초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This paper reviews recent works on the history of elite in the United States, in particular the books published by Richard L. Bushman, Sven Beckert, Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle, and Terry Bouton. These new works do not rely on the biographical approach that historians interested in elite mostly preferred until the mid-20th century. Focused on the rise of bourgeoisie in the U.S., the works instead treat elite as a self-conscious category that helps change American society. Yet they do not investigate the power structure, one of those hierarchies that differentiate elite from common people; their authors, all experts in the field of social history, tend to leave out politics in their picture of American bourgeoisie. Bushman, Beckert and other historians thus do not help to understand how political elite diverged from the bourgeoisie in mid-19th century America and why, issues of crucial significance since C. Wright Mills coined the term “power elite” and called attention to the interrelationship among politicians, businessmen and generals in the higher circle.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
U.S.A., elite, bourgeoisie, class, ruling class, power structure
