4 ms·

I think the modern term for the clerisy is the Professional Managerial Class or “PMC” — and the definition of the working class has been expanded to include “se

I think the modern term for the clerisy is the Professional Managerial Class or “PMC” — and the definition of the working class has been expanded to include “service industry” workers.

n4r9 7y ago
Not sure that's accurate. The article suggests the "clerisy" operates largely outside the market system, e.g. doctors, lawyers, with the exception possibly being consultants. The PMC is very much a class in the market system.
- scarmig 7y ago
  Not at all. The large majority of the PMC works in the context of large corporations. Although the corporations themselves might be subject to market forces, individuals within them navigate bureaucracies and politics just as much as a random government employee. Moreover, all of these large corporations closely cooperate with government. The fact that a corporation has an exterior interface with the market doesn't change that most people in it don't deal with the market day-to-day. Even those who do form that interface are relatively insulated from it: a market analyst working to set prices still is evaluated by an internal bureaucracy, not the market itself. Only people in sales really end up exposed to the market because it's so easy to come up with a metric of their performance that's legible to the interior bureaucracy.
  - n4r9 7y ago
    Honestly, working in a large corporation is very different to working in a public institution. For example, in my experience, your salary is much more of a negotiation between yourself and your direct superiors. You can highlight the value/profit your bring to the company, and if they underestimate you the you can change to a higher paying job somewhere else. That opportunity just doesn't exist in public industries where pay scales are rigidly set to the number of years of experience you have, or the specific job title. You can argue all you want but unless you're absolutely exceptional (undergrad paper in Nature level exceptional) you'll get nowhere. One of the reasons that teachers and doctors have such absurdly poor working conditions and pay (in the UK at least) relative to the value they bring to society, is that they're mostly paid via the state so the only way they can demonstrate their value is through striking. If the government takes a hard line of strikes and public spending then those industries suffer.
- mtts 7y ago
  Indeed. School teachers (not particularly well paid or managerial) are definitely part of the clerisy, supporting things like an [edit: added missing word "energy"] transition and, no surprises there, a greater role for education. Managers in companies that operate in the market: not so much. The term “clerisy” to me rings clearer than “professional middle class” as he latter ignores [edit: removed autocorrect nonsense word] very real distinctions between corporate lawyers and directors of NGOs.

I think the modern term for the clerisy is the Professional Managerial Class or “PMC” — and the definition of the working class has been expanded to include “service industry” workers.

n4r9 7y ago

Not sure that's accurate. The article suggests the "clerisy" operates largely outside the market system, e.g. doctors, lawyers, with the exception possibly being consultants. The PMC is very much a class in the market system.

scarmig 7y ago
Not at all. The large majority of the PMC works in the context of large corporations. Although the corporations themselves might be subject to market forces, individuals within them navigate bureaucracies and politics just as much as a random government employee. Moreover, all of these large corporations closely cooperate with government. The fact that a corporation has an exterior interface with the market doesn't change that most people in it don't deal with the market day-to-day. Even those who do form that interface are relatively insulated from it: a market analyst working to set prices still is evaluated by an internal bureaucracy, not the market itself. Only people in sales really end up exposed to the market because it's so easy to come up with a metric of their performance that's legible to the interior bureaucracy.
- n4r9 7y ago
  Honestly, working in a large corporation is very different to working in a public institution. For example, in my experience, your salary is much more of a negotiation between yourself and your direct superiors. You can highlight the value/profit your bring to the company, and if they underestimate you the you can change to a higher paying job somewhere else. That opportunity just doesn't exist in public industries where pay scales are rigidly set to the number of years of experience you have, or the specific job title. You can argue all you want but unless you're absolutely exceptional (undergrad paper in Nature level exceptional) you'll get nowhere. One of the reasons that teachers and doctors have such absurdly poor working conditions and pay (in the UK at least) relative to the value they bring to society, is that they're mostly paid via the state so the only way they can demonstrate their value is through striking. If the government takes a hard line of strikes and public spending then those industries suffer.
mtts 7y ago
Indeed. School teachers (not particularly well paid or managerial) are definitely part of the clerisy, supporting things like an [edit: added missing word "energy"] transition and, no surprises there, a greater role for education. Managers in companies that operate in the market: not so much. The term “clerisy” to me rings clearer than “professional middle class” as he latter ignores [edit: removed autocorrect nonsense word] very real distinctions between corporate lawyers and directors of NGOs.