Orwell on Burnham: The Managerial Revolution

Welcome to The Manhattan Spengler Salon, where we discuss the big ideas of history, historiography, and civilization.

Today we will be discussing James Burnham's concept of The Managerial Revolution, published in the 1941 book of the same name. We will be approaching the book through reading George Orwell's article, "Second Thoughts on James Burnham", published 1946.

Link:
https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/second-thoughts-on-james-burnham/
Length: 8,800 words, approximately 25 pages.

Discussion questions:
1. The main tenet of managerialism is that the owners of capital will become less important as decision-makers, while managers and bureaucrats take over. Has this tendency continued? Have government bureaucracies, hierarchical management structures, and international technocrats gained in political relevance relative to wealthy tycoons and independent business owners? Or is the opposite true?

2. Burnham and Orwell both describe the British Empire as the foundation of world capitalism. Clearly this mantle has been passed on to the American international system in the postwar period. Is the American international system best described as capitalist, democratic, or managerial? How has it changed over time?

3. Orwell operates under the classical liberal assumption that capitalism and democracy are synonymous or at least synergistic. Do you believe this to be true? Does capitalism subvert democracy? Can genuine democracy happen under a managerial or a socialist system of political economy?

4. Does the European Union represent a "second wind" for Burnham's belief that Europe will inevitably form a super-state with a German nucleus? Does the concept of the "super-state" in general hold any sway in today's world?

5. Does the arrival of the machine age change the iron law of oligarchy, as Orwell posits? Is it really true that machines will be capable of "eliminating drudgery", as Orwell believes? And can class distinctions truly be destroyed?

Once again, put on your oculars and dive in!

Discussion questions to follow.