Multi-sited understandings: complicating the role of elite schools in transnational class formation

Abstract

It has been argued that a transnational elite class is emerging, and that elite schools are ‘choreographing’ this process. This article nuances this developing theoretical framework with empirical data from an economically elite boarding school in Switzerland. It demonstrates that young men and women at this site linked to a global economy whilst refracting geopolitical tensions in their interactions with one another. This draws our attention to the multi-sited understandings that elite young people develop, despite the widespread assumption that in modern globalisation, wealth can break down cultural and juridical borders. This paper thus importantly contributes to an emerging discussion about the possibilities and constraints of transnational class formation at elite schools. In particular, it suggests that different kinds of elite schools may fill different kinds of roles when it comes to such processes.

Keywords:

• Class formation
• elite schools
• globalisation
• nationalism
• transnational class
• transnationalism

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Professors Claire Maxwell, Gary McCulloch and Martin Mills for their guidance throughout this research. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at ECER 2019, Prof. Dr. Thomas Koinzer’s Empirical Research on Schools and Teaching seminar at Humboldt University and a symposium in the Department of Education at Stockholm University. Thank you to those who attended these presentations and engaged with my work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was supported by the ESRC-funded UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership.

Notes

1 This is not a pseudonym. Please see the ‘Methods and sources’ section for a discussion of this.

2 All conversions are from November 2020.

3 Roughly two students per year (out of around 100 per year group) received school-sponsored scholarships. Additionally, some students’ fees were subsidised by their parents’ companies.