Seeing elites from the South

Antoinette Handley

Chapter 12 in Handbook on Politics and Society, 2025, pp 217-237 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The academic study of elites is once again of broad interest as this once slightly arcane term has come to pervade popular discourse. Africa has for some time been depicted as the natural habitat for our crudest caricatures of malign elite power, deploying a notion of elites that is frequently racialized and gendered. This chapter revisits the origins of the academic term in advanced industrialized societies and traces its application thence to postcolonial Africa. I argue the need for a more subtle, capacious use of the term, informed by a more context-specific and empirically driven approach. Looking beyond the purely political sphere or an exclusive preoccupation with hard power can facilitate a more dexterous and multivarious understanding of elites and the forms of power that they wield.

Keywords: Elites; Africa; Power; Including soft and hard power; Relationality; Elite cohesion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035301898
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