In the late 1920s, Siegfried Kracauer studied the then new middle class in Berlin, asking why they were not more disruptive of the structures that bore down on them. I ask the same about insecure professionals in contemporary Berlin, using Kracauer's book Die Angestellten as foil. Kracauer demonstrated that, in the 1920s, they still perceived themselves as workers, albeit white‐collar and salaried workers. Berlin's professionals today perceive themselves and most everyone else as autonomous individuals possessing human capital that can appreciate or depreciate as the result of their actions. Work is but one of the sites in which a classless, self‐formed identity can be cultivated and calibrated in all aspects of life. I show how this perception plays out in professionals' attitudes toward their work lives and after‐work activities.

中文翻译：

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从工人到资本家：重新定位柏林的中产阶级


在 1920 年代后期，齐格弗里德·克拉考尔 （Siegfried Kracauer） 研究了当时柏林的新中产阶级，询问为什么他们不更多地破坏压在他们身上的结构。我对当代柏林缺乏安全感的专业人士提出了同样的问题，以克拉考尔的书《Die Angestellten》为借口。克拉考尔证明，在 1920 年代，他们仍然认为自己是工人，尽管是白领和受薪工人。今天的柏林专业人士将自己和大多数其他人视为拥有人力资本的自主个体，这些人力资本可以因他们的行为而升值或贬值。工作只是可以在生活的各个方面培养和校准无阶级、自我形成的身份的场所之一。我展示了这种看法如何在专业人士对工作生活和下班后活动的态度中发挥作用。