Theoretical and methodological pathways for research on elites
Top Cited Papers
- 1 April 2018
- journal article
- editorial
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Socio-Economic Review
- Vol. 16 (2), 225-249
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwy019
Abstract
In this introductory essay to our special issue on elites, we outline some of the major challenges to research in this area and propose a series of theoretical and methodological pathways to address them. Theoretically we make four recommendations: (a) greater attentiveness to and specificity about the relationship between elites and power; (b) a clearer articulation of the relationships between elites and the varieties of capitalism; (c) far more attention to diversity within elites and the use of elites to understand forms of domination like white supremacy and masculine domination and (d) expanding beyond the orthodox form of Bourdieusian theoretical frameworks. Methodologically we outline how research using survey instruments, social network analysis (SNA) (and multiple correspondence analysis), interviews, ethnographic observation, experiments, archival research, administrative data and content analysis can each be deployed, built upon or redirected to help bring elites into greater focus.Keywords
Other Versions
This publication has 73 references indexed in Scilit:
- Saying Meritocracy and Doing PrivilegeThe Sociological Quarterly, 2013
- Mapping the ideological networks of American climate politicsClimatic Change, 2012
- Race and reflexivityEthnic and Racial Studies, 2012
- Higher social class predicts increased unethical behaviorProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012
- Access: Reflections on studying up in HollywoodEthnography, 2010
- Le scandale comme épreuvePolitix, 2005
- Foundations of a neo-Marxist class analysisPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2005
- Ethnicity without groupsPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2004
- Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2003
- Ethnicity in the American EliteAmerican Sociological Review, 1982