Ross McKibbin
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206729
- eISBN:
- 9780191677298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206729.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
For most of the period 1918–51, there was an English upper class, though it had no clear-cut boundaries. This chapter defines the upper class and examines how its members behaved towards each other ...
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For most of the period 1918–51, there was an English upper class, though it had no clear-cut boundaries. This chapter defines the upper class and examines how its members behaved towards each other and society. In particular, it looks at the role of the monarchy, its relations with the aristocracy, with the broader upper class, and with the English people; at the aristocracy and its political and social status; at the notion of society and its function; and at wealth, who earned it and how, and the extent to which wealth and the upper class were synonymous. It notes that a large part of the upper class had collapsed into the upper middle class due to the relative decline of the significance of landed wealth, and the increasing diversity of wealth.Less
For most of the period 1918–51, there was an English upper class, though it had no clear-cut boundaries. This chapter defines the upper class and examines how its members behaved towards each other and society. In particular, it looks at the role of the monarchy, its relations with the aristocracy, with the broader upper class, and with the English people; at the aristocracy and its political and social status; at the notion of society and its function; and at wealth, who earned it and how, and the extent to which wealth and the upper class were synonymous. It notes that a large part of the upper class had collapsed into the upper middle class due to the relative decline of the significance of landed wealth, and the increasing diversity of wealth.
Robert Eric Frykenberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198263777
- eISBN:
- 9780191714191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263777.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter examines the establishment of modern English education in India. Today, India is second only to the United States as the largest English-speaking and English-reading country in the ...
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This chapter examines the establishment of modern English education in India. Today, India is second only to the United States as the largest English-speaking and English-reading country in the world. Much of the story of how English achieved a status as the only current continent-wide and all-India-wide language lies in its acquisition by mahajan elites who wished to preserve their dominance. In this effort, the work of the Scottish missionaries — Duff, Wilson, and Anderson — contributed to this elite drive for education in English. Thereafter, upper-class missionaries, especially those who ran the elite colleges, did much to bring about the establishment of Indian-English as the paramount language of the entire continent.Less
This chapter examines the establishment of modern English education in India. Today, India is second only to the United States as the largest English-speaking and English-reading country in the world. Much of the story of how English achieved a status as the only current continent-wide and all-India-wide language lies in its acquisition by mahajan elites who wished to preserve their dominance. In this effort, the work of the Scottish missionaries — Duff, Wilson, and Anderson — contributed to this elite drive for education in English. Thereafter, upper-class missionaries, especially those who ran the elite colleges, did much to bring about the establishment of Indian-English as the paramount language of the entire continent.
Bernard Porter
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199299591
- eISBN:
- 9780191700927
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299591.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
It is difficult to generalize about the middle classes in Britain. The term covers a wide range of very different interests, from professional people and great industrialists, through shopkeepers and ...
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It is difficult to generalize about the middle classes in Britain. The term covers a wide range of very different interests, from professional people and great industrialists, through shopkeepers and clerks, to the skilled craftsmen and women who were strictly just out of the middle class's range, but were associated with it through ties of ‘respectability’. Individualism was supposed to be their forte. The upper classes had their public schools to encourage esprit de corps; the working classes their common sense of exploitation. The middles felt less solidarity. They had certain vague aspirations in common, like respectability, and some shared ideals, like ‘freedom’, but nothing that indicated a clear-cut, class-based position on the issues that are the subject of this book.Less
It is difficult to generalize about the middle classes in Britain. The term covers a wide range of very different interests, from professional people and great industrialists, through shopkeepers and clerks, to the skilled craftsmen and women who were strictly just out of the middle class's range, but were associated with it through ties of ‘respectability’. Individualism was supposed to be their forte. The upper classes had their public schools to encourage esprit de corps; the working classes their common sense of exploitation. The middles felt less solidarity. They had certain vague aspirations in common, like respectability, and some shared ideals, like ‘freedom’, but nothing that indicated a clear-cut, class-based position on the issues that are the subject of this book.
Ross McKibbin
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206729
- eISBN:
- 9780191677298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206729.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This book has sought to analyse English society and its civil cultures at a peculiarly heightened and potentially transformative moment in England's history. This chapter brings together several ...
