Where has the new class gone?

Igor Grdina

Abstract

After the demise of the communist regimes “east from West”, the questions set before the reality by the creation of a socialist managing/supervisory “new class” have not been put forward particularly enthusiastically. In the new referential framework, these class members have mainly managed to redefine themselves as the elite because they occupied key positions for the functioning of public space. However, their mentality has not disappeared. Especially in Slovenia, which witnessed a soft transition from the Marxist system, the legacy of the socialist “new class” remains strong. In many ways we can draw typological lines with the Weimar Republic which as a “republic without the republicans” was dependent on the functioning of the public apparatus inherited from the era of the WilhelmineReich.

The legacy of the “new class” in Slovenia is especially clear in the interpretation and representation of historical events. Resembling a lump that draws its coherence from an ideology, the “new class” is particularly sensitive in this area. Politics, which is in this resort being led by bureaucratic circles in the Republic of Slovenia (the Research Agency), seems to be so important for preservation of the legacy of the “new class” that it considers it valid to disregard both the Constitution and laws when distributing public finances.

Key words

new class, Milovan Djilas, socialism