Tipping Point for Advanced Capitalism

“Tipping Point for Advanced Capitalism is an important book, not just for empirical social science but also for social movements. It provides a mass of new information and ideas about key issues in class analysis. It offers new perspectives on large-scale social and economic change, and the forces that might produce change. It recognizes that we are living in distinctive times, that demand new thinking. It sees the self-destructive dynamic in our present social and economic order. And it is, at base, optimistic, showing real potentials for fundamental change. We are not trapped in the current swamp — there are ways of digging ourselves out. If we have the courage to try.”

-- Raewyn Connell, professor emerita, University of Sydney, and author of The Good University and Knowledge and Global Power

“In this important book capping a long and distinguished career, D.W Livingstone argues that class analysis remains fundamental to understanding the multiple crises of advanced capitalism and the possibilities for social transformation. A key argument is that changes in the class structure and in class consciousness since the 1980s are heightening the contradiction between capitalism and growing public access to knowledge, setting the stage for new class alliances for democratic socialism.”

-- Andrew Jackson, former director of social and economic policy, Canadian Labour Congress, and author of The Fire and the Ashes: Rekindling Democratic Socialism

“Are classes dead in modern capitalist societies as often claimed? D.W. Livingstone’s Tipping Point clearly demonstrates that most citizens of the rich democracies don’t think so. They have clear ideas about their own class locations and their social, economic and political consequences. Tipping Point scans the changing class topography of the contemporary world and its likely implications for the future. Must reading for all those who have forgotten about the most fundamental cleavages of our daily lives.”

-- John Myles, professor emeritus, University of Toronto, and co-author of Relations of Ruling: Class and Gender in Postindustrial Societies and author of Old Age in the Welfare State.

“Nothing is more important than class for explaining how advanced capitalism works (and doesn’t work). Yet simultaneously there is no single analytical concept more misunderstood, in both intellectual discourse and public consciousness. In this timely and powerful volume, D.W. Livingstone brilliantly wields quantitative and qualitative data to show that, yes, class still exists – and that understanding the dynamics of class conflict is vital for confronting the fearsome multiple crises facing humanity.”

-- Jim Stanford, director, Centre for Future Work, and the author of Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism.

“D.W. Livingstone’s Tipping Point is the culmination of an illustrious career dedicated to scholarship aimed to make a difference. This is a far-reaching engagement and reflection upon class matters and structural transformation in the new economy at a critical juncture. The main empirical claim is the growth of professional employees as the skilled trades of the 21st century ‘knowledge economy’ and as pivotal agents of change. The book also contains a refreshingly new take on economic democracy. Livingstone’s substantial evidence-driven work merits serious consideration and provides both a proud legacy and look ahead.”

-- Wallace Clement, chancellor’s professor emeritus, Carleton University, co-author of Relations of Ruling: Class and Gender in Postindustrial Societies and author of The Challenge of Class Analysis.

“D.W. Livingstone’s detailed and highly crafted study demonstrates the ongoing power of capitalist class divisions in Canada, and marks a welcome renewal of a focus on work and employment within class analysis. Anyone who doubts the importance of class divides in affluent nations should ponder this book with care.”

-- Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics and author of Class Analysis and Social Transformation and Social Class in the 21st Century

“Most accounts of class now stray too far from relations at work. Livingstone redresses the balance, using a unique set of empirical data collected over decades to chart the comparative changes in class structures and class consciousness in developed capitalist societies. Central to these trends is the growth and proletarianization of non-managerial professional groups. This development provides cautious hope that forces are gathering that may make fundamental change possible. The challenges this book poses deserve serious engagement if the multiple crises facing the world are to be overcome.”

-- Bob Carter, professor emeritus, University of Leicester and author of Capitalism, Class Conflict and the New Middle Class and “A growing divide: Marxist class analysis and the labour process