Power and diversity among civil society leaders: Elites in civil society? Elites of civil society?

EasyChair Preprint no. 1442

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present a framework for how a civil society elite may be identified and investigated. This, we argue, can support an investigation into leadership diversity and the concentration of power within civil society today. The concept of elite has been widely used with the social sciences. Although elite scholars have investigated different elite types (business, political) the scarcity of studies that explore the elites within civil society is striking. One reason may be the normative connotation of ‘elite’ as it signifies superiority and rather than equality: elites can be seen as antithetical to the ideals of civil society. The paper offers an overview of elite theories and identifies perspectives useful for an exploration of diversity and power within civil society. Based on preliminary analyses of public data on civil society organizations and their leaders we are inviting readers to engage in discussions concerning theoretical and methodological approaches that can further our understanding of elites in civil society.  

Keyphrases: civil society, diversity, elite, leaders, power

@Booklet{EasyChair:1442,
  author = {Malin Arvidson and Franziska Böhm},
  title = {Power and diversity among civil society leaders: Elites in civil society? Elites of civil society?},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 1442},

  year = {EasyChair, 2019}}