Description:
Written in 1941, Burnham's claim was that capitalism was dead, but that it was being replaced not by socialism, but a new economic system he called "managerialism"; rule by managers.
Brief description: James Burnham was an American philosopher and political theorist. He chaired the philosophy department at New York University; His first book was An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis (1931). Burnham became a prominent Trotskyist activist in the 1930s. He rejected Marxism and became an even more influential theorist of the right as a leader of the American conservative movement. His book The Managerial Revolution, published in 1941, speculated on the future of capitalism.
Review Quotes:
'The stoic, detached, empirical, hard-boiled, penetrating, realist mind of James Burnham is something to behold, to admire, to emulate.' - National Review
'James Burnham was an astonishing writer. Subtle, passionate, and irritatingly well-read.' - New Criterion
'The immense significance of Burnham's approach is potential. We can ignore it only at the risk of being disarmed by the future course of events.' - Irving Kristol