CMS Stream Proposal

2009 Critical Management Studies Conference: University of Warwick 13-15 July 2009

Call for Papers for a Conference Stream on Elites

The study of elites was central to some of the founding texts of modern social science, and no wonder: at root, any significant theory of social organization is a theory about the formation, defence and perpetuation of elite groups. A generation ago the social sciences were characterised by extended debates about the meaning of elites – about how they formed, and how they wielded power and influence. In recent decades this tradition has fallen into neglect. Yet the need to turn to the study of elites again is particularly urgent. We live in an age of rapidly growing inequality in the distribution of income and wealth, and apparently slowing social mobility, across many advanced industrial societies – notably those of the Anglo-Saxon world. We also live in a new age of globalisation when new institutional sites for elite occupation have been created. The growing importance of financial markets, financial institutions and intermediaries around these contexts has renewed interest in the way in which financial power is constructed and developed and the impact which it has on business organisation and politics. The governance and management of multinational businesses is creating new networks of global power that transcend national contexts and organise private power through complex processes of wealth generation, the transmission of social capital and the organisation of access to centres of economic and political decision-making.

The proposed stream is intended to help bring elites research onto the agenda for Critical Management Studies.

Possible themes include:

1. Theorising elites: political economy, Bourdieusian and performative accounts: evaluating old and new approaches to understanding the formation, identity and significance of elites in contemporary capitalism.

2. Financialisation and the rise of the wealthy: focusing on financial elites in the UK and other places. While in some senses the ‘City’ is highly visible, the sub-groupings of those who form various financial and related elites are less well understood, as is the broader economic, social and cultural impact of the material success of this sector.

3. Globalisation, global cities and transnational classes: considering the question of the extent to which some kinds of elites are transnational or global, while for others locality and location are still important.

4. Researching elites in the future and in the past: what can we learn from historical studies of elites and their transformation;how can we identify and analyse new elite groups.

The stream aims to contribute to the revival of the tradition of elite research, to discuss the latest research findings and to generate exchanges within a broad multi-disciplinary research community which will stimulate fresh work

We invite abstracts for this theme. Abstracts should be a maximum of 1000 words, on A4 paper, single spaced, 12 point font. They should be submitted by 1st Novemberby email to the Lead convenor, Glenn Morgan (). You will receive notification of acceptance by early 2009.

Theme Organizers

Glenn Morgan (WarwickBusinessSchool)

Julie Froud (ManchesterBusinessSchool)

Olivier Godechot (CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris)

Sigrid Quack (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Koln)

Karel Williams (ManchesterBusinessSchool)