |access-date=October 31, 2020 |first2=John |last2=Ehrenreich |date=February 2013}}</ref> In that same essay, they argued that the notion of the PMC as a collective grouping was "in ruins" due to economic shifts in the 1990s and 2000s which changed their professional prospects. Some members (such as highly-qualified scientists) "jump[ed] ship for more lucrative posts in direct services to capital"; others (such as lawyers, tenured professors, and doctors) found themselves in increasingly "corporation-like" workplaces; while others still (like those with backgrounds in media or the [[humanities]]) "spiral[ed] down to the retail workforce", unable to parlay their skills into higher-income jobs.<ref name = Crash/>
[[James Burnham]] had proposed the idea of an emerging managerial class in his 1941 book ''[[The Managerial Revolution]]'', but the term "professional–managerial class" was first coined in 1977 by [[John Ehrenreich|John]] and [[Barbara Ehrenreich]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=On the Origins of the Professional-Managerial Class: An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich |url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/on-the-origins-of-the-professional-managerial-class-an-interview-with-barbara-ehrenreich |access-date=May 3, 2021 |website=Dissent Magazine|last = Press|first = Alex}}</ref> They defined the PMC as educated professionals who were historically independent of corporate leadership structures, such as scientists, lawyers, academics, artists, and journalists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ehrenreich |first1=John |title=Between Labor and Capital |year=1979 |publisher=South End Press |location=Boston |isbn=0-89608-037-4 |edition=1st |first2=Barbara |last2=Ehrenreich |editor-first=Pat |editor-last=Walker |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/betweenlaborcapi00walkrich}}</ref> In a 2013 follow-up, the Ehrenreichs estimated that in the 1930s, PMC occupations made up less than 1% of total U.S. employment, but the share had risen to 24% by 1972, and 35% by 2006.<ref name = Crash>{{cite web |last1=Ehrenreich |first1=Barbara |title=Barbara and John Ehrenreich: The Real Story Behind the Crash and Burn of America's Managerial Class |url=https://www.alternet.org/2013/02/barbara-and-john-ehrenreich-real-story-behind-crash-and-burn-americas-managerial-class/ |work=[[AlterNet]] |access-date=October 31, 2020 |first2=John |last2=Ehrenreich |date=February 2013}}</ref> In that same essay, they argued that the notion of the PMC as a collective grouping was "in ruins" due to economic shifts in the 1990s and 2000s which changed their professional prospects. Some members (such as highly-qualified scientists) "jump[ed] ship for more lucrative posts in direct services to capital"; others (such as lawyers, tenured professors, and doctors) found themselves in increasingly "corporation-like" workplaces; while others still (like those with backgrounds in media or the [[humanities]]) "spiral[ed] down to the retail workforce", unable to parlay their skills into higher-income jobs.<ref name = Crash/>


