That was the message I took from this book. Planners, for the most part, are mandarins of the state, performing bureaucratic and policy functions to further the needs of capitalist political economies. The influence this book has had on practicing planners is clearly minimal: most college educated American planners are not radicalized by their university experiences and end up entering the sprawl industry (private or public sector). Friedmann's favorites, advocacy and radical planning, are essentially POWER politics in whatever realm one deems important (env., energy, urban, social, etc.). Friedmann never says it, but I think the GREEN movement comes closest to what he wants 'radical' planners to engage in-- rather than process permits for the real estate industry. Good for a history of planning, but a review of the last 20 years of what planning has accomplished (anything positive?)would be nice for the next edition.