Dominant corporate agents and the power elite in France and Britain

Mairi Maclean, Charles Harvey, Robert Chia

OAI: oai:purehost.bath.ac.uk:openaire_cris_publications/31bb743c-198c-4b0e-9662-a925a8e52526 • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840609357377

Corporate elites are not a new phenomenon. However, the ways in which significant agents gain ascendancy to positions of power vary across nations and cultures. This paper analyses the ascension of a small minority of corporate agents to positions of dominance and the subsequent accession of a select few to the power elite. Our theoretical position builds upon the writings of Pierre Bourdieu on power and domination. These constructs are elaborated and made tangible through a cross-national comparative study of dominant corporate agents in France and Britain. Our results demonstrate the extent to which power remains concentrated in the French and British corporate sectors; highlighting equally pronounced similarities and differences between the two countries. It is suggested that power elites function through governance networks to promote institutional and organizational goals.

Ascension and accession Bourdieu Dominant corporate agent elites power