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This book has sought to analyse English society and its civil cultures at a peculiarly heightened and potentially transformative moment in England's history. This chapter brings together several concurrent arguments in the book. At a public level, England remained an almost exclusively single-sex society, where the state and economy were dominated by men. Based on church attendance, England was one of the most secular societies in the world. The history of England in this period was also the history of the English idea of America. In the end, the influence of American culture on England was aesthetic and not political. The First World War seriously disturbed the pattern of English class relations. By the mid-1920s, a social peace was achieved which enthroned the middle class but which did not unseat the upper class, and effectively subordinated the working class.Less
This book has sought to analyse English society and its civil cultures at a peculiarly heightened and potentially transformative moment in England's history. This chapter brings together several concurrent arguments in the book. At a public level, England remained an almost exclusively single-sex society, where the state and economy were dominated by men. Based on church attendance, England was one of the most secular societies in the world. The history of England in this period was also the history of the English idea of America. In the end, the influence of American culture on England was aesthetic and not political. The First World War seriously disturbed the pattern of English class relations. By the mid-1920s, a social peace was achieved which enthroned the middle class but which did not unseat the upper class, and effectively subordinated the working class.
Lois Weis, Kristin Cipollone, and Heather Jenkins
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226134895
- eISBN:
- 9780226135083
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226135083.003.0007
- Subject:
- Education, Secondary Education
Here we take up three interrelated theoretical and empirical points, as follows: 1) Class formation in 21st century U.S., with specific focus on the power and complexities of race/ethnicity/national ...
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Here we take up three interrelated theoretical and empirical points, as follows: 1) Class formation in 21st century U.S., with specific focus on the power and complexities of race/ethnicity/national origin as linked to class, in what will arguably become a “new upper middle class” of the 21st century, one that is specifically linked to intensified struggle over particular kinds of postsecondary destinations; 2) The extent to which women's surge into highly valued postsecondary destinations within this class fraction portends altered roles and responsibilities for men and women of the new upper-middle class; and 3) The ways and extent to which this ties to the workings of the postsecondary sector of the future, particularly as linked to segmented pathways in a sector that itself is riddled by deepening stratification, linked inequalities, and division. We examine these points with specific focus on the extent to which student location at each stage in the structure of educational opportunities limits their possible locations at the next stage (Kerckhoff, 1995; 2001). We pay particular attention to the possible implications of this statement for both class structure, the fracturing of the middle class, and the workings of the postsecondary sector more broadly.Less
Here we take up three interrelated theoretical and empirical points, as follows: 1) Class formation in 21st century U.S., with specific focus on the power and complexities of race/ethnicity/national origin as linked to class, in what will arguably become a “new upper middle class” of the 21st century, one that is specifically linked to intensified struggle over particular kinds of postsecondary destinations; 2) The extent to which women's surge into highly valued postsecondary destinations within this class fraction portends altered roles and responsibilities for men and women of the new upper-middle class; and 3) The ways and extent to which this ties to the workings of the postsecondary sector of the future, particularly as linked to segmented pathways in a sector that itself is riddled by deepening stratification, linked inequalities, and division. We examine these points with specific focus on the extent to which student location at each stage in the structure of educational opportunities limits their possible locations at the next stage (Kerckhoff, 1995; 2001). We pay particular attention to the possible implications of this statement for both class structure, the fracturing of the middle class, and the workings of the postsecondary sector more broadly.
Michael Jursa
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263907
- eISBN:
- 9780191734687
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263907.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter examines the aftermath of the Persian conquest of Babylonia in the sixth century BCE. It explores the relationship of the Iranian rulers and the indigenous Babylonian urban upper class ...
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This chapter examines the aftermath of the Persian conquest of Babylonia in the sixth century BCE. It explores the relationship of the Iranian rulers and the indigenous Babylonian urban upper class and analyses the effects of administrative change introduced by the Achaemenid rulers and their officials, especially in the realm of taxation. It suggests that Cyrus the Great and his administration had achieved continuity by securing the cooperation of the traditional Babylonian elite, specifically by honouring the long-standing claims of these families on important offices both in temple and state administration.Less
This chapter examines the aftermath of the Persian conquest of Babylonia in the sixth century BCE. It explores the relationship of the Iranian rulers and the indigenous Babylonian urban upper class and analyses the effects of administrative change introduced by the Achaemenid rulers and their officials, especially in the realm of taxation. It suggests that Cyrus the Great and his administration had achieved continuity by securing the cooperation of the traditional Babylonian elite, specifically by honouring the long-standing claims of these families on important offices both in temple and state administration.
