Introduction No other single contribution to the theory of industrial society has
had an impact comparable to that of Karl Marx's brilliantly inspired critique of
capitalism. Although Marx's stature as a modem thinker automatically places
him in a rank shared by the likes of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud and is
recognized commensurately by intellectual historians the world over, the
ability of his work to command an advantage over other lines of thought that
also have found their way into the contemporary view of the human condition
is most pronounced in Europe. There, the industrial working class, honored in
all the classic texts as the living manifestation of capitalist irrationality, has
been idealized by the master's epigones with remarkably little deviation from
the original prophecy as the ultimate bearer of social revolution and historical
reason. Those who defend capitalism in the United States and contend that
their assessment of it is unaffected by any particular ideological influence,
however, strongly dispute the universal significance of what Marxists believe
to be the fundamental contradictions of the system. They ordinarily do so by
pointing to the presence of "countervailing" centers of power in society and by
attempting to show that all major ...
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