Paper short abstract:

During the 1990s, Rio de Janeiro's sociological map witnessed a new social segment's appearance in the media: The "New Emerging Society". The paper reflects on the social imaginary regarding notions of distinction, economic productivity, and success in contemporary Brazilian society.

Paper long abstract:

During the 1990s, many people were still decrying the economic crisis that developed in the previous decade immediately following the 1980s boom in consumption and was hitting mainly the middle class. At the same time, Rio de Janeiro's sociological map was witnessing a new social segment's appearance: The so-called "New Emerging Society", a network composed of social subjects whose social ascension was a constant theme in the press over a six-year period. Their recent "success", attributed to the discipline of their enterprising work in the Northern Zone of Rio de Janeiro's suburbs, was invariably illustrated with images of grandiose material conquests. The term "emerging" was borrowed from the vocabulary of economics, and although at times used to stigmatize in fact rewarded these "successful" people with a special taste of victory. The term's appeal lay in the fact that it seemed to metaphorize historical cravings for a Brazil full of promise. Based on newspaper articles and ethnography among members of this network , I reflect on the social imaginary regarding notions of distinction, economic productivity, and success in contemporary Brazilian society.

Paper short abstract:

Tracing the careers of Batswana elite women, the paper argues that postcolonial subjectivities are dialogical and emerging in interaction. It explores the women's sense of mission, and the making and remaking of their consciousness as subjects, citizens and members of a global community.

Paper long abstract:

Tracing the careers of three elite women in Botswana, two trade unionists and hence part of a small labour elite, and one a public servant who became, first, a politician and then an international civil servant, the paper argues that postcolonial subjectivities are to be understood as essentially dialogical; they emerge in interaction on testing occasions.The paper explores the three women's sense of mission as it evolves in performance, in the making and remaking of their consciousness as subjects, as citizens and as members of a global community. As a subject's recognition of her location within power structures expands, the paper shows, so too does her ability to act and think in terms of wider social universes of discourses. And along with wider consciousness, her sense of responsibility for others expands, just as the political imaginaries she embraces encompass wider horizons. The paper debates the problems inherent in poststructuralist definitions of subject and subjectivity, following Foucault, and suggests that a dialogical understanding of subjectivity engages with his 'negative paradigm' while nevertheless recognising that emancipatory movements lead inevitably to new heteronomous regimes of subjection.

Paper short abstract:

Examining elite funerals, this paper explores how a particular Ghanaian elite balances local and regional commitments with national aspirations. Funerals constitute crucial occasions for validating social belonging, re-negotiating relations with rural kin, and performing elite status.

Paper long abstract:

Based on fieldwork conducted in Ghana and amongst the Dagara in particular this paper ex-plores the history of a particular group of elite men and women from Northern Ghana and asks how this elite balances local and regional commitments with national aspirations. How do these urbanised elite men and women, who come from an economically marginalised re-gion and now work in high-level positions in public administration, education, the free pro-fessions (lawyers, doctors, etc.), the army, and the Catholic church, perceive their roles with regard to their rural 'home' communities to which Ghanaians generally feel deeply con-nected? I will pursue these questions by looking at elite funerals − a personal, emotionally highly charged ritual which is, at the same time, of great social, and sometimes even of politi-cal, importance. In Ghanaian society in general, and for the Dagara elite in particular, funerals constitute the crucial moment when belonging must be ultimately validated. They are an oc-casion during which the deceased's 'home ties' are re-evaluated and the relations of his survi-vors with their rural kin re-negotiated. But funerals are also an arena in which elite status is performed vis-à-vis both one's home constituency and Ghanaian fellow elites.

Paper short abstract:

Forty years after Mauritian independence, white skin colour still remains at the core of Franco-Mauritian elite distinction. The paper analyses how Franco-Mauritian elite distinction is reinforced through intra-group and inter-group processes.

Paper long abstract:

The Franco-Mauritians - the white elite of the island Mauritius (numbering about 10,000 individuals) - have successfully maintained their elite position, even forty years after Mauritius' independence. That the transition from colonialism to independence has not deprived them of their position can be explained partly by their maintenance of a distinct (ethnic) identity in an overwhelmingly non-white society. At the core of the Franco-Mauritians distinction as elites is their white skin colour, with all its historical connotations.

The paper will contribute to the debate of how elite distinction is shaped through both intra-group and inter-group processes. It will discuss, on the one hand, how endogamous marriage practices, exclusive social and sport clubs, and, more generally, an elite culture reinforce Franco-Mauritian identity. On the other hand, it will argue how the strong focus on ethnicity in Mauritian society at large facilitates the Franco-Mauritians' elite distinction through skin colour. On the small island with its 1.2 million inhabitants, ethnicity is omnipresent, and Franco-Mauritian identity as such thus hardly challenged. Despite regular criticism of their colonial past and unequal share in the island's wealth, Franco-Mauritians co-exist relatively peacefully with the rest of Mauritian society. However, since their ethnic identity continues to provide them with privileged access to the island's most powerful business networks, elite distinction marked by the white skin colour is persistent.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how the strategies of social reproduction and the self-image of the Creole elite in Guinea-Bissau have changed from the late nineteenth century up to the present, in response to new societal contexts.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the polymorphic character of the Creole elite in Guinea-Bissau. In the nineteenth century it was organized as a group of autonomous patrimonial extended families involved in trade with Guinean indigenous societies. The new conditions brought about by the colonial regime forced these families to change their strategies of social reproduction and public presentation if they wanted to survive as elites. They managed to present themselves as an exclusivist elite that championed Christian values and Western manners. They distinguished themselves from the bulk of indigenous groups, to whom they were, at the same time, strategically linked through matrimonial alliances, adoption of African children, and patron-client relations. However, they had to compete with newcomers better equipped to take over the higher and middle positions in the colonial apparatus and to control colonial commerce, namely Cape Verdeans and metropolitan Portuguese. Consequently, they became a kind of subaltern elite that played the role of intermediaries between Africans and colonial rulers. However, by the late 1950s, this strategy was no longer successful, and they now engaged in the nationalist movement, projecting themselves as Africans, and builders of a Guinean nation. They achieved independence, but did not develop efficient mechanisms in order to fully incorporate the indigenous groups in the new nation. The paper ends by analysing the current predicaments of the Creole elite.

Paper short abstract:

Examining the life histories of some members of the intellectual elite in Kolkata, this paper will discuss how elite status has been performed and maintained across the generations.

Paper long abstract:

Examining the life histories of some members of the intellectual elite in Kolkata, this paper will discuss how elite status has been performed and maintained across the generations. The Bhadralok, the "modern" intellectual elite in Kolkata emerged as a distinct social category in the colonial encounter in the 19th century and have sometimes been described as a "colonial middle class" or "subaltern group". The group has a long tradition of intellectualism, radicalism and political activism, and at present, constitutes the leaders in the leftist government. Dominating the political and cultural sectors but not economic activities, the group occupies a social space between the economic elite and the lower groups. The Bhadralok is internally differentiated, but outwardly put forward a common identity, expressed through the discourse of "intellectualism" and displayed in distinct forms of social institutions, culture, lifestyle, values and norms. The discourse of intellectualism encompasses factors as pedigree, education, radicalism, cultural awareness and a common tradition. In Bourdieu's terms, it constitutes a symbolic capital that legitimates status positions and defines distinctions towards other groups in the hierarchically ordered social universe of Kolkata.

Paper short abstract:

The paper examines issues of legitimacy among the national elite in newly independent Timor Leste. It will discuss, in particular, how renowned resistance leaders defend and maintain their positions in the current national elite.

Paper long abstract:

The current national elite of Timor is largely comprised of former resistance leaders who led the struggle for an independent Timor Leste. Today, these leaders occupy influential positions such as ministers and parliamentarians. Their change of position, however, has been challenged. Based on interviews with national and rural leaders and their electorate during national elections in 2007, the paper will examine issues of this new elite's legitimacy.

The paper will focus on what is popularly regarded as the transformation of leaders from being part of 'The People' to becoming part of 'the big people'. This upward move is problematic in terms of the popular rhetorics of legitimacy, characteristic of the resistance struggle, which celebrated the unity of local leaders and 'the people' and sought to eliminate notions of elite distinction. Current debates invoke these populist notions and criticise the increasing distinction between elites and their electorate.

The 2007 election campaigns provided a unique opportunity to investigate how elites attempted to maintain and legitimise their positions in post-independence Timor. I will examine the ways in which national leaders negotiate the balance between popular demands for 'closeness' between leaders and the people, and the exigencies of being representatives of the state commonly regarded as distant and aloof.

Paper short abstract:

This paper portrays a group of academics cum NGO activists in urban Morocco. It looks at how they acquire and maintain elite status against the backdrop of a changing political landscape.

Paper long abstract:

Examining the life stories of the members of an NGO team in urban Morocco, the paper discusses what motivated them to engage with this type of work, how they position themselves in the political and academic landscape, and how they attempt to maintain or improve their position. Most team members belong to a hereditary elite, but at the same time, by virtue of their high-profile education and professional activities, also form part of an educational elite. The combination of these resources ensures them access to and support by "power elites". The paper explores how the team members explain their professional success and closeness to these higher circles, and why they feel it is important to be associated with them.

Moreover, the paper examines the NGO elites' social strategizing among themselves and towards outsiders, be it their (European) donors, state institutions, or the "beneficiaries" of the NGO's activities. This strategic behaviour has to be understood against the backdrop of a rapidly changing political environment, where it is not only important to be personally acquainted with powerful protagonists, but also to adopt the new rhetoric of neo-liberalism and good goverance.

Paper short abstract:

Based on an examination of life trajectories of both traditional chiefs and local state officials, this paper explores the complex relations between rural traditional elites and the local state. It shows that amidst power struggles, the tacit endorsement of a politics of conviviality guarantees the reproduction of rural elites.

Paper long abstract:

Debates on elites in Mozambique have focussed on post-colonial nationalist and democratic elites and explored elite formation and reproduction based on religious influence, party allegiance and educational background. However, scholars have only recently begun to address the changing practices and discourses of traditional rural elites in the context of recent socio-politic reforms.

Drawing on field research conducted in Inharrime district, Southern Mozambique, this paper puts into historical perspective the complex relations between rural traditional elites and the local state. Based on an examination of life trajectories of both traditional figures of authority and local state officials, it argues that although the ideology in different political contexts may have posited local state officials against sections of rural traditional elites, in practice, local state officials have long learned that power and authority must be locally negotiated and that they need to ally with traditional chiefs and influential elders. Furthermore, the paper shows that amidst power struggles, the tacit endorsement of a politics of conviviality guarantees the reproduction of rural elites.

Paper short abstract:

Examining the deposition of a paramount chief in the Sefwi-Akan area of Ghana, this paper discusses continuities in the ideologies (e.g. the notion of "abundance") and power strategies on which both "traditional" (chiefs) and "modern" elites (politicians, senior civil servants) rely.

Paper long abstract:

Which role traditional authorities (chiefs) should play in a modern nation-state is a much debated and controversial issue in present-day Ghana. While some regard chieftaincy as an institution that constitutes the core of local political culture, others consider it as an obstacle to democracy. Examining the case of the recent deposition of a paramount chief in Sefwi-Wiawso, the paper discusses conflicts and alliances between "traditional" and state elites. and analyses the ways in which authority and elite status are legitimate. At the centre of the ideologies and practices of legitimation of both "traditional" and "modern" elites stands the concept of abundance. Political authority is regarded as a mechanism for redistributing wealth and, at the same time, manufacturing subordination as well as consensus. The power of elites, whether chiefs, politicians or civil servants, rests on their capacity to operate in accordance with ideals of mutuality and "abundance" that inform their relations with non-elite constituencies.

Paper short abstract:

Practices flowing from multiparty politics in Cameroon since 1990 have fed on a state-sponsored ethno-regional political agenda. This agenda has been instrumental for the (re)production of political elites, as a class, albeit along ethnic figurations.

Paper long abstract:

The return to multiparty politics in Cameroon has been characterized by the emergence of powerful ethno-regional political cartels that have developed as platforms aimed at vocalizing the concerns of various local and regional communities. Combining a discourse-historic approach with a political ethnography of multiparty politics in Cameroon, I use the case of the South-West Elite Association (SWELA), one of these ethno-regional political lobbying groups in one of the English-speaking provinces, to explore the intricate relations between multiparty politics, elites and the state, in the ethnically fragmented state of Cameroon.

The paper makes a two-pronged analysis of elite practices relating to multiparty politics in Cameroon. First, I explore the South-West elites' articulations of a narrow and exclusionary agenda and discourses of regional development and greater political inclusion into the state in Cameroon. Secondly, I unravel SWELA's discourses and practices as explicitly aimed at not only securing the political capital of established regional political elites as 'ethno-regional delegates', but also as a medium for the recruitment and renewal of such elite bases, within the strongly ethnically colored 'democratization' process in Cameroon.

These analyses of how multiparty politics in Cameroon produces, recycles and sustains political elites as 'ethnic delegates' of their communities in the state since 1990s, demonstrate the productivity of an anthropology of 'democracy' and discuss the multivalent relations between elites, masses, and the state in multiparty politics in African postcolonies and beyond.