Roy Hora
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208846
- eISBN:
- 9780191678158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208846.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
After mid-century, the Argentine pampas changed decisively, moving towards a capitalist organization of production based on the expansion of the pastoral economy. The acceleration of capitalist ...
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After mid-century, the Argentine pampas changed decisively, moving towards a capitalist organization of production based on the expansion of the pastoral economy. The acceleration of capitalist development, driven by sheep breeding, made rural management both more demanding and more rewarding. This process created conditions for the emergence of a truly landed identity amongst a group of large landowners who were in the vanguard of farming improvement. For the first time in the history of the Argentine upper classes, signs of differentiation among socio-economic elites became apparent. The most evident sign of this process of differentiation was the formation of the Sociedad Rural Argentina. The gilded existence of Argentina's wealthy estancieros constitutes one of the most enduring images of modern Argentina. Stripped of the progressive ethos that the landowners displayed at the zenith of pastoral Argentina, the allure associated with landownership remains a central element in the self-definition of the upper classes, and to an extent, of the country in general.Less
After mid-century, the Argentine pampas changed decisively, moving towards a capitalist organization of production based on the expansion of the pastoral economy. The acceleration of capitalist development, driven by sheep breeding, made rural management both more demanding and more rewarding. This process created conditions for the emergence of a truly landed identity amongst a group of large landowners who were in the vanguard of farming improvement. For the first time in the history of the Argentine upper classes, signs of differentiation among socio-economic elites became apparent. The most evident sign of this process of differentiation was the formation of the Sociedad Rural Argentina. The gilded existence of Argentina's wealthy estancieros constitutes one of the most enduring images of modern Argentina. Stripped of the progressive ethos that the landowners displayed at the zenith of pastoral Argentina, the allure associated with landownership remains a central element in the self-definition of the upper classes, and to an extent, of the country in general.
Marc Baer
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112501
- eISBN:
- 9780191670787
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112501.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This chapter discusses an analysis of the social composition and actions of the Old Price rioters, or OPs. The discussions in this chapter include an analysis of those who were arrested and the ...
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This chapter discusses an analysis of the social composition and actions of the Old Price rioters, or OPs. The discussions in this chapter include an analysis of those who were arrested and the nature of their activities. Through this analysis, it is possible to connect the lower and upper classes in the audiences and streets of Convent Garden.Less
This chapter discusses an analysis of the social composition and actions of the Old Price rioters, or OPs. The discussions in this chapter include an analysis of those who were arrested and the nature of their activities. Through this analysis, it is possible to connect the lower and upper classes in the audiences and streets of Convent Garden.
Chester G. Starr
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195074581
- eISBN:
- 9780199854363
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195074581.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter shows that aristocrats were politically essential, but they were also harnessed within the polis. The Greek upper classes might dress and otherwise live more elegantly than common folk, ...
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This chapter shows that aristocrats were politically essential, but they were also harnessed within the polis. The Greek upper classes might dress and otherwise live more elegantly than common folk, but they had neither inherited titles nor positions guaranteed to them by rank. As Aristotle observed repeatedly in his great work, the Politics, the objective of the polis was to secure justice for its citizens, and consequently equality was a basic necessity. Aristotle's advice that in democracies the rich should not be exploited ruthlessly whereas in oligarchies the well-to-do should not abuse their power was not always observed in practice, but the basic thrust of the theory of the polis always had its influence as a check and force for balance. On the surface, however, Greek history was the product, save to some degree at Athens, of the upper classes.Less
This chapter shows that aristocrats were politically essential, but they were also harnessed within the polis. The Greek upper classes might dress and otherwise live more elegantly than common folk, but they had neither inherited titles nor positions guaranteed to them by rank. As Aristotle observed repeatedly in his great work, the Politics, the objective of the polis was to secure justice for its citizens, and consequently equality was a basic necessity. Aristotle's advice that in democracies the rich should not be exploited ruthlessly whereas in oligarchies the well-to-do should not abuse their power was not always observed in practice, but the basic thrust of the theory of the polis always had its influence as a check and force for balance. On the surface, however, Greek history was the product, save to some degree at Athens, of the upper classes.
