Book: Post-Capitalist Society

Overview
Peter Drucker argues that the central resource and system logic of advanced societies have shifted from capital and labor to knowledge. The old political argument between capitalism and socialism recedes because both were organized around ownership and deployment of capital; what now matters is the productive application of knowledge. Post-capitalist society is defined less by markets versus planning than by institutions that create, integrate, and apply knowledge, with management becoming the pivotal social function.

From Capital to Knowledge
Knowledge, not money or machinery, is the primary means of production. It is inherently specialized, yet becomes productive only when integrated with other kinds of knowledge and directed to results. This creates a new social structure dominated by knowledge workers, specialists who own their means of production in their heads, and a large service workforce that supports them. The decisive economic challenge shifts from raising the productivity of manual labor, the great achievement of the twentieth century, to raising the productivity of knowledge work, which requires different tools, measures, and organizational designs.

Society of Organizations
Modern society is a society of organizations, businesses, universities, hospitals, research labs, public agencies, and nonprofits, that concentrate and deploy knowledge. Their legitimacy rests on performance against mission, not ownership or tradition. Drucker foresees information-based, decentralized, and networked enterprises replacing monolithic hierarchies. Because specialists are most effective when autonomous and aligned around clear objectives, management must shift from command-and-control to defining mission, setting measurable results, placing people based on strengths, and fostering continuous learning. Alliances and partnerships across organizational and national boundaries become normal as knowledge crosses borders more easily than capital ever did.

Politics and the Nation-State
The world economy becomes transnational, while political authority remains largely national, creating mismatches that strain policy. Regional integrations such as the European Union, as well as city-regions and cross-border networks, gain influence. The nation-state does not disappear but must narrow its scope to core competencies, law, security, basic infrastructure, and the conditions for competition, and withdraw from being owner and operator of services. Drucker warns that attempts to maintain a megastate of ever-expanding functions will underperform and lose legitimacy, while vacuums in community life will be filled either by civic associations or by dangerous identity politics.

Civil Society and the Social Sector
To restore community and citizenship in a pluralistic, mobile order, Drucker assigns central importance to the “social sector”, nonprofit, mission-driven institutions that address education, health, culture, and social needs. Neither market nor government can provide belonging or meaning. The social sector must be managed with the same rigor as business: clear missions, results, accountability, and innovation. Citizens engage through these institutions, balancing the power of both state and corporation.

Education and Lifelong Learning
As knowledge becomes obsolete quickly, education must shift from transmission of fixed content to developing the capacity to learn, unlearn, and re-learn. Universities and professional schools need to emphasize general literacy across disciplines, ethical responsibility, and direct application of knowledge to results. Careers become portfolios of assignments rather than ladders within a single firm; individuals must manage themselves, understanding strengths, values, and contributions, and remain employable by continuously upgrading their knowledge.

Implications
Economic policy should foster innovation, competition, and knowledge-worker productivity; corporate strategy should organize around information flows and mission-focused teams; public policy should define and limit state roles while enabling transnational economic activity; and civic leaders should build a robust social sector. The promise of post-capitalist society is unprecedented performance and pluralism; its risk is a widening divide between the knowledge-rich and the knowledge-poor if productivity, inclusion, and community are neglected.