Elite circulation and the convertibility of knowledge: comparing different types and forms of knowledge and degrees of elite circulation in Europe

Abstract

According to classical elite theory, increased circulation is related to increased integration which is thought to increase elites’ power. Based on a comparative analysis of some European countries’ elite education systems, recruitment to elite positions and degrees of circulation – with a specific focus on administrative elites – this article investigates how certain types of knowledge may reinforce elite circulation and integration. The role knowledge plays in facilitating elite circulation is one element, among others, which may be significant in understanding the nature of power held by elites in various societies. 135 interviews with top bureaucrats, students preparing for administrative careers and teachers in the public administration in France, Norway and Britain constitute the empirical basis for this investigation. With an analytical approach focusing on knowledge content and forms of institutionalisation, I examine the competences that legitimise these three countries’ administrative elite positions, and their possibilities for circulating across areas and sectors. The comparative analysis shows how extensive, formalised general knowledge, like the one favoured in France, may facilitate elite circulation more than the more specialised knowledge in Norway and the more informal knowledge favoured in Britain by the training and recruitment systems there.