Table Of ContentRESEARCHING AMONGST ELITES
I dedicate this book to my dad Carlos Correia Aguiar (1914–2001) and
my mom Noemia Maria Marques (1925–2012), my working class heroes
who taught me to be suspicious of all elites!
Luis L.M. Aguiar
For Bernice Lawler (1924–2010).
Christopher J. Schneider
Researching Amongst Elites
Challenges and Opportunities in Studying Up
Edited by
LUIS L.M. AGUIAR
CHRISTOPHER J. SCHNEIDER
University of British Columbia, Canada
R
O Routledge
U
T
L
E Taylor & Francis Group
D
G
ELONDON AND NEW YORK
First published2 012 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Luis L.M. Aguiar and Christopher J. Schneider 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Luis L.M. Aguiar and Christopher J. Schneider have asserted their right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Aguiar, Luis L. M.
Researching amongst elites : challenges and opportunities in studying up.
1. Social mobility--Research. 2. Elite (Social sciences)--
Research. 3. Social classes--Research.
I. Title II. Schneider, Christopher J.
305.5'2'072-dc23
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aguiar, Luis L. M.
Researching amongst elites : challenges and opportunities in studying up / by
Luis L.M. Aguiar and Christopher J. Schneider.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-2955-5 (hbk) 1. Social mobility-
-Research. 2. Elite (Social science)--Research. 3. Social classes--Research. I. Schneider,
Christopher J. II. Title.
HT612.A48
ISBN 9781409429555 (hbk)
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
About the Editors ix
List of Contributors xi
1 Redirecting the Academic Gaze Upward 1
Luis L.M. Aguiar
2 “Studying Up” Wall Street: Reflections on Theory and Methodology 29
Karen Ho
3 “Studying Up” in the Context of Civil War: Understanding Armed
Defense of the Status Quo 49
Carolyn Gallaher
4 Getting in and Finding Out: Accessing and Interviewing Elites in
Business and Work Contexts 71
Shaun Ryan and John Lewer
5 Interviewing Celebrities: Strategies for Getting Beyond the
Sