Professional Society

we all, that it could be that steering through nearly 600 pages of text is worth while.1 Historically feudalism and a landowning aristocracy throughout Europe proved unable to cope with the rise of the expanding and commercial system of towns and cities. 2-3 In the great wide world there arose two mutually antagonistic systems: entrepreneurial capitalism and organised labour. Perkin further suggests that with the establishment of an effective educational network, there also appeared a "new" professional class which fitted into neither system. Sceptics will understand that this process has taken place since the arrival of the professional clerk. None the less, since 1880 this professional class has in his view taken over the organisation of both systems. No class is uniform, and Perkin's professionals have many subtle distinctions and rivalries.