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NORTHERN EUROPEAN ELITES IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

2005; Routledge; Volume: 30; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1080/03468750500353700

1502-7716

Jouko Nurmiainen,

Central European national history

Abstract The history of elites has gained popularity among researchers during the last few decades. This article explains the historiographical conditions and significance of this phenomenon. The rise of different schools in the history of elites has been made possible by, on the one hand, structuralistic social history, which has taken impressions and theories from neighbouring sciences, and, on the other hand, by the new cultural history, which often uses the concept of ‘elite’ more metaphorically. This article also serves as an introduction to this special issue. The history of elites is here defined as a diverse branch of research, which is interesting partly because of the influential role of the studied individuals in their own time and partly because of their often strong social identity. Notes 1. Examples of politically ambivalent older scholarship on elites can be found from the works of late 19th–early 20th century Italian sociologists Gaetano Mosca and Vilfredo Pareto, who were known as critics of democratic institutions and whose works were in many ways used by the fascists to legitimate their ideas of society. See e.g. V. Pareto, The Rise and Fall of the Elites. An Application of Theoretical Sociology (Totowa, 1968, originally published in Italian 1901); G. Mosca, The Ruling Class (New York, 1939, originally published in Italian 1896); J. H. Meisel, The Myth of the Ruling Class. Gaetano Mosca and the ‘Elite’ (Ann Arbor, 1958); C. Lottieri, ‘Élitisme classique (Mosca et Pareto) et élitisme libertarien: analogies et différences’, Pareto aujourd'hui (Paris, 1999), pp. 199–219. Politically loaded elite‐related concepts can be found also from various other systems of thought: e.g. the idea of the vanguard of the proletariat in Leninist revolutionary theory can be mentioned here; see V. I. Lenin, State and Revolution (New York, 1971, originally in Russian 1918), chapter 2. 2. See I. Wallerstein, The Modern World‐System I. Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World‐Economy in the Sixteenth Century (London, 1974) and The Modern World‐System II. Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World‐Economy, 1600–1750 (London, 1980); T. Hietaniemi, ‘Sivilisaatiohistorian uusi paradigma? Globalisaatio, maailmanjärjestelmät ja Andre Gunder Frank’, Historiallinen Aikakauskirja, vol. 99, 2/2001, pp. 125–130. 3. The historiography concerning the rise and the formation of the working class is huge, and it is possible to mention only a couple of examples of it here. They are from Finland; comparable scholarship could be found also from other Nordic countries and from elsewhere. In any case, two older studies are usually mentioned more often than others: Väinö Voionmaa's Tampereen kaupungin historia II–III (Tampere, 1903–1910) and Heikki Waris' Työläisyhteiskunnan syntyminen Helsingin Pitkänsillan pohjoispuolelle I–II (Helsinki, 1932–34). See e.g. P. Haapala, Tehtaan valossa. Teollistuminen ja työväestön muodostuminen Tampereella 1820–1920 (Helsinki & Tampere, 1986), pp. 16–20; K. Teräs, Arjessa ja liikkeessä. Verkostonäkökulma modernisoituviin työelämän suhteisiin 1880–1920 (Helsinki, 2001), pp. 11–22. Of other types of the working class history, see L. Haataja et al., Suomen työväenliikkeen historia (Helsinki, 1976), and the theme number of the yearbook Työväentutkimus (2002) analyzing the importance of the mentioned book, with contributions by historians like Seppo Hentilä, Jorma Kalela and Pauli Kettunen, and a sociologist Risto Alapuro. 4. On historiography in general in Finland, see e.g. P. Ahtiainen & J. Tervonen, Menneisyyden tutkijat ja metodien vartijat. Matka suomalaiseen historiankirjoitukseen (Helsinki, 1996); in Sweden, see e.g. R. Torstendahl, ‘Thirty‐Five Years of Theories in History. Social Science Theories and Philosophy of History in the Scandinavian Debate’, Scandinavian Journal of History, Vol. 25:1–2, 2000, pp. 1–26; on ‘new histories’, see P. Burke (ed.), New Perspectives on Historical Writing (Cambridge, 1991); F. Dosse, L'histoire en miettes. Des “Annales” à la “nouvelle histoire” (Paris, 1987). 