The “Scientific Elite” as a Problem and Concept

Bibliographic Data

ID21749385
AuthorsYurij L Katchanov (0000-0001-6836-5549, National Research University Higher School of Economics, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume32
Issue2
Pages59-77
Publication date2026-06-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1562-2495 • E-ISSN: 1684-1581
PublisherFederal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FCTAS RAS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.19181/socjour.2026.32.2.4
OpenAlexW7166308628
LanguageEN
References cited73

The concept of the “scientific elite” as a heuristic principle and a framework for sociological analysis carries the implicit assumption of the inherent superiority of a small number of “outstanding scientists”. This paper introduces the space of science as a multidimensional distribution of agents of knowledge production across relative positions. The space of science is conceptualized as a space of positions and differences, where scientific competition unfolds through symbolic and political struggles for resources and recognition. The fundamental condition for these differences is the uneven distribution of capital, while the stake and goal of the struggle remain its permanent redistribution. The space of science admits various demarcations (e. g., researchers vs administrators, revolutionaries vs conservatives) and oppositions, depending on which resources gain or lose priority. It is an open structure organized around contradictions and hierarchies, chief among which is the opposition between the scientific elite and ordinary scientists. Within this geometric framework the scientific elite is treated not as a group of individuals, but as a positional entity. Consequently, the focus of analysis shifts from the individual scholar to the objective relationships between positions, determined by the distribution of specific resource types. In this approach the scientific elite is understood not as a statistically defined group of “great men”, but as a dominant position that ensures optimal access to resources and the power to define the standards and norms of scientific practice

Distribution (mathematics) · Elite · Heuristics · Opposition (politics) · Position (finance) · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Space (punctuation) · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Higher Education Governance and Development

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