The Return of Serfdom: Joel Kotkin’s Warning on Neo-Feudalism

Are we witnessing the end of the American Dream and the rise of a new, medieval-style hierarchy? Prominent urban scholar Joel Kotkin believes so. In his analysis of contemporary socio-economic trends, Kotkin raises a startling alarm: society is rapidly evolving into a neo-feudal order.

This new paradigm is not defined by land and knights, but by data and algorithms. It is a world dominated by a small cadre of technological elites and a supportive “new clerisy,” where the vast majority of the population faces diminishing social mobility and economic stagnation.

The Architecture of Neo-Feudalism

At its core, neo-feudalism refers to a structure where modern power dynamics mirror the hierarchical dependencies of the Middle Ages. Kotkin argues that the concentration of power and wealth among a small group of tech oligarchs parallels historical feudal structures, where a privileged few exerted absolute control over the majority.

This transformation is characterized by: