Standing in the space between fields

The interstitial power of elites in Italian banking foundations

Bibliographic Data

ID3350035
AuthorsPaola Arrigoni (University of Turin, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume70
Issue6
Pages1284-1301
Publication date2022-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00380261211056183
OpenAlexW3217537726
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited29

In this article, I explore interstitiality - a concept based on Gil Eyal's notion of 'spaces between fields' - as a potential heuristic lens for observing contemporary elites, applying it to high-ranking figures in the Compagnia San Paolo (CSP). CSP is a banking foundation ( Fondazione di origine bancaria or FOB) that was set up in the 1990s arising from the privatization of the Italian banking sector. After outlining the theoretical underpinnings of interstitiality, I bring the construct to bear on my own empirical work. First, I elucidate what FOBs are and why they may represent a valuable interstitial observatory on a significant segment of power elite. Second, I examine CSP as an emblematic instance of an FOB. Third, I illustrate the main characteristics of CSP's elites, suggesting that these groups reflect the features of interstitiality insofar as: they merge logics and grammars of justification from different fields; and, given their high degree of mobility across fields, they contribute to disseminating discursive and governmental practices of hybridization. My aim, as advocated for by Mike Savage and Karel Williams, is to enrich the sociological debate on elites by introducing a new conceptual tool

Construct (python library) · Elite · Epistemology · Merge (version control) · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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