Clifton Hood
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780231172165
- eISBN:
- 9780231542951
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231172165.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
The cultural transformations of the 1960s and 1970s created problems and opportunities for elites. In these decades the upper- and middle classes went from being seen as the wellspring of social ...
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The cultural transformations of the 1960s and 1970s created problems and opportunities for elites. In these decades the upper- and middle classes went from being seen as the wellspring of social virtue in Victorian culture to being perceived as repressed, stuffy, and out of touch; after all, they were the prime beneficiaries of a status quo that was now found wanting. From lording it over commoners in the eighteenth century, to loathing the dangerous classes in the nineteenth century, many elite New Yorkers came around to romanticizing African-Americans and other lower-class groups as exemplars of human spirit and social justice. These actions were in many cases genuine, yet in espousing civil rights causes and tackling discrimination and poverty, in exposing the falseness and superficiality of genteel society, upper-class New Yorkers also established their own heightened sensitivity as anti-elitists and their own legitimacy. Corporate elites thus championed achievement and diversity as the foundation of a more democratic, anti-elitist elite.Less
The cultural transformations of the 1960s and 1970s created problems and opportunities for elites. In these decades the upper- and middle classes went from being seen as the wellspring of social virtue in Victorian culture to being perceived as repressed, stuffy, and out of touch; after all, they were the prime beneficiaries of a status quo that was now found wanting. From lording it over commoners in the eighteenth century, to loathing the dangerous classes in the nineteenth century, many elite New Yorkers came around to romanticizing African-Americans and other lower-class groups as exemplars of human spirit and social justice. These actions were in many cases genuine, yet in espousing civil rights causes and tackling discrimination and poverty, in exposing the falseness and superficiality of genteel society, upper-class New Yorkers also established their own heightened sensitivity as anti-elitists and their own legitimacy. Corporate elites thus championed achievement and diversity as the foundation of a more democratic, anti-elitist elite.
Elizabeth M. Smith-Pryor
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807832684
- eISBN:
- 9781469605906
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807894170_smith-pryor.9
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines the familial objections to the marriages of Leonard and that of his uncle William, who also married an Irish immigrant maid more than forty years earlier. These familial ...
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This chapter examines the familial objections to the marriages of Leonard and that of his uncle William, who also married an Irish immigrant maid more than forty years earlier. These familial responses provide an understanding of the ways in which ideas about gender, race, and marriage played a critical role in the forging of a white upper class in New York. Consequently, analyzing the way New York's upper class dealt with a misalliance, a seemingly minor challenge to their power, may help us better understand how the white upper class wielded their influence and worked to defend their citadels from attack.Less
This chapter examines the familial objections to the marriages of Leonard and that of his uncle William, who also married an Irish immigrant maid more than forty years earlier. These familial responses provide an understanding of the ways in which ideas about gender, race, and marriage played a critical role in the forging of a white upper class in New York. Consequently, analyzing the way New York's upper class dealt with a misalliance, a seemingly minor challenge to their power, may help us better understand how the white upper class wielded their influence and worked to defend their citadels from attack.
THOMAS P. POWER
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203162
- eISBN:
- 9780191675768
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203162.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter focuses on the impact political developments in the 1790s had on Tipperary. The 1790s was a decade of crisis in Irish society. Changes in legislation and in the political order occurred ...
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This chapter focuses on the impact political developments in the 1790s had on Tipperary. The 1790s was a decade of crisis in Irish society. Changes in legislation and in the political order occurred rapidly; traditional alignments and loyalties between classes and individuals and within the upper class became less assured; and the growth of radicalism, deriving its intellectual basis from French revolutionary ideas, found its ultimate expression in the 1798 rebellion. Contemporaneous with these developments was the challenge presented by Catholics for admission to the political nation. Why the divisive nature of these developments nationally was not duplicated locally can only be understood first, in the light of the events of the 1760s and their aftermath, and secondly, of the political developments of the late 1770s and 1780s.Less
This chapter focuses on the impact political developments in the 1790s had on Tipperary. The 1790s was a decade of crisis in Irish society. Changes in legislation and in the political order occurred rapidly; traditional alignments and loyalties between classes and individuals and within the upper class became less assured; and the growth of radicalism, deriving its intellectual basis from French revolutionary ideas, found its ultimate expression in the 1798 rebellion. Contemporaneous with these developments was the challenge presented by Catholics for admission to the political nation. Why the divisive nature of these developments nationally was not duplicated locally can only be understood first, in the light of the events of the 1760s and their aftermath, and secondly, of the political developments of the late 1770s and 1780s.
