ABSTRACT
As Neil Smelser (1976) hypothesized, economic crises may intensify the conflicts of class based on material grounds, while in periods of economic upswing, prestige-related tensions become enhanced. The class conflicts may occur in collective forms, such as strikes, in which not only the antagonisms between employers and employees become more strained. It is also important to know what the actors perceive as threats and what responses these threats elicit from them. Tensions may also increase between the elites and various other groups of society. Moreover, crises may even sharpen tensions within and between the elites of certain nations. The responses of some European elites to the Greek crisis or the strained relationship between Slovakian and Hungarian elites might serve as examples.