5. P. Bourdieu, La distinction. Critique sociale du jugement (Paris, 1979); P. Bourdieu, ‘The Forms of Capital’, Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, ed. by J. G. Richardson (Westport, 1986), pp. 241–258; J. S. Coleman, ‘Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital’, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 94 (Supplement), 1988, pp. 95–120; M. Granovetter, ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’, American Journal of Sociology 78:6, 1973, pp. 1360–1380; R. D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, 1993); R. Putnam, ‘Bowling Alone. America's Declining Social Capital’, Journal of Democracy 6:1, 1995, pp. 65–78. See also N. Lin, Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure (Port Chester, 2001); K. Ilmonen (ed.), Sosiaalinen pääoma ja luottamus (Jyväskylä, 2000). 6. The scholarly literature on different perspectives of elite and network research is huge, and it is only possible to give some examples on it here, from various fields of study: E. S. Brezis & P. Temin (eds), Elites, Minorities and Economic Growth (Amsterdam, 1999); G. Thompson et al. (eds), Markets, Hierarchies & Networks. The Coordination of Social Life (London, 1991). On various meanings of the concept of network in social sciences, see e.g. J. Aro, ‘Verkosto yhteiskuntatieteellisenä metaforana’, Tiede & edistys, vol. 23:3, 1998, pp. 186–197. On more historically oriented approaches see e.g. H. Gunneriusson (ed.), Sociala nätverk och fält (Uppsala, 2002); P. Karonen, Patruunat ja poliitikot. Yritysjohtajat taloudellisina ja poliittisina toimijoina Suomessa 1600–1920 (Helsinki, 2004); R. Lachmann, Capitalists in Spite of Themselves. Elite Conflict and Economic Transitions in Early Modern Europe (New York, 2000); M. Lappalainen, Suku, valta, suurvalta. Creutzit 1600‐luvun Ruotsissa ja Suomessa (Helsinki, 2005); G. Andersson et al. (eds), Med börd, svärd och pengar. Eliters manifestation, maktutövning och reproduktion 1650–1900 (Uppsala, 2003); and the theme number on ‘elite networks’ with several articles on Historiallinen Aikakauskirja, vol. 100:4, 2002. 7. It is more or less arbitrary to mention here only a couple of scholarly works on ‘new cultural history’ with themes related to the elites – the field of study is so huge that some particular books do not necessarily represent other possible choices or have much in common with each other. Nevertheless, this field contains books like T. C. W. Blanning, The Culture of Power and the Power of Culture. Old Regine Europe 1660–1789 (Oxford, 2002); D. Gordon, Citizens without Sovereignty. Equality and Sociability in French Thought 1670–1789 (Princeton, 1994); M. Marraud, La noblesse de Paris au XVIIIe siècle (Paris, 2000); M. Alm, Kungsord i elfte timmen. Språk och självbild I det gustavianska enväldets legitimitetskamp 1772–1809 (Stockholm, 2002); A. Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter. Women's Lives in Georgian England (New Haven & London, 1998); J. Christensson, Vetenskap i provinsen. Om baronerna Gyllenstierna på Krapperup och amatörernas tidevarv (Stockholm, 1999). 8. See e.g. M. Kuisma, Kahlittu raha, kansallinen kapitalismi. Kansallis‐Osake‐Pankki 1940–1995 (Helsinki, 2004); K. Häggman, Piispankadulta Bulevardille. Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö 1878–1939 (Helsinki, 2001) and Avarammille aloille, väljemmille vesille. Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö 1940–2003 (Helsinki, 2003); this kind of new Finnish corporation histories can also be contrasted to Swedish scholarship on the history of business networks, see e.g. J. Glete, Nätverk i näringslivet. Ägande och industriell omvandling i det mogna industrisamhället 1920–1990 (Stockholm, 1994); N. Stenlås, Den inre kretsen. Den svenska ekonomiska elitens inflytande över partipolitik och opinionsbildning 1940–1949 (Lund, 1998).