Black mafia, loggies and going for the stars: the military elite revisited

The connection between a Public School education and the British Army officer corps has often been presented as an example of a self-perpetuating elite, with little by way of theoretical explanation. This paper aims to explicate these matters by reference to Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Sociological review (Keele) 2004-02, Vol.52 (1), p.106-135
Main Author: Macdonald, Keith
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Bourdieu, Pierre
Cultural Capital
Education
Educational Inequality
Elites
Great Britain
Habitus
Military
Military Officers
Military personnel
Military sociology
Occupational achievement
Organization
Political sociology
Private schools
Social Reproduction
Sociology
United Kingdom
Upper middle class people
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Summary:The connection between a Public School education and the British Army officer corps has often been presented as an example of a self-perpetuating elite, with little by way of theoretical explanation. This paper aims to explicate these matters by reference to Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and field and to extend the empirical work of earlier studies by looking at the nature of army organization structure, the place of particular regiments within it, and the relative success of officers from different regiments in gaining promotion to general. Inter-regimental competition plays a key role in allowing the reproduction of privilege within the military, and testifies therefore to the importance of organizational structures. The shorthand conclusions of earlier studies that ‘the elite is maintained’ can be replaced by analysis and explanation, which suggest that the alignment of public school habitus and military field will ensure that (other things being equal) this state of affairs will be slow to change. The property assets of the upper middle class allow their offspring to acquire at public school the cultural assets that will enable them to succeed in a military career. This in turn give access to organizational assets and economic rewards that will enable them to provide the next generation with their cultural assets. ‘It's a way we have in the Army, ‘It's a way we have in the Navy, ‘It's a way we have in the Public Schools, Which nobody can deny!’1
ISSN:0038-0261
1467-954X
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-954X.2004.00444.x