ABSTRACT
What makes an elite? How do elites in different societies maintain their position of dominance over subaltern groups? What legitimates the power and leadership of elites and how do they reproduce themselves over time? What can anthropology contribute to our understanding of elite formation and the politics of elite cultures and what can the study of elites offer anthropology? These are just some of the questions explored in this volume.1 As the contributors suggest, the study of elites poses particular theoretical and methodological challenges for anthropology, a discipline that has long been concerned with issues of epistemology, reflexivity, representation and power.