Nicholas Carnes
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691182001
- eISBN:
- 9780691184203
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691182001.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter discusses the growing body of research on the oversized political influence of the upper class in American politics and the somewhat checkered recent history of conventional political ...
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This chapter discusses the growing body of research on the oversized political influence of the upper class in American politics and the somewhat checkered recent history of conventional political equality reforms like campaign finance laws, lobbying regulations, and programs to increase voter turnout. Whereas these kinds of programs have encountered numerous practical and political roadblocks, pilot efforts to recruit and support working-class candidates have been remarkably successful. Activists who want to give the less fortunate more of a say in American politics have always had a curious blind spot when it comes to helping the less fortunate hold office. It may be time for that to change. If reformers want to continue moving the needle on the problem of political inequality, one of their best bets may be to start paying attention to America's cash ceiling.Less
This chapter discusses the growing body of research on the oversized political influence of the upper class in American politics and the somewhat checkered recent history of conventional political equality reforms like campaign finance laws, lobbying regulations, and programs to increase voter turnout. Whereas these kinds of programs have encountered numerous practical and political roadblocks, pilot efforts to recruit and support working-class candidates have been remarkably successful. Activists who want to give the less fortunate more of a say in American politics have always had a curious blind spot when it comes to helping the less fortunate hold office. It may be time for that to change. If reformers want to continue moving the needle on the problem of political inequality, one of their best bets may be to start paying attention to America's cash ceiling.
Chester G. Starr
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195074581
- eISBN:
- 9780199854363
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195074581.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The economic strength of the Greek upper classes rested on one simple fact: they controlled the land. All across ancient history, the well-to-do were masters in their states or cities and were more ...
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The economic strength of the Greek upper classes rested on one simple fact: they controlled the land. All across ancient history, the well-to-do were masters in their states or cities and were more likely to derive their wealth from the ownership of land than from active participation in manufacture or even commerce. This emphasis on rural property remained true well into the nineteenth century after Christ. Not until the closing decades of that century and still more in our own age have economists come to judge that industrial, commercial, and financial sectors are the most important into which to deploy capital and to seek profits from.Less
The economic strength of the Greek upper classes rested on one simple fact: they controlled the land. All across ancient history, the well-to-do were masters in their states or cities and were more likely to derive their wealth from the ownership of land than from active participation in manufacture or even commerce. This emphasis on rural property remained true well into the nineteenth century after Christ. Not until the closing decades of that century and still more in our own age have economists come to judge that industrial, commercial, and financial sectors are the most important into which to deploy capital and to seek profits from.
Clifton Hood
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780231172165
- eISBN:
- 9780231542951
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231172165.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
A history that extends from the 1750s to the present, In Pursuit of Privilege recounts upper-class New Yorkers’ struggle to create a distinct world guarded against outsiders, even as economic growth ...
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A history that extends from the 1750s to the present, In Pursuit of Privilege recounts upper-class New Yorkers’ struggle to create a distinct world guarded against outsiders, even as economic growth and democratic opportunity enabled aspirants to gain entrance. Despite their efforts, New York City’s upper class has been drawn into the larger story of the city both through class conflict and through their role in building New York’s cultural and economic foundations. In Pursuit of Privilege describes the famous and infamous characters and events at the center of this extraordinary history, from the elite families and wealthy tycoons of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the Wall Street executives of today. From the start, upper-class New Yorkers have been open and aggressive in their behavior, keen on attaining prestige, power, and wealth. Clifton Hood sharpens this characterization by merging a history of the New York economy in the eighteenth century with the story of Wall Street’s emergence as an international financial center in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as the dominance of New York’s financial and service sectors in the 1980s. Bringing together several decades of upheaval and change, he shows that New York’s upper class did not rise exclusively from the Gilded Age but rather from a relentless pursuit of privilege, affecting not just the urban elite but the city’s entire cultural, economic, and political fabric.Less
A history that extends from the 1750s to the present, In Pursuit of Privilege recounts upper-class New Yorkers’ struggle to create a distinct world guarded against outsiders, even as economic growth and democratic opportunity enabled aspirants to gain entrance. Despite their efforts, New York City’s upper class has been drawn into the larger story of the city both through class conflict and through their role in building New York’s cultural and economic foundations. In Pursuit of Privilege describes the famous and infamous characters and events at the center of this extraordinary history, from the elite families and wealthy tycoons of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the Wall Street executives of today. From the start, upper-class New Yorkers have been open and aggressive in their behavior, keen on attaining prestige, power, and wealth. Clifton Hood sharpens this characterization by merging a history of the New York economy in the eighteenth century with the story of Wall Street’s emergence as an international financial center in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as the dominance of New York’s financial and service sectors in the 1980s. Bringing together several decades of upheaval and change, he shows that New York’s upper class did not rise exclusively from the Gilded Age but rather from a relentless pursuit of privilege, affecting not just the urban elite but the city’s entire cultural, economic, and political fabric.
