The author of the article substantiates the necessity of creating a party of mental workers in Russia, which would be able to take most active part in the solution of the cardinal task facing the country - the task of its transition from the raw materials economy to an economy of knowledge. Solution of this task presupposes, first of all, the overcoming of the neofeudal conjunction of power and property, which had arisen in Soviet Russia. A qualitatively new strategy of reforms is needed, including the transformation of the relations between science, on the one hand, and the state and society, on the other. The "Proletarians of mental labour, unite" slogan, in V.V.Lapayeva's opinion, is topical not only for Russia. The workers of science and education are the most productive and at the same time the most exploited class of modern society.