Alvin Ward Gouldner (1920–1980)

I admit this was a tough read, it having been several decades since I read anything in sociology. (As Mark Twain put it, the statements was interesting, but tough.) Gouldner analyzes the "New Class" of intellectuals (which he further divides into technocrats and humanists) who acquire, through public and university education, certain frames of reference and styles of discourse that make all authority claims problematic and open to challenge. While they share many characteristics with the older propertied classes (and often come from them), it is distinctly elitist and pursues its own class interests.

This book was copyrighted in 1979, and the argument is drawn largely from the pre-internet period. I wonder what Gouldner would make of someone like, say, Mark Zuckerberg, who began as a member of the New Class, and now looks increasingly like a member of the propertied class?… (altro)