However, by the late 2010s, the term was more broadly used in American political discourse as a shorthand reference to [[technocratic]] liberals or wealthy [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] voters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 10, 2019 |title=Professional-Managerial Chasm|url=https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/professional-managerial-chasm/ |access-date=May 3, 2021 |website=n+1 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> [[Catherine Liu]], in ''Virtue Hoarders'' (2021), characterized the PMC as [[White-collar worker|white-collar]] [[left liberalism|left liberals]] afflicted with a [[Liberal elite|superiority complex]] in relation to [[blue-collar workers|ordinary members]] of the working class.<ref name=spiked2021>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/01/21/virtue-hoarders-our-scolding-elites/ |title=Virtue Hoarders: our scolding elites |magazine=[[Spiked (magazine)|Spiked]]}}</ref><ref name=jacobin2021>{{cite web |url=https://www.upress.umn.edu/press/press-clips/the-jacobin-show-the-professional-managerial-class-w-catherine-liu |title=The Jacobin Show: The Professional-Managerial Class w/ Catherine Liu |date=January 27, 2021 |website=[[University of Minnesota Press]]}}</ref><ref name=ab2021>{{Cite web |url=https://www.upress.umn.edu/press/press-clips/aufhebunga-bunga-podcast-the-worst-class-ft-catherine-liu |title=Aufhebunga Bunga podcast: The Worst Class ft. Catherine Liu |website=[[University of Minnesota Press]]}}</ref> [[Hans Magnus Enzensberger]] had also observed the "characterless [[Political opportunism|opportunism]]" of its members,<ref name=frost2019>{{cite news |volume=3 |issue=4 |title=The Characterless Opportunism of the Managerial Class |last=Frost |first=Amber A'Lee |url=https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2019/11/the-characterless-opportunism-of-the-managerial-class/ |date=November 2019}}</ref> in reference to its constant [[Flip-flop (politics)|shifting]] of allegiances, not only between the leisured and working [[Marxian class theory|classes]] but also [[Cancel culture|among themselves]].<ref name=frost2019/> Liu and [[Nolan Higdon]] have noted that higher education is a space that fosters and privileges the professional managerial class.<ref name=spiked2021>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/01/21/virtue-hoarders-our-scolding-elites/ |title=Virtue Hoarders: our scolding elites |magazine=[[Spiked (magazine)|Spiked]]}}</ref><ref name="utpjournals.press">{{cite journal |last1=Higdon |first1=Nolan |title=Being on the Outside of the Inside of the Ivory Tower: Nontenured Part-Time Faculty's Attitudes Toward Their Colleagues and Management |url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/jehr-2022-0014/ |journal=Journal of Education Human Resources |year=2023 |pages=e20220014 |doi=10.3138/jehr-2022-0014 |s2cid=255881365}}</ref>
However, by the late 2010s, the term was more broadly used in American political discourse as a shorthand reference to [[technocratic]] liberals or wealthy [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] voters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 10, 2019 |title=Professional-Managerial Chasm|url=https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/professional-managerial-chasm/ |access-date=May 3, 2021 |website=n+1 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> It is often invoked disparagingly by those on the political left; in 2019, Barbara Ehrenreich expressed disapproval over using the term as an "[[Ultra-leftism|ultraleft]] slur".<ref name = :0/> [[Catherine Liu]], in ''Virtue Hoarders'' (2021), characterized the PMC as [[White-collar worker|white-collar]] [[left liberalism|left liberals]] afflicted with a [[Liberal elite|superiority complex]] in relation to [[blue-collar workers|ordinary members]] of the working class.<ref name=spiked2021>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/01/21/virtue-hoarders-our-scolding-elites/ |title=Virtue Hoarders: our scolding elites |magazine=[[Spiked (magazine)|Spiked]]}}</ref><ref name=jacobin2021>{{cite web |url=https://www.upress.umn.edu/press/press-clips/the-jacobin-show-the-professional-managerial-class-w-catherine-liu |title=The Jacobin Show: The Professional-Managerial Class w/ Catherine Liu |date=January 27, 2021 |website=[[University of Minnesota Press]]}}</ref><ref name=ab2021>{{Cite web |url=https://www.upress.umn.edu/press/press-clips/aufhebunga-bunga-podcast-the-worst-class-ft-catherine-liu |title=Aufhebunga Bunga podcast: The Worst Class ft. Catherine Liu |website=[[University of Minnesota Press]]}}</ref> [[Hans Magnus Enzensberger]] had also observed the "characterless [[Political opportunism|opportunism]]" of its members,<ref name=frost2019>{{cite news |volume=3 |issue=4 |title=The Characterless Opportunism of the Managerial Class |last=Frost |first=Amber A'Lee |url=https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2019/11/the-characterless-opportunism-of-the-managerial-class/ |date=November 2019}}</ref> in reference to its constant [[Flip-flop (politics)|shifting]] of allegiances, not only between the leisured and working [[Marxian class theory|classes]] but also [[Cancel culture|among themselves]].<ref name=frost2019/> Liu and [[Nolan Higdon]] have noted that higher education is a space that fosters and privileges the professional managerial class.<ref name=spiked2021>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/01/21/virtue-hoarders-our-scolding-elites/ |title=Virtue Hoarders: our scolding elites |magazine=[[Spiked (magazine)|Spiked]]}}</ref><ref name="utpjournals.press">{{cite journal |last1=Higdon |first1=Nolan |title=Being on the Outside of the Inside of the Ivory Tower: Nontenured Part-Time Faculty's Attitudes Toward Their Colleagues and Management |url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/jehr-2022-0014/ |journal=Journal of Education Human Resources |year=2023 |pages=e20220014 |doi=10.3138/jehr-2022-0014 |s2cid=255881365}}</ref>


The PMC hypothesis contributed to the [[Marxist]] debates on class in [[Fordism]] and was used as an analytical category in the examination of non-proletarian employees. However, [[Orthodox Marxism|orthodox Marxists]] consider the PMC hypothesis to be [[Marxist revisionism|revisionism]] of the [[Marxian class theory|Marxist understanding of class]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Horton |first1=John |title=Marxist versus Revisionist Concepts of Socialism |journal=Synthesis |date=1979 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=34–38 |jstor=43783375 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43783375 |issn=0193-869X}}</ref>
The PMC hypothesis contributed to the [[Marxist]] debates on class in [[Fordism]] and was used as an analytical category in the examination of non-proletarian employees. However, [[Orthodox Marxism|orthodox Marxists]] consider the PMC hypothesis to be [[Marxist revisionism|revisionism]] of the [[Marxian class theory|Marxist understanding of class]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Horton |first1=John |title=Marxist versus Revisionist Concepts of Socialism |journal=Synthesis |date=1979 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=34–38 |jstor=43783375 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43783375 |issn=0193-869X}}</ref>

