天生統治者 英國精英的形成與重塑
亞倫·里夫斯，山姆·弗里德曼
ISBN 9780674257719
出版日期：2024年10月9日
申請電子版樣書
《經濟學人》2024年度最佳圖書
《泰晤士報》2024年度最佳思想類圖書
本書以獨特的數據，深入分析了從維多利亞時代至今的英國精英階層：誰能躋身精英之列，他們如何獲得權力，他們的喜好和外貌，他們就讀於哪所學校，以及他們所支持的政治理念。
提到英國精英，人們往往會想到一些熟悉的刻板印象。但如今的權力掮客們真的是一群保守的裙帶關係者嗎？他們是否生來就享有特權，並在伊頓公學和牛津大學接受過選拔？或者，是否正在湧現一批擁有不同價值觀和政治理念的新興進步精英？
亞倫·里夫斯和薩姆·弗里德曼梳理了大量數據，試圖找到答案。他們仔細研究了從19世紀90年代末至今超過12.5萬名英國精英人士的個人資料、興趣和職業生涯。這項嚴謹研究的核心是《名人錄》的歷史資料庫，但里夫斯和弗里德曼也挖掘了族譜記錄，查閱了遺囑認證數據，並採訪了來自各行各業、背景廣泛的200多位領軍人物，以揭示誰在掌控英國，他們的思維方式以及他們的訴求。
他們的發現是，高層的流動性遠低於我們的想像。誠然，在吸收女性、黑人和亞裔英國人方面取得了一些進展，但如今出生於收入最高的1%人群進入精英階層的可能性與125年前並無二致。真正改變的是精英階層展現自我的方式。現今的精英階層竭力向我們證明他們與一般人並無二致。
我們為何要關注此事？因為我們所處的精英階層會影響我們所處的政治環境。學者們長期以來一直認為，一個人的出身和就讀的學校會對權力的行使產生影響，但相關的實證研究卻一直匱乏——直到現在。
Tiānshēng tǒngzhì zhě
Born to Rule
The Making and Remaking of the British Elite
ISBN 9780674257719
Publication date: 09/10/2024
The Economist, Best Books of 2024
The Times, Best Ideas Books of 2024
A uniquely data-rich analysis of the British elite from the Victorian era to today: who gets in, how they get there, what they like and look like, where they go to school, and what politics they perpetuate.
Think of the British elite and familiar caricatures spring to mind. But are today’s power brokers a conservative chumocracy, born to privilege and anointed at Eton and Oxford? Or is a new progressive elite emerging with different values and political instincts?
Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman combed through a trove of data in search of an answer, scrutinizing the profiles, interests, and careers of over 125,000 members of the British elite from the late 1890s to today. At the heart of this meticulously researched study is the historical database of Who’s Who, but Reeves and Friedman also mined genealogical records, examined probate data, and interviewed over 200 leading figures from a wide range of backgrounds and professions to uncover who runs Britain, how they think, and what they want.
What they found is that there is less movement at the top than we think. Yes, there has been some progress on including women and Black and Asian Brits, but those born into the top 1 percent are just as likely to get into the elite today as they were 125 years ago. What has changed is how elites present themselves. Today’s elite pedal hard to convince us they are perfectly ordinary.
Why should we care? Because the elites we have affect the politics we get. While scholars have long proposed that the family you are born into, and the schools you attend, leave a mark on the exercise of power, the empirical evidence has been thin—until now.
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