The Politics of the Elite

This book is a study of class formation at the top of the social hierarchies during the turbulent and changing early twenty-first century. Contrary to perceptions that privileged individuals exist according to little more than market and economic logics, the book provides evidence that they are by no means absent from politics and civic engagement. Adopting a focus on reproduction, distinction, and politics, it delves into the complex relationship between cohesion and fragmentation that exists within the most privileged groups formed over the course of the contemporary neoliberal period.

By knitting a dialogue between spatial analysis, multiple correspondence analysis, and in-depth interviews, the book provides insights into the intricate relations between institutions and political subjectivities, and the role of space and mothering in the political socialisation of Chile’s most privileged families. The result is a dense description of a social class fragmented by subtle ideological lines based upon economic inheritance, socialisation within homogeneous family environments, paths into the labour market, and social and political activities.

This book will constitute a much-needed research resource for academics, students, and professionals in areas such as elite studies, social stratification, inequality, social reproduction, accumulation, political socialisation, and contemporary conservative/progressive views.