how to get derived class name from base class

I don’t know if this is what you want, and the way you’d like it implemented, but here’s a try:

>>> class Person(object):
    def _type(self):
        return self.__class__.__name__


>>> p = Person()
>>> p._type()
'Person'
>>> class Manager(Person):
    pass

>>> m = Manager()
>>> m._type()
'Manager'
>>> 

Pros: only one definition of the _type method.