Disclosing Elite Ecologies: Methodologies For "Doing" Urban Elite Research

Disclosing elite ecologies: Methodologies for Doing Urban Elite Research offers a set of methodologies to chart urban elites, focusing on their multidimensional urban geographies of reproduction and transformation. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach, discussing theoretical and methodological antecedents in urban studies and related areas, and rejects a-priori definitions of the size and shape of this social group. The contributions to the volume show that urban elite research benefits from paying attention to boundary work, intra-elite competition, national state spaces, and the urban sense of belonging of economic elites. The book provides empirical inroads into the study of urban elites drawing on research set in various cities, and aims to open up the opportunity for methodological cross-fertilization.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Disclosing elite ecologies: Methodologies for Doing Urban Elite Research offers a comprehensive set of methodologies to explore urban elites, particularly focusing on the multidimensional urban geographies of elite reproduction and transformation. While much research has centered on the global super-rich, this book delves into the intricate urban landscapes where elites accumulate capital, consume goods and services, and engage in leisure activities, as well as secure housing.

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the contributing authors discuss various theoretical and methodological antecedents in urban studies and related fields that have examined economic elites. Building upon these foundations, the book challenges a-priori definitions of the size and shape of this social group and instead advocates for relational and place-specific conceptualizations of elite composition and behavior.

In particular, the contributions to this volume highlight the importance of paying attention to boundary work between elites and non-elites, intra-elite competition and distinction, national state spaces in determining elite composition, and the urban sense of belonging among economic elites.

This extensive volume provides readers with a rich tapestry of empirical insights into the study of urban elites, drawing from research conducted in diverse cities such as Brussels, Fez, London, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, New York City, Paris, and Porto Alegre. Drawing inspiration from urban and economic geography, elite theory, urban sociology, cultural sociology, political economy, anthropology, criminology, architecture, and migration studies, this book seeks to foster methodological cross-fertilization.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Urban Geography, further expanding the reach and impact of this important work.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367696764