Power in the Highest Degree
Professionals and the Rise of a New Mandarin Order
Charles Derber author William A Schwartz author Yale Magrass author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Published:13th Sep '90
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
One of the most sweeping works of social criticism to appear in years, this work offers a bold theory of modern classes and a comprehensive portrait of the modern professional. Drawing on one of the largest studies ever undertaken, including interviews with over 1,000 professionals, the authors show how experts, claiming a monopoly on many types of knowledge, are radically transforming the economic and social order. This book demonstrates how this has resulted in many citizens becoming deeply insecure about their competence to manage private and public affairs without professional guidance. The authors make a case for a society that radically democratizes knowledge while retaining many non-exclusive aspects of professionalism.
"A penetrating analysis .... It is an excellent guide to the system of 'Mandarin Capitalism' that the others see emerging and its wide-ranging consequences"--Noam Chomsky "Many a page is delightful...full of insights" --Ivan Illich, author of Deschooling Society and Medical Nemesis "Power in the Highest Degree is an exciting, informative, and comprehenesive study of knowledge as power and control....Basic reading for the deepening of democracy and the weakening of inequalities in the '90s"--S.M. Miller, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Boston University "An excellent book...new, interesting, timely, and important"--Jack Seeley, author of Crestwood Heights "A thoughtful and thorough analysis of professionalism in the United States--required reading for any scholar concerned about the erosion of our democratic heritage"--Philip Slater, author of The Pursuit of Loneliness
ISBN: 9780195037784
Dimensions: 244mm x 166mm x 27mm
Weight: 576g
288 pages