LITMIR.BIZ

      © 2020 by Joel Kotkin

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Encounter Books, 900 Broadway, Suite 601, New York, New York 10003.

      First American edition published in 2020 by Encounter Books, an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc., a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation. Encounter Books website address: www.encounterbooks.com

      Manufactured in the United States and printed on acid-free paper. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

      FIRST AMERICAN EDITION

      LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

      Names: Kotkin, Joel, author.

      Title: The coming of neo-feudalism : a warning to the global middle class / by Joel Kotkin.

      Description: First American edition. | New York : Encounter Books, [2020] Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2019044952 (print) | LCCN 2019044953 (ebook) ISBN 9781641770941 (cloth) | ISBN 9781641770958 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Social classes—History—21st century.

      Distribution (Economic theory)—History—21st century.

      Social history—21st century.

      Classification: LCC HT609 .K68 2020 (print) | LCC HT609 (ebook) DDC 305.509/05—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019044952

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019044953

       To Mandy, who means everything to me

      CONTENTS

       Preface

       PART I. HOW FEUDALISM CAME BACK

       1. The Feudal Revival

       2. The Enduring Allure of Feudalism

       3. The Rise and Decline of Liberal Capitalism

       PART II. THE OLIGARCHS

       4. High-Tech Feudalism

       5. The Belief System of the New Oligarchy

       6. Feudalism in California, Harbinger of the Future

       PART III. THE CLERISY

       7. The New Legitimizers

       8. The Control Tower

       9. New Religions

       PART IV. THE EMBATTLED YEOMANRY

       10. The Rise and Decline of Upward Mobility

       11. A Lost Generation?

       12. Culture and Capitalism

       PART V. THE NEW SERFS

       13. Beyond the Ring Road

       14. The Future of the Working Class

       15. Peasant Rebellions

       PART VI. THE NEW GEOGRAPHY OF FEUDALISM

       16. The New Gated City

       17. The Soul of the Neo-feudal City

       18. The Totalitarian Urban Future

       PART VII. A MANIFESTO FOR THE THIRD ESTATE

       19. The Technological Challenge

       20. The Shaping of Neo-feudal Society

       21. Can We Challenge Neo-feudalism?

       Acknowledgments

       Notes

       Index