Revision as of 19:24, 27 February 2023

The term professional–managerial class (PMC) refers to a social class within capitalism that, by controlling production processes through occupying a superior management position, is neither proletarian nor bourgeoisie. Conceived as "The New Class" by social scientists and critics such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the 1970s, this group of middle class professionals is distinguished from other social classes by their training and education, typically business qualifications and university degrees,[1] with occupations thought to offer influence on society that would otherwise be available only to capital owners.[2] The professional–managerial class tends to have incomes above the average for their country, with major exceptions being academia and print journalism.[3]

History

James Burnham had proposed the idea of an emerging managerial class in his 1941 book The Managerial Revolution, but the term "professional–managerial class" was first coined in 1977 by John and Barbara Ehrenreich.[4] They defined the PMC as educated professionals who were historically independent of corporate leadership structures, such as scientists, lawyers, academics, artists, and journalists.[5] In a 2013 follow-up, the Ehrenreichs estimated that in the 1930s, PMC occupations made up less than 1% of total U.S. employment, but the share had risen to 24% by 1972, and 35% by 2006.[6] In that same essay, they argued that the notion of the PMC as a collective grouping was "in ruins" due to economic shifts in the 1990s and 2000s which changed their professional prospects. Some members (such as highly-qualified scientists) "jump[ed] ship for more lucrative posts in direct services to capital"; others (such as lawyers, tenured professors, and doctors) found themselves in increasingly "corporation-like" workplaces; while others still (like those with backgrounds in media or the humanities) "spiral[ed] down to the retail workforce", unable to parlay their skills into higher-income jobs.[6]

However, by the late 2010s, the term was more broadly used in American political discourse as a shorthand reference to technocratic liberals or wealthy Democratic voters.[7][4] It is often invoked disparagingly by those on the political left; in 2019, Barbara Ehrenreich expressed disapproval over using the term as an "ultraleft slur".[4] Catherine Liu, in Virtue Hoarders (2021), characterized the PMC as white-collar left liberals afflicted with a superiority complex in relation to ordinary members of the working class.[8][9][10] Hans Magnus Enzensberger had also observed the "characterless opportunism" of its members,[11] in reference to its constant shifting of allegiances, not only between the leisured and working classes but also among themselves.[11] Liu and Nolan Higdon have noted that higher education is a space that fosters and privileges the professional managerial class.[8][12]

The PMC hypothesis contributed to the Marxist debates on class in Fordism and was used as an analytical category in the examination of non-proletarian employees. However, orthodox Marxists consider the PMC hypothesis to be revisionism of the Marxist understanding of class.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Green, Philip (1985). Retrieving Democracy: In Search of Civic Equality. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780847674053 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Kellner, Hansfried; Heuberger, Frank W. (1994). "Hidden Technocrats: The New Class and New Capitalism". Transaction Publishers.
  3. ^ Gail, Kelly; Slaughter, Sheila (1990). Women's higher education in comparative perspective. Springer. ISBN 9780792308003 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b c Press, Alex. "On the Origins of the Professional-Managerial Class: An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich". Dissent Magazine. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  5. ^ Ehrenreich, John; Ehrenreich, Barbara (1979). Walker, Pat (ed.). Between Labor and Capital (1st ed.). Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-037-4.
  6. ^ a b Ehrenreich, Barbara; Ehrenreich, John (February 2013). "Barbara and John Ehrenreich: The Real Story Behind the Crash and Burn of America's Managerial Class". AlterNet. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  7. ^ "Professional-Managerial Chasm". n+1. October 10, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Virtue Hoarders: our scolding elites". Spiked.
  9. ^ "The Jacobin Show: The Professional-Managerial Class w/ Catherine Liu". University of Minnesota Press. January 27, 2021.
  10. ^ "Aufhebunga Bunga podcast: The Worst Class ft. Catherine Liu". University of Minnesota Press.
  11. ^ a b Frost, Amber A'Lee (November 2019). "The Characterless Opportunism of the Managerial Class". Vol. 3, no. 4.
  12. ^ Higdon, Nolan (2023). "Being on the Outside of the Inside of the Ivory Tower: Nontenured Part-Time Faculty's Attitudes Toward Their Colleagues and Management". Journal of Education Human Resources: e20220014. doi:10.3138/jehr-2022-0014. S2CID 255881365.
  13. ^ Horton, John (1979). "Marxist versus Revisionist Concepts of Socialism". Synthesis. 3 (1): 34–38. ISSN 0193-869X. JSTOR 43783375.
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