Elitism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elitism is the belief or attitude that the people who are considered to be the elite — a selected group of persons with outstanding personal abilities, wealth, specialised training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are the people whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously, or that these are persons whose views should be regarded as carrying the most weight, or, more simply, these people are best fit to govern or whose views and/or actions are mostly likely to be constructive. Alternatively, the term elitism could be used to describe a situation in which power is in fact concentrated in the hands of an elite, whether rightly or not.

Elitism is often used pejoratively to describe a general mindset of arrogance or disregard for the general non-elite public (Meritocracy, a special kind of elitism, usually does not carry this connotation).

For the converse of "elitism" see "anti-elitism", "populism", and the political theory of Pluralism.

1 Characteristics of the "elite"
2 Anti-elitism
3 Elitism and education
4 See also

[edit] Characteristics of the "elite"

Attributes that identify an elite vary; personal achievement may not be essential. Elite attributes include:

Large personal wealth, (often assessed as the reward of elite qualities by those who are impressed by it), which is insufficient on its own, as every nouveau riche can attest.

The term elitism is also used to refer to situations where a group of people who claim to possess high abilities or simply an in-group or cadre conspire to give themselves extra privileges at the expense of all other people. This form of elitism may be described as discrimination.

Less commonly, elitism may also refer to situations where an elite is given both special privileges and special responsibilities, in the hope that this arrangement will benefit all people.

At times elitism is closely related to social class and what sociologists call social stratification. People within a higher social class are usually known as the "social elite".

[edit] Anti-elitism

Main articles: Anti-elitism, Populism, and Pluralism

[edit] Elitism as a pejorative term

The term "elitism" or the title "elitist" can be used resentfully by a person who is not a member of an elite, or is a member but resents the elite position or uses it in a condescending or cynical manner in order to ridicule or criticize practices which discriminate on the basis of ability or attributes. Often, accusing someone of being an "elitist" is used as a pejorative remark meant to imply that the person in question does not in fact belong to an elite, but is merely a hanger-on.

[edit] Elitism vs. Egalitarianism

Elitism can be interpreted as encouraging the exclusion of large numbers of people from positions of privilege or power. Thus, many populists seek the social equality of Egalitarianism, Populism, Socialism, or Communism. They may also support affirmative action, social security, luxury taxes, and increasingly high progressive taxes for the wealthiest members of society. All of these measures seek to reduce the gap of power between the elite and those who are not elite.

[edit] Elitism vs. Pluralism

Pluralism is the belief that public policy decisions should be (or, descriptively, are) the result of the struggle of forces exerted by large populations (workers, consumers, retirees, parents, etc.) directly or indirectly in the policy-making process. This is contrasted with elitism which is the belief that decisions should be (or are) being made essentially according to the interests or ideas of elites.

[edit] Elitism and education

Main article: Academic elitism

Elitism in the context of education is the practice of concentrating attention on or allocating funding to the students who rank highest in a particular field of endeavour, the other students being deemed less worthy of attention.

Elitism in education could be based upon learning ability, knowledge, or other abilities.