David Christian
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198222866
- eISBN:
- 9780191678516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198222866.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
When Nicholas I died in February 1835, he left a world that still belonged to Nikolai Gogol. Much in this world still smacked of Muscovy, not least its taverns, its distilleries, and its vodka ...
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When Nicholas I died in February 1835, he left a world that still belonged to Nikolai Gogol. Much in this world still smacked of Muscovy, not least its taverns, its distilleries, and its vodka merchants. A decade later that world was dead, brought down by ten years of glasnost' and reform. Serfdom had gone, so had the Nicholaevan censorship, the old legal system, and the traditional structures of local government. The tax farms also disappeared. This overhaul of Russia's social and legal structure was the achievement of the decade of perestroika known as the period of the ‘Great Reforms’. This chapter examines the Russian liquor trade and the upper class opposition to tax farming.Less
When Nicholas I died in February 1835, he left a world that still belonged to Nikolai Gogol. Much in this world still smacked of Muscovy, not least its taverns, its distilleries, and its vodka merchants. A decade later that world was dead, brought down by ten years of glasnost' and reform. Serfdom had gone, so had the Nicholaevan censorship, the old legal system, and the traditional structures of local government. The tax farms also disappeared. This overhaul of Russia's social and legal structure was the achievement of the decade of perestroika known as the period of the ‘Great Reforms’. This chapter examines the Russian liquor trade and the upper class opposition to tax farming.
Brian Harrison
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199605132
- eISBN:
- 9780191804618
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199605132.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter discusses changes in the British social structure from the 1950s to the 1970s, covering the monarchy, upper classes, middle classes, and working class. It also describes a new and ...
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This chapter discusses changes in the British social structure from the 1950s to the 1970s, covering the monarchy, upper classes, middle classes, and working class. It also describes a new and cross-cutting alignment: ethnic loyalty. The chapter considers the complexity and subtlety of class alignments and attitudes in these decades, and to these the sociologists were increasingly alerting a wider public, for between the 1940s and the 1970s the UK recovered the sociological awareness that Edwardian Britain had gained from Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree.Less
This chapter discusses changes in the British social structure from the 1950s to the 1970s, covering the monarchy, upper classes, middle classes, and working class. It also describes a new and cross-cutting alignment: ethnic loyalty. The chapter considers the complexity and subtlety of class alignments and attitudes in these decades, and to these the sociologists were increasingly alerting a wider public, for between the 1940s and the 1970s the UK recovered the sociological awareness that Edwardian Britain had gained from Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree.
Jessi Streib
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- April 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190854041
- eISBN:
- 9780190854089
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190854041.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
Downward mobility is common, but we know little about who falls from the upper-middle class, how, and why they don’t see it coming. This chapter provides an overview of how intergenerational downward ...
