Neither bourgeoisie nor proletariat now act as agents of historical transformation

Evidence

However, the capitalist development has altered the structure and function of these two classes in such a way that they no longer appear to be agents of historical transformation. An overriding interest in the preservation and improvement of the institutional status quo unites the former antagonists in the most advanced areas of contemporary society. And to the degree to which technical progress assures the growth and cohesion of communist society, the very idea of qualitative change recedes before the realistic notions of a non-explosive evolution. In the absence of demonstrable agents and agencies of social change, the critique is thus thrown back to a high level of abstraction. There is no ground on which theory and practice, thought and action meet. Even the most empirical analysis of historical alternatives appears to be unrealistic speculation, and commitment to them a matter of personal (or group) preference. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 91

Categorization

• XREF: This is the Marxist pessimism that later strands of critical theory and post-Marxism built on; also connects to the theme of flattened political agency in the attention-economy readings. — connects to: The European proletariat was not history’s sole revolutionary subject — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 119; Marginalized groups can no longer occupy the proletariat’s revolutionary role — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 749; Third World masses revive the revolutionary role the industrial proletariat lost — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2217

Broader Connections

• The European proletariat was not history’s sole revolutionary subject #corroborates (0.85) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 119
• Marginalized groups can no longer occupy the proletariat’s revolutionary role #corroborates (0.82) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 749
• Third World masses revive the revolutionary role the industrial proletariat lost #complicates (0.80) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2217