Invitation to Sociology of Elites 3700-AL-ISE-QSP
The course offers an introduction to the classical sociology of elites. Its central aim is to familiarize students with key theoretical approaches to the study of elites. The class will primarily focus on the classical foundations of elite studies, with particular emphasis on the approaches developed by Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, Max Weber, Antonio Gramsci, C. Wright Mills, and Pierre Bourdieu.
The course will also examine selected empirically oriented historical and sociological case studies of different fractions of elites (political, economic, and cultural) against the backdrop of the fields of power and authority.
The course provides an introduction to the sociology of elites. It focuses on the authority of elites and the mechanisms — ranging from military and political power to cultural influence and charisma — through which elites exercise power. The course integrates theoretical, historical, and empirical perspectives to offer students a broad understanding of elite formation, circulation, and reproduction.
The course will additionally examine the role of the intelligentsia in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the role of intellectuals more broadly, particularly in relation to the ways in which they confirm, negotiate, or challenge established hierarchies.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Identify and explain key theoretical approaches to elites, focusing primarily on the work of Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, Antonio Gramsci, C. Wright Mills, and Pierre Bourdieu.
• Analyse the role of elites in shaping political, social, and cultural structures.
• Understand historical and sociological developments affecting elite agency and elite transformation.
• Identify the role of power, hegemony, authority (including charisma), and legitimacy.
• Discuss selected historical and sociological case studies examined during the course.
• Differentiate between elite reproduction and elite circulation.
• Understand the complexity and multidimensionality of the concept of the field of power.
• Explain the concepts of democratic elitism, elitism, and anti-elitism.
• Discuss the concepts of intellectuals and the intelligentsia.
• Understand the specificity of regional, local, and peripheral elites, particularly the intelligentsia of Central and Eastern Europe (especially Poland).
Course coordinators
Type of course
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student:
• knows the main classical theories of elites (K_W08)
• knows the most important current debates on elites (K_W08)
• understands the role of elites in different social settings, including democracy (K_W01)
• has in-depth knowledge of the processes underlying stability and social change and is able to interpret them critically (K_W09)
• can discuss the roles of elites in societal and political transformations (K_W09)
• understands the role of elites in traditional and modern societies, including knowledge-based societies (K_W13)
• knows the most important terms relating to the elite’s structural power (K_W09)
• can explain the historical shifts in elites during the 20th century (K_W14, K_W16)
• can apply the model of circulation vs. reproduction in elite analysis (K_U01, K_U04, K_U05)
• can distinguish between different elite fractions: economic, cultural, and political (K_U02, K_U08)
• can discuss how elites maintain, constitute, and change societal and political order (K_U04, K_U07, K_U09)
• can critically and reflectively analyse the role of elites in constituting the field of power (K_U01, K_U04, K_U05)
• is reflective and critical toward social diversity and inequalities (K_K01, K_K02)
• understands and can implement the role of responsible and democratic leadership (K_K03)
Assessment criteria
- Active participation in classes (80%)
- Presentations’ preparation (20%)
Absences:
- It is possible to have 2 unjustified absences;
- In case of 3 or 4 unjustified absences, it is possible to make up for them after consultation (usually by writing 2-3 pages notes on assigned readings);
- In case of 5 unjustified absences there is no possibility for obtaining course credit.
Assessment
Assessment includes active participation, written short comments on the assigned texts, presentations.
Bibliography
The final list of readings will be given during the first classes:
1. Mosca G. (1939) The Rulling Class, New York.
2. Pareto V. (1991) The Rise and Fall of the Elites. Application of Theoretical Sociology (fragments). Routledge.
3. Weber, M (1918), Politics as a Vocation, Different editions
4. Etzioni-Halevy Eva (1993) The Elite Connection. Problems and Potential of Western Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
5. Geertz C. Centers, kings and charisma: reflections on the symbolics of power, in: Local knowledge: further essays in interpretive anthropology. 1983: Basic Books, pp. 121-146.
6. Gramsci A. The Intellectuals, in: Selections of Prison Notebooks. International Publishers, p. 3-23.
7. Mills Charles W. 1956. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press.
8. Wacquant, L. J. D. (1993) ‘From Ruling Class to Field of Power: An Interview with Pierre Bourdieu on La Noblesse d’État’, Theory, Culture & Society, 10(3): 19–44.
9. Dogan Mattei (ed.) (2003) Elite Configuration and the Apex of Power. Boston: Brill.
10. Christopher Lash, (1996) The revolt of the elites and the betrayal of democracy. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
11. Field, G. Lowell, and John Higley. 1980. Elitism. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
12. Bachrach P. (1967) The Theory of Democratic Elitism: A Critique, Boston.
13. Gella A. (1979). The Russian and Polish Intelligentsias: A Sociological Perspective. “Studies in Soviet Thought” 19, s. 307-320.
14. Drochon H. (2026) Elites and Democracy. Princeton University Press.
15. Kantola, A., & Kuusela, H. (2019). Wealth elite moralities: Wealthy entrepreneurs’ moral boundaries. Sociology, 53(2), 368–384.
Additional reading:
16. Putnam R.D. (1976) The Comparative Study of Political Elites, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
17. Dahl R.A. (1971) Polyarchy: participation and Opposition. New Heaven.
18. Konrád, György; Szelényi, Iván (1979). The Intellectuals on the Road to Class Power: A Sociological Study of the Role of the Intelligentsia in Socialism. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
19. Gouldner A., (1979), The Future of Intellectuals and the Rise of the New Class, New York 1979.
20. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1988 [1984]. Homo Academicus. Trans. Peter Collier. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
21. Flam Helena, Dissenting Intellectuals and plain Dissenters: the Cases of Poland and East Germany, Intellectuals and Politics in East-Central Europe, ed. By Bozoki A. CEU PRESS.
22. Bozóki András. 2002. Theoretical Interpretation of Elite Change in East Central Europe. EUI Working Papers: European University Institute.
23. Eyal, Gil, Iván Szelényi, i Eleanor R. Townsley. 1998. Making capitalism without capitalists. Class formation and elite struggles in post-communist Central Europe. London, New York: Verso.
24. Bozóki, András. 2003. “Theoretical Interpretations of Elite Change in East Central Europe.” In Elite Configurations at the Apex of Power, edited by Mattei Dogan, 215–247. Leiden–Boston: Brill.
25. Higley John, Jan Pakulski. 1992. “Revolution and Elite Transformation in Eastern Europe.” Australian Journal of Political Science 27 (1): 104–119.
26. Gella A. (1971). The life and death of the old polish intelligentsia, „Slavic Review”, t. 30 (1).
27. Lipset S.M, Basu A. (1975), Intellectual types and political roles. In The Idea of Social Structure, ed. L. Coser, Harcourt Brace, New York, pp. 433–470.
28. Hartmann, Michael. (2007) The Sociology of Elites. New York: Routledge.
29. New directions in elite studies, (eds.) (2018) Olav Korsnes et all. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge.
30. Higley J, Best H. (eds.) (2018) The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites. Palgrave MacMillan.