Re Professionalism and Techno Feudalism....

• In Event: Global and Transnational Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 11. Changing Orders of Power

Abstract

Running a brothel is generally considered to be part of “the oldest profession.” Which brings us to the question of what “management” of “professionals” is really about! And here we get back to Varoufakis' comments about “techno serfs” who are either not getting paid or are exploited and underpaid. Perhaps because of the conditions associated with creative work in post industrial societies!?
You may remember that Barbara Ehrenreich had negative things to say about the current professional class. And we should all also remember or realize that the professional class includes doctors and nurses, researchers, all of whom have allowed themselves to become financially controlled by managers. Usually managers who are connected with and paid by corporations. Pimps were and are the managers of the “oldest profession.” So medical people too, it appears, have become components of the “techno serf” category!
So perhaps in Marx's terms, professional are parts of the new proletariat workers. And professionals comprise the new post industrial “working class.” See perhaps the book 40 Million Dollar Slaves about professional athletes! A PhD gets you entry into only a higher end of the professional class. And the privileges associated with having a PhD are unclear. Probably some PhD's are also managers and others are not or not so much. Then there are the many adjuncts, with even fewer privileges. Some so underpaid that some of them are are living in their cars.

Analytically speaking, it is the exploitation of workers and consumers by corporate media managements which dictates the high levels of income and wealth inequality which we all are witnessing world wide. For example, how did it come to be the case that Comcast corporation came to own and therefore exercise editorial policies over the NBC network corporation? This has been the case since 2011, according to Copilot. The story of how and why this sale took place would constitute a major contribution

Author

• David (Jed) D. Schwartz