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Downward mobility is common, but we know little about who falls from the upper-middle class, how, and why they don’t see it coming. This chapter provides an overview of how intergenerational downward mobility occurs. It shows that both resources and identities are associated with downward mobility from the upper-middle class. Individuals who inherit relatively high levels of academic knowledge, institutional insights, and money tend to develop an identity that leads them to maintain high levels of these resources. They use these resources to reproduce their class position. Individuals who inherit relatively low levels of academic knowledge, institutional insights, or money tend to develop an identity that encourages them to maintain their resource weaknesses. Without the resources that schools, colleges, and professional workplaces reward, they tend to enter downwardly mobile trajectories. They do not necessarily anticipate their impending downward mobility as they observe times when they or their parents moved toward class reproduction while not having high levels of these resources.Less
Downward mobility is common, but we know little about who falls from the upper-middle class, how, and why they don’t see it coming. This chapter provides an overview of how intergenerational downward mobility occurs. It shows that both resources and identities are associated with downward mobility from the upper-middle class. Individuals who inherit relatively high levels of academic knowledge, institutional insights, and money tend to develop an identity that leads them to maintain high levels of these resources. They use these resources to reproduce their class position. Individuals who inherit relatively low levels of academic knowledge, institutional insights, or money tend to develop an identity that encourages them to maintain their resource weaknesses. Without the resources that schools, colleges, and professional workplaces reward, they tend to enter downwardly mobile trajectories. They do not necessarily anticipate their impending downward mobility as they observe times when they or their parents moved toward class reproduction while not having high levels of these resources.
Leslie Dossey
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520254398
- eISBN:
- 9780520947771
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520254398.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, African History: BCE to 500CE
This history foregrounds the most marginal sector of the Roman population—the provincial peasantry—to paint a picture of peasant society. Making use of detailed archaeological and textual evidence, ...
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This history foregrounds the most marginal sector of the Roman population—the provincial peasantry—to paint a picture of peasant society. Making use of detailed archaeological and textual evidence, the book examines the peasantry in relation to the upper classes in Christian North Africa, tracing that region's social and cultural history from Punic times to the eve of the Islamic conquest. The author demonstrates that during the period when Christianity was spreading to both city and countryside in North Africa, a convergence of economic interests narrowed the gap between the rustici and the urbani, creating a consumer revolution of sorts among the peasants. The book's postcolonial perspective points to the empowerment of North African peasants and gives voice to lower social classes across the Roman world.Less
This history foregrounds the most marginal sector of the Roman population—the provincial peasantry—to paint a picture of peasant society. Making use of detailed archaeological and textual evidence, the book examines the peasantry in relation to the upper classes in Christian North Africa, tracing that region's social and cultural history from Punic times to the eve of the Islamic conquest. The author demonstrates that during the period when Christianity was spreading to both city and countryside in North Africa, a convergence of economic interests narrowed the gap between the rustici and the urbani, creating a consumer revolution of sorts among the peasants. The book's postcolonial perspective points to the empowerment of North African peasants and gives voice to lower social classes across the Roman world.
Lucie Ryzova
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774249006
- eISBN:
- 9781617971006
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774249006.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter begins with the investigation of the 1930s–40s new effendiya phenomenon, often portrayed as a newly urbanized and educated middle class, with more traditional approaches to religion and ...
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This chapter begins with the investigation of the 1930s–40s new effendiya phenomenon, often portrayed as a newly urbanized and educated middle class, with more traditional approaches to religion and cultural identity. Shedding empirical light on this rising group, this chapter demonstrates that while not an economic middle class, the new effendiya comprised an emerging public of educated young men from modest backgrounds, who viewed modernity through a Muslim and Arab lens. Just as important, however, they saw themselves as distinct from both the traditionalists and the westernized upper classes. In defining themselves in this way, they promoted new understandings of Egypt as a national community. Highlighting a specifically Egyptian modernity “from below,” this chapter puts into sharp relief the social foundations of post-revolutionary Egypt. It thus engages in a fruitful critical dialogue with other emergent literature of the past decade.Less
This chapter begins with the investigation of the 1930s–40s new effendiya phenomenon, often portrayed as a newly urbanized and educated middle class, with more traditional approaches to religion and cultural identity. Shedding empirical light on this rising group, this chapter demonstrates that while not an economic middle class, the new effendiya comprised an emerging public of educated young men from modest backgrounds, who viewed modernity through a Muslim and Arab lens. Just as important, however, they saw themselves as distinct from both the traditionalists and the westernized upper classes. In defining themselves in this way, they promoted new understandings of Egypt as a national community. Highlighting a specifically Egyptian modernity “from below,” this chapter puts into sharp relief the social foundations of post-revolutionary Egypt. It thus engages in a fruitful critical dialogue with other emergent literature of the past decade.
