ABSTRACT

This chapter shows that social mobility is in part more constrained in the contemporary context, owing to the particular set of strategies available to outsiders seeking entry to status groups. It provides the empirical basis for the reformation of closure theory’s conceptualisation of entry strategies, rendering usurpation as being one of many strategies. The closure game to gain entry into international society during its expansion was largely individualist in nature. Usurpation is also absent as an inclusion strategy to the Family of Civilised Nations, but it is less an issue of closure in the context because the club is not limited in numbers. Usurpation is a contextually limited inclusion strategy, featuring as an effective entry strategy in the Great Powers’ club alone. Spain’s inclusion in the G20 as the club’s permanent invitee is another case of the normalisation strategy and particularly exemplifies the acceptance of deference in its operation.