Canvassing conversations: obstinate issues in studies of elites and elite education

Abstract

Studies of elites and elite education have largely not involved rigorous debate, either with regard to the conceptual resources deployed or methodologies adopted. Even the concepts elite and elite schools have not been problematized much. Further, there is a tendency for people to cite, rather than engage or dispute each other. So while the number of published studies increases and the field grows in size, and expands in focus, it is not necessarily growing through spirited dialog and critique. The first part of this paper considers the ways in which the methodological scope in the study of elites and elite education has been restrained and limited through the repetition of particular method..