The New Class

work by Djilas

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July 1, 2026

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Milovan Djilas's work, The New Class, published in 1957, critiques the nature of communist regimes. Djilas, a former Yugoslav communist official, argued that the new ruling class in these systems was not the proletariat but a bureaucratic elite that had replaced the old capitalist and landowning classes. He posited that this "new class" controlled the means of production and perpetuated a system of privilege, despite the communist ideology of equality. This theory emerged from Djilas's disillusionment with communism after his political ouster and imprisonment.1

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Milovan Djilas
In 1957 Djilas’ book The New Class was published in the West from a smuggled manuscript. It asserted that the typical governing Communists in eastern Europe were little different from the capitalists and landowners whom they had replaced; he later renounced this theory in The Unperfect Society (1969). Rearrested…
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In 1957 Djilas’ book The New Class was published in the West from a smuggled manuscript. It asserted that the typical governing Communists in eastern Europe were little different from the capitalists and landowners whom they had replaced; he later renounced this theory in The Unperfect Society (1969). Rearrested…
Read More