Elite 的定義

 GCIOSGF Newsletter 會訊：

The elite are the group thought to be the best and having the highest status. In the middle ages, only elite men were taught to read and write.

There are elite schools, elite teams, and elite players, some really the best and some just calling themselves the best. That's a matter of opinion. Elite is used with a singular or plural verb, depending on whether these special people are considered together as a group or as individual members of a group.

Elites are those who have vastly disproportionate access to or control over a social resource. Such resources have transferable value—access or control in one arena of social life can result in advantages in other. This control over or access to transferable social resources provides elites with disproportionate social power and advantages; their decisions and actions influence and affect vast numbers of people. We can categorize elites by the kinds of resources they have access to or control. We might speak of “economic” elites, who have money or control over the economy; “political” elites, who influence or make decisions within the state; “social” elites, whose personal ties provide them with information and access to other resources; “cultural” elites, who influence social tastes, dispositions, and cultural development; and “knowledge” elites, who control or influence social knowledge. These arenas of social power are not exclusive—more-powerful elites have access to more resources . Scholars often focus on the social institutions that serve gatekeeping functions to these resources. These include the family, clubs, and, most importantly, schools. Most studies of elites understand this group relationally. The asymmetric advantages enjoyed by elites are understood relative to the disadvantages of the less powerful. As such, elites are understood less in relation to their particular properties and more in terms of the social structural conditions that allow for the emergence or seizure of particular advantages.