Joel Kotkin on the New American Oligarchy

In an incisive and thoughtful review essay in Quadrant (March 2015), Peter Murphy examines Joel Kotkin’s The New Class Conflict and the prognosis for America in the “post-creative economy.” Read the full essay (subscription required) at Quadrant Online. Purchase your copy of The New Class Conflict in our online store.

Continue reading →

Joel Kotkin on the Liberty Law Talk Podcast

On the Liberty Law Talk podcast today, Joel Kotkin talks with host Richard Reinsch about The New Class Conflict, now available from Telos Press. It’s a smart, wide-ranging interview that covers many of the central issues Kotkin raises in his new book: the way that today’s high-tech oligarchy, unlike the early twenty-century industrial magnates, have amassed both financial and cultural power; the exacerbation of wealth inequality in places like California as a result of government bureaucratization; the consolidation of the media by coastal urban elites and the consequent effect on cultural perceptions; the control over both U.S. political parties by the wealthy and the resulting distortion of the democratic process; and a whole lot more.

Continue reading →

Now Available: Joel Kotkin’s The New Class Conflict

Telos Press Publishing is delighted to announce that Joel Kotkin’s The New Class Conflict is now available. Purchase your copy today in our online store.

In ways not seen since the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century, America is becoming a nation of increasingly sharply divided classes. Joel Kotkin’s The New Class Conflict breaks down these new divisions for the first time, focusing on the ascendency of two classes: the tech Oligarchy, based in Silicon Valley; and the Clerisy, which includes much of the nation’s policy, media, and academic elites.

The New Class Conflict is written largely from the point of view of those who are, to date, the losers in this class conflict: the middle class. This group, which Kotkin calls the Yeomanry, has been the traditional bulwark of American society, politics, and economy. Yet under pressure from the ascendant Oligarchs and ever more powerful Clerisy, their prospects have diminished the American dream of class mobility that has animated its history and sustained its global appeal.

This book is both a call to arms and a unique piece of analysis about the possible evolution of our society into an increasingly quasi-feudal order. Looking beyond the conventional views of both left and right, conservative and liberal, Kotkin provides a tough but evenhanded analysis of our evolving class system, and suggests some approaches that might restore the middle class to its proper role as the dominant group in the American future.

Continue reading →

Event Announcement: Joel Kotkin on The Oligarchs of Silicon Valley

The Oligarchs of Silicon Valley
Author Joel Kotkin on How Tech Leaders are Driving National Debate

Who: Author Joel Kotkin (Forbes, Daily Beast)

What: The Oligarchs of Silicon Valley

Where: St. Francis College, Maroney Forum for Arts, Culture & Education, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201

When: Thursday, March 20, 6:00pm to 8:00pm

This event is free and open to the public.

Continue reading →