This class enjoys exclusive material privileges (better housing, special stores, luxury goods, and high salaries) and maintains an absolute monopoly on political power, media, and ideology. 3. Key Concepts Explored in the Book
Djilas was critical of the Soviet-type socialist system, arguing that it had failed to create a truly egalitarian society. Instead, he claimed that the system had given rise to a new form of exploitation, in which the New Class exploited the working class and the peasantry.
While the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Djilas’s thesis has proven remarkably durable. Political scientists argue that his model fits not just Stalinist Russia, but also: Milovan Djilas Nova Klasa.pdf
The core of the political structure who hold absolute authority.
Published in 1957, Milovan Đilas’s "The New Class" presents a foundational critique of communist systems by arguing that the party bureaucracy evolved into a new, privileged ruling elite. The text contends that this "red bourgeoisie" monopolizes political and economic power, prioritizing its own survival over ideological goals. Learn more about the analysis of the communist system in Wikipedia . The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System Instead, he claimed that the system had given
The book became a and a political theorist's manifesto. It was described as the "Anti-Communist Manifesto". Its significance is further underscored by the fact that a 1999 poll by the Times Literary Supplement in London ranked it among the 100 most influential books of the latter half of the 20th century .
Djilas argues that the rise of the new class has led to: Published in 1957, Milovan Đilas’s "The New Class"
Milovan Đilas's 1957 work, The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System , argues that socialist revolutions created a "new class" of party bureaucrats who control nationalized property, replacing private ownership with a monopoly on power. This elite, as described by the former Yugoslav official, perpetuates a totalitarian system of exploitation rather than a worker's paradise, while stifling intellectual freedom and economic innovation. The full text is available via Internet Archive .
| Page | Quote | |------|-------| | 37 | “The new class acquires its strength from the party and the state.” | | 67 | “Ownership is a right, not a thing. Under communism, the state possesses the right.” | | 134 | “The revolution devours its own children, but it spits out bureaucrats.” | | 179 | “After Stalin, the new class consolidated. After Tito, it will do the same.” |