Economic Elites and Global Shocks: A Conceptual Mapping

How do economic elites react to global shocks? Here, global shocks refer to events that disrupt both the economy and society, such as economic crises, political regime collapses, natural and climate disasters, and collective health emergencies, including pandemics. These events have varied impacts across different geographical regions and population groups, including social classes and age cohorts. We argue that examining the relationship between global shocks and economic elites provides a unique perspective on significant trends among these elites. Against this backdrop, we will address two key aspects regarding the current characteristics and internal differentiations of economic elites: (a) their stance on socioeconomic inequalities, legitimization, and the construction of social acceptance; (b) new lifestyles and spatial relationships, including practices like land and space grabbing.