Old class in new form: The modern professional petty bourgeoisie. (Volumes I-III).
Item
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Title
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Old class in new form: The modern professional petty bourgeoisie. (Volumes I-III).
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Identifier
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AAI9207134
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identifier
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9207134
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Creator
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Weil, Robert.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Michael Brown
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Date
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1991
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, Social Structure and Development
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Abstract
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This is a study of the modern professionals which traces their development from their origins in the late feudal period, through their expansion into a mass stratum under capitalism, to their anticipated demise in the socialist era. It is at the same time an extended study of the petty bourgeoisie and of the "middle classes" in general. The central thesis of this work is that the professionals are a stratum of the petty bourgeois class, based on their ownership of the means of mental production. It argues that there is no fundamental division between the "old" and "new" middle classes, and that both are strata of the petty bourgeoisie and share the characteristics of that class, including a role in the maintenance and reproduction of capitalist relations. Professionals are the leading petty bourgeois representatives in late capitalism and the era of the transition to socialism. They reassert an independent role for the petty bourgeoisie, and challenge the working class for leadership in post-capitalist societies. The socialization of knowledge creates the basis for the proletariat to overcome the power of the professional stratum of the petty bourgeoisie. Through cultural revolution and similar forms of struggle, the working class appropriates the means of mental production of the petty bourgeois professionals.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
