From the Professoriat to the Precariat

Abstract

Social class lies at the core of much that Marx said about the “laws of history.” Class conflict was to be the means whereby capitalism would be overthrown, superseded by a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat and, subsequently, by a communist society in which alienation and exploitation would be replaced by emancipation and the full flowering of human potential as both individuals and a species. The capitalist system, however, has proven remarkably resilient and resourceful. The welfare state ameliorated extreme economic distress, popular culture sapped revolutionary energy, and “identity politics” fragmented political radicalism. Meanwhile, the definition of social class itself became problematic. A reorganized labor market produced divisions between the traditional working class and precarious workers and, in colleges and universities, the old “professoriat” was joined by a new “precariat” that now does over two-thirds of the teaching. This trend is part of the “corporatizing” of higher education and the “neoliberal” restructuring of work in late capitalism. Intellectuals, once the theoretical “vanguard of the proletariat,” are now practical leaders too. Educational worker militancy has implications for the academy and class tensions throughout society. It raises the question: Was Marx wrong, or has he just not yet been proven right?