On Wed, 14 Aug 2002, Doug Henwood wrote:
> Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> > I think that the grouping that you are talking about is what C.
> > Wright Mills calls "the power elite."
> I prefer the term ruling class to power elite, but it's a class with
> several subspecialties.
The reason Mills says he decided on the power elite rather than the ruling class was precisely because there are many key members in it, like the Kissengers of this world, who aren't there by virtue of their class position. He agreed with you that class was fundamentally about power -- but argued it ("class") should still be reserved for power that derived from position in the economic structure.
What would you say to that argument?
I think there's a case to be made that rhetorically, "ruling class" is better because it implies unfreedom that should be fixed, whereas "elite" is often considered a good thing that people might admire. But in terms of making theoretical distinctions, Mills might have a point. If we decide to define class in terms of pure power, regardless of basis, we would be making a departure from both Marxist and mainstream tradition.
Which wouldn't necessarily make it wrong, of course.
Michael