Think of the British elite and familiar caricatures spring to mind. But are today’s power brokers a conservative chumocracy, born to privilege and anointed at Eton and Oxford? Or is a new progressive elite emerging with different values and political instincts? Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman combed through a trove of data in search of an answer, scrutinizing the profiles, interests, and careers of over 125,000 members of the British elite from the late 1890s to today. At the heart of this meticulously researched study is the historical database of Who’s Who, but the authors also mined genealogical records, examined probate data, and interviewed over 200 leading figures from a wide range of backgrounds and professions to uncover who runs Britain, how they think, and what they want.
Aaron Reeves is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the LSE. He is also also an Associate Member of Green Templeton College and a Visiting Professor at the International Inequalities Institute at the LSE.
Professor Reeves studies the causes and consequences of social inequality, with a focus on the political economy of health, welfare reform, and processes of elite formation. His research has been published in the American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, The Lancet, British Medical Journal, and Socio-Economic Review.