“Generations of elites” vs “elite of generations”: communicative dimensions of political elite’s socialization
Research Article
How to Cite
Zavershinskiy K.F. “Generations of elites” vs “elite of generations”: communicative dimensions of political elite’s socialization. Vlast i Elity (Power and Elites). 2021. Vol. 8. No. 1. P. 123–147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/pe.2021.8.1.5 (in Russ.).
Abstract
This paper examines the specifics and role of political socialization in the generational continuity and institutionalization of political elites influenced by contemporary political communication. The diversification of symbolic production, the increasing number of political communication actors, the growing variability of political ideologies, and ways of representing politics foreground the theoretical modeling of political socialization as a specific political communication depending on the spatiotemporal design of political events in particular national communities. According to the author, these dynamic enables considering differences in perceiving the significance of certain political events by generations and the peculiarities of the political elites’ positioning. Against this background, the formation of political elites is not reduced to the changing “generations of elites,” recruiting them or adapting new generations to existing valuenormative regimes through the socialization executed by the dominant elite groups. The constitution of political elites appears as a communicative, symbolic structuring of the generational political expectations and, on this basis, the emergence of political generations and the “political elite of generations.” A decisive role in studying the political socialization of generations and the resulting constitution of political elites is played by the analysis of the dynamics of national memory’s symbolic structures, including various competing symbolic representations of the past and the future, the typology of the heroic, ideas of guilt and responsibility. The author emphasizes the importance of investigating the effectiveness of symbolic structures of political memory and the role of political narrative in examining the policy of intergenerational succession and, on this basis, the emergence of political generations and political elites. Utilizing the theoretical and practical explications of cultural sociology as a methodological basis, the author proposes new theoretical approaches to studying the political socialization of generations in contemporary society.
Keywords:
political socialization, political expectations, political generations, political elites, political memory, symbolic structures, political narratives
References
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2. Zavershinskij K.F. «Patriotizm elit» kak diskursivnoe izmerenie simvolicheskih struktur nacional’noj pamyati [“Patriotism of the Elites” as a Discursive Measurement of the Symbolic Structures of National Memory]. Vlast’ i elity [Power and elites]. 2020, 7 (2), pp. 77–96. (In Russian)
3. Luhmann N. Vlast’. [Power]. Moscow: Praksis, 2001, 256 p. (In Russian)
4. Luhmann N. Mediakommunikacii (Obshchestvo obshchestva. CH. II) [Media Communications (Society of Society. Part II)]. Moscow: Logos, 2005, 280 p. (In Russian)
5. Filippov A. F. Mobil’nost’ i solidarnost’. Stat’ya pervaya [Mobility and solidarity. Article One]. In: Sociologia: nablyudeniya, opyty, perspektivy [Sociologia: Observations, Experiments, Prospects]. Vol. 2. St. Petersburg: Vladimir Dal’, 2015, pp. 207– 230. (In Russian)
6. Alexander J. C. The Civil Sphere. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 816 p.
7. Alexander J.C. The performance of politics: Obama’s victory and the democratic struggle for power. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. xiv, 364 p.
8. Alexander J.C. Trauma: A Social Theory. Malden: Polity Press, 2012. 232 p.
9. Bude H. Society of Fear. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2018. 147 p.
10. Dean J. Critique or Collectivity? Communicative Capitalism and the Subject of Politics // Digital objects, digital subjects: interdisciplinary perspectives on capitalism, labour and politics in the age of Big Data / ed. by D. Chandler, Ch. Fuchs. London: University of Westminster Press, 2019. 242 p.
11. Easton D., Dennis J. Children in the Political System. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969. 638 p.
12. Fuksas V. K., Gökay B. The Disintegration of Euro-Atlanticism and New Authoritarianism. Global Power-Shift. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2019. 211 p.
13. Giesen B. Noncontemporaneity, Asynchronicity and Divided Memories // Time & Society. 2004. Vol. 13, № 1. P. 27–40.
14. Gill G.J. Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 364 p.
15. Howe N., Strauss W. The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy — What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny. New York: Broadway Books, 1997. 400 p.
16. Krastev I. The Fear of Shrinking Numbers // Journal of Democracy. 2020. Vol. 31, № 1. P. 66–74.
17. Krastev I. The Crisis: Solidarity, Elites, Memory, Europe // Solidarity and the Crisis of Trust / ed. by Jacek Koltan. Gdańsk: European Solidarity Centre, 2016. P. 51–62.
18. Leonard M. The Sociology of Children, Childhood and Generation. London: Sage Publications Ltd, 2016. 184 p.
19. Luhmann N. Theory of Society. Vol. 1. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2012. 488 p.
20. Luhmann N. Introduction to Systems Theory. Cambridge; Malden: Polity Press, 2013. 284 p.
21. Mannheim K. The Problem of Generations // Mannheim K. Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul; New York: Oxford University Press, 1952. Р.276–320.
22. Olick J. K. The Sins of the Fathers: Germany, Memory, Method. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press. 2016. x+517 p.
23. Patterson M., Monroe K.R. Narrative in Political Science // Annual Review of Political Science. 1998. Vol. 1. P. 315–331.
24. Pickard S. Politics, Protest and Young People. Political Participation and Dissent in Britain in the 21st Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 508 р.
25. Robles-Morales J., CórdobaHernández A. M. Digital Political Participation, Social Networks and Big Data: Disintermediation in the Era of Web 2.0. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. xi+151 p.
26. Sears D. O., Levy S. Childhood and adult political development // Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology / eds. D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. P. 59–95.
27. Smith P. Why War? The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War, and Suez. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2005. x+254 p.
28. Social Movements, Digital Practices and Surveillance / ed. by L. Melgaço, J. Monaghan. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. x+176 p.
29. Stiegler B. Symbolic Misery Volume 1: The Hyperindustrial Epoch / transl. by B. Norman. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2014. viii+118 p.
30. Stiegler B. The Age of Disruption Technology and Madness in Computational Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2019. viii+418 p.
31. Young People Re-Generating Politics in Times of Crises / Ed. by S. Pickard, J. Bessant. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. 2018. xvi+410 p.
32. Žižek S. Pandemic! COVID-19: Shakes the World. New York; London: OR Books, 2020. 146 p.
Article
Received: 20.04.2021
Accepted: 02.08.2021
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
ACM
[1]
Zavershinskiy, K.F. 2021. “Generations of elites” vs “elite of generations”: communicative dimensions of political elite’s socialization. Vlast i Elity (Power and Elites). 8, 1 (Aug. 2021), 123–147. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31119/pe.2021.8.1.5.
Section
Generations in Power and Politics
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