In Marxist theory, the proletarian revolution would seize the means of production, eliminate private property, and eventually lead to a classless society where the state withers away. Djilas argued that the exact opposite occurred.
By the early 1950s, Đilas began publishing articles criticizing the corruption and democratic deficits within the Yugoslav Communist Party. Stripped of his official positions in 1954 and later imprisoned, Đilas channeled his disillusionment into writing. The New Class was drafted under intense state surveillance and smuggled to a Western publisher, leading to an extension of his prison sentence but cementing his status as one of history's most prominent dissidents. The Core Thesis: What is the "New Class"?
Milovan Djilas The New Class (1957) is a landmark critique of communist systems, written while the author was imprisoned in Yugoslavia for his dissident views. A full digital copy is available through the Internet Archive Core Thesis: The Rise of the Bureaucratic Elite milovan djilas nova klasa pdf
Đilas argued that the New Class was more dogmatic and totalitarian than any previous ruling class in history. Because it controls both the economy and the monopoly on physical violence (the state), it tolerates no independent civil society, free press, or competing political factions. Why "The New Class" remains Highly Relevant Today
Djilas claimed that the communist bureaucracy was even more restrictive and parasitic than the capitalist bourgeoisie. While a capitalist's power is checked by market competition and democratic laws, the communist "new class" faced no such boundaries. Their authority was total, unyielding, and self-perpetuating. The Structure of the Book In Marxist theory, the proletarian revolution would seize
To understand The New Class , one must understand its author. Milovan Djilas (1911–1995) was a Montenegrin intellectual, revolutionary, and close associate of Josip Broz Tito during World War II. He played a pivotal role in the Yugoslav Partisan resistance and helped establish the socialist Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.
In the digital age, searching for the PDF or digital text of The New Class (often searched in its original Serbo-Croatian phrasing as Nova Klasa ) is highly common among academic researchers. The text provides a vital primary source for several fields: Stripped of his official positions in 1954 and
The New Class is a landmark critique of communist bureaucracy, blending insider experience with sharp sociological insight. While Djilas’s predictions of system collapse were partly vindicated by 1991, his work remains debated. The PDF version is widely available through unofficial channels, but legal access is best via academic libraries or purchased e-books.
Đilas turned this methodology on the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations. He argued that the abolition of private property had not destroyed classes at all. Instead, it merely transferred ownership of the nation's wealth from private capitalists to a collective entity: .