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Consciousness and Action among the Western Working Class
Cover slightly scuffed through use..Softback,Ex-Library,with usual stamps markings, ,in fair to good all-round condition, ,80pages.
- GenresSociology
84 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1981
40 people want to read
About the author
Michael Mann
107 books97 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Michael Mann is a British-born professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Visiting Research Professor at Queen's University Belfast. Mann holds dual British and United States citizenships. He received his B.A. in Modern History from the University of Oxford in 1963 and his D.Phil. in Sociology from the same institution in 1971. Mann is currently visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge.
Mann has been a professor of Sociology at UCLA since 1987; he was reader in Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1977 to 1987. Mann was also a member of the Advisory Editors Council of the Social Evolution & History Journal.
In 1984, Mann published The Autonomous Power of the State: its Origins, Mechanisms, and Results in the European Journal of Sociology. This work is the foundation for the study of the despotic and infrastructural power of the modern state.
Mann's most famous works include the monumental The Sources of Social Power and The Dark Side of Democracy, spanning the entire 20th century. He also published Incoherent Empire, where he attacks the United States' 'War on Terror' as a clumsy experiment of neo-imperialism.
Mann is currently working on The Sources of Social Power: Globalizations, the third volume in the series. [wikipedia]
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Michael Mann is a British-born professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Visiting Research Professor at Queen's University Belfast. Mann holds dual British and United States citizenships. He received his B.A. in Modern History from the University of Oxford in 1963 and his D.Phil. in Sociology from the same institution in 1971. Mann is currently visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge.
Mann has been a professor of Sociology at UCLA since 1987; he was reader in Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1977 to 1987. Mann was also a member of the Advisory Editors Council of the Social Evolution & History Journal.
In 1984, Mann published The Autonomous Power of the State: its Origins, Mechanisms, and Results in the European Journal of Sociology. This work is the foundation for the study of the despotic and infrastructural power of the modern state.
Mann's most famous works include the monumental The Sources of Social Power and The Dark Side of Democracy, spanning the entire 20th century. He also published Incoherent Empire, where he attacks the United States' 'War on Terror' as a clumsy experiment of neo-imperialism.
Mann is currently working on The Sources of Social Power: Globalizations, the third volume in the series. [wikipedia]
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 13, 2025
In investigating the outlook of class consciousness in Western societies, Mann devises a careful theory which upholds some of the assumptions of Marxist thinking in terms of how the circumstances for class consciousness would be developed in advanced capitalist economies and how this would translate into revolutionary action. Yet, at the same time, he appraises proponents of a theory of harmonious development which describes class conflict as diminishing as capitalism advances further. His conclusion is that the situation is more complex than can be described by either theory, primarily due to factors which he considers as external to the economy such as remnants of pre-capitalist cultural beliefs in France and Italy which make them particularly susceptible to industrial action, and racial ideology in US which makes it uniquely resistant to class consciousness.
I believe this book is excellent because it presents so many features which capture truly how unique a constellation of factors is required to align the development of class consciousness with meaningful action towards an alternative. For example, it is a very important observation (especially for our time) that rising degrees of economic exploitation can result in left wing movements but can also fuel reactionary populism. Additionally, the description here of how trade unions, even when they are led by revolutionary communists, become entangled in negotiations with companies and become rationalized into this process to be de-radicalized.
However, I believe that some of the conclusions reached here are also not accurate. For instance, although Mann brings up Engels mention of the determination of political and cultural aspects by the economy happening "in the last instance," I believe he doesn't give proper scope to the meaning of this. In the last instance means that this system, although acting against still pervasive social structures which don't entirely conform to it, will eventually win out in its logic, always. Capitalism is often referred to, including at times in this text as being in a "late stage," yet if we look at the history of social economic organization or modes of production, they can last for thousands of years. It is essential to understand in this that capitalism is a uniquely unstable and accelerating mode of production. However, it is still in the process of taking over the world (and now other worlds). We need to see the progression of modes of production from the perspective of societies, not individuals. And in this way, how social structures transcend lifetimes. Therefore, I believe that Mann wasn't accurately considering that "in the last instance" is exactly how these modes of production operate. And for class consciousness and action to align in a revolutionary moment is still inevitable from the long range historical perspective. It will happen in the end, in the last instance.
I believe this book is excellent because it presents so many features which capture truly how unique a constellation of factors is required to align the development of class consciousness with meaningful action towards an alternative. For example, it is a very important observation (especially for our time) that rising degrees of economic exploitation can result in left wing movements but can also fuel reactionary populism. Additionally, the description here of how trade unions, even when they are led by revolutionary communists, become entangled in negotiations with companies and become rationalized into this process to be de-radicalized.
However, I believe that some of the conclusions reached here are also not accurate. For instance, although Mann brings up Engels mention of the determination of political and cultural aspects by the economy happening "in the last instance," I believe he doesn't give proper scope to the meaning of this. In the last instance means that this system, although acting against still pervasive social structures which don't entirely conform to it, will eventually win out in its logic, always. Capitalism is often referred to, including at times in this text as being in a "late stage," yet if we look at the history of social economic organization or modes of production, they can last for thousands of years. It is essential to understand in this that capitalism is a uniquely unstable and accelerating mode of production. However, it is still in the process of taking over the world (and now other worlds). We need to see the progression of modes of production from the perspective of societies, not individuals. And in this way, how social structures transcend lifetimes. Therefore, I believe that Mann wasn't accurately considering that "in the last instance" is exactly how these modes of production operate. And for class consciousness and action to align in a revolutionary moment is still inevitable from the long range historical perspective. It will happen in the end, in the last instance.
February 12, 2023
In this compact yet expansive book from the 70s, Michael Mann examines Marx's conception of class consciousness through engaging with then-contemporary theorists and studies of industrial action in the US, UK, France, and Italy. While reviews of this book when it was released chide Mann for insufficient empirical studies to support his argument, the book was not intended as a systematic review but rather a critical analysis of class consciousness as a concept. Even so, he distills lessons from industrial/collective action successes and failures in the aforementioned countries, situates their outcomes within the respective country's sociopolitical history, and offers comparative prognoses for the future of collective action in each from the contexts supplied. Holistically, Mann pronounces that modern conditions do not suggest a proletarian revolution will occur in any Western nation since the working class struggles to develop a totalized, oppositional identity in-itself, it cannot be for-itself in seeking an alternative socialist society. This futility stems partly from trade-union compromising tactics between economic and autonomous ends, and partly because what was then called the "new working class" of post-industrial knowledge workers lack the essential identity and oppositional elements typical of the traditional working class. As such, getting both categories of workers on the same page remains a challenge. Mann likewise notes strikes that succeed in achieving their short-end goals diminish class consciousness – which is a state of becoming rather than being – and as such do not produce the cumulative, slow-building revolutionary spirit commonly ascribed to Marxist thought.
50 years later after the book was published, its lessons are helpful to contextualize class consciousness today as well as to consider if the composition of society has changed enough to challenge any of Mann's perceptions. While much has been written about the uses of social media for galvanizing class consciousness in economically fraught times, what has changed the most is the proportion of the US population comprising the 'new working class'. However, so long as knowledge knowledge workers are able to meet their needs economically and are content with the increased autonomy some experienced as a lasting byproduct of Covid, they will by and large lack a working class identity on which class consciousness is predicated. A greater class consciousness is essential by which they might relate to the remnants of the traditional working class whose buy-in is needed and who must be included in a vision for an alternative society. Falling short of this, and with industry parochialism and neoliberal policies discouraging collective action that transcends a given sector, nothing more than economic reform is possible.
50 years later after the book was published, its lessons are helpful to contextualize class consciousness today as well as to consider if the composition of society has changed enough to challenge any of Mann's perceptions. While much has been written about the uses of social media for galvanizing class consciousness in economically fraught times, what has changed the most is the proportion of the US population comprising the 'new working class'. However, so long as knowledge knowledge workers are able to meet their needs economically and are content with the increased autonomy some experienced as a lasting byproduct of Covid, they will by and large lack a working class identity on which class consciousness is predicated. A greater class consciousness is essential by which they might relate to the remnants of the traditional working class whose buy-in is needed and who must be included in a vision for an alternative society. Falling short of this, and with industry parochialism and neoliberal policies discouraging collective action that transcends a given sector, nothing more than economic reform is possible.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews