Vol 9, No 1, 2010 pp. 1-13
UDC 316.62(497.16)
THE NEW BOURGEOISIE AND ITS PSEUDO-ELITE
IN THE SOCIETIES OF PERIPHERAL CAPITALISM
(A SKETCH FOR A SOCIOLOGICAL PORTRAIT)
Ljubiša Mitrović
University of Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, Serbia
Email: ljubisa@filfak.ni.ac.rs
The paper analyses the changes in the class structure of the post-socialist societies under the influence of the neoliberal development strategy and the restauration of peripheral capitalism.
It especially focuses on the changes that have taken place in the very composition of the ruling neobourgeois class, of its fractions and elites. In particular, it analyses the social profile of the comprador bourgeoise and its political elites, as well as the detrimental effect they have on the future and the development of the Balkan societies. Through uncritical acceptance of the neoliberal strategy of dependent modernization and obediance to their Western mentors, the satellite pseudo-elites have contributed more to the processes of destruction than those of creation. They have brought about the peripherization of economy, society and culture and have pushed Serbia and the Balkans into the zone of peripheral capitalism.
The paper explores the social position and the role of the given groups in the social structure, in the system of the division of social power and in the current social changes in Serbia and the Balkans. It also compares the changes in the class structure that have occurred in the Balkan societies to those that have taken place in Latin America and Asia, pointing thereby to the relevant similarities and differences. The common denominator turns out to be that all of those societies in the various parts of the world are dependent societies of peripheral capitalism in the global system. They are ruled by the comprador bourgeoisie and satellite lumpen-elite. They are heavily segregated and exploited societies, they are deeply devided, and full of risk and conflict.
The paper concludes with a paraphrase of a thought of Rene Dimon (expressed in his Neocolonial Rule in India): without a change in the development strategy and the social structure, that would strip the comprador bourgeoisie and all the corrupted elites in both the cities and in the rural areas of their power, Serbia will never be able to make any progress!
Key words: peripheral capitalism, dependent modernization, comprador bourgeoisie, pseudo-elite, lumpen-politics.
NOVA BURŽOAZIJA I NJENA ELITA U DRUŠTVU PERIFERNOG KAPITALIZMA
(SKICA ZA SOCIOLOŠKI PORTRET)
Izmrcvarena decenijskim snakcijama i ranjena ratnim intervencijama NATO-a, na talasu i udaru novog neoliberalnog tržišnog fundamentalizma, našla se i petooktobarska Srbija. U radu autor razmatra radikalne promene u klasno slojnoj strukturi postsocijalističkih društava, pod uticajem neoliberalne strategije razvoja i restauracije perifernog kapitalizma.
U fokusu autorove analize su promene u sastavu vladajuće neoliberalne klase, njenih frakcija i elita. Autor se posebno koncentriše na analizu socijalnog položaja kompradorske buržoazije i njene političke elite i njihovog pogubnog učinka po razvoj i budućnost društva Srbije.
Autor istražuje mesto ovih grupa u društvenoj strukturi, sistemu raspodele društvene moći i njihovu ulogu u društvenim promenama savremnih društava Srbije i Balkana. Svoju analizu on dopunjuje komparativnim razmatranjem sličnosti i razlika između klasne strukture balkanskih postsocijalističkih i latinoameričkih društava, nalazeći šta je njihov sociološki zajednički imenitelj.
Ključne reči: periferni kapitalizam, neoburžoazija, kompradorska buržoazija, satelitska pseudoelita, neoliberalizam, zavisna modernizacija
