The PMC, or: Exciting New Ways to Hate the Middle Class

All the way back in 1977 John and Barbara Ehrenreich coined the term “the professional-managerial class” to refer to “salaried mental workers who do not own the means of production and whose major function in the social division of labour may be described broadly as the reproduction of capitalist culture and capitalist class relations.” The term reemerged in the 2010s with renewed vigour as a useful way of denoting a class of technocratic liberals who occupy an increasingly dominant role in culture and politics, indulging in performative social justice posturing with one hand while resolutely defending the status quo with the other. On this episode, the crew discuss the latest intervention into this particular discourse, Catherine Liu’s 2021 book Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional-Managerial Class. In an attempt to locate the PMC in Ireland, we dive deep into the perverse habits and proclivities of this group of people, skewer their tendency to scold and moralise, and debate whether or not we should even think of them as a separate class at all. Oh, and about two thirds of the way through, we also watch some porn. Don’t ask me why. Oh, and because we always forget, a quick request (note: not begging) to share the podcast with your friends and family if you think they’d like it. People always say that iTunes reviews help, so maybe do that as well? Otherwise you might just be a perverted PMC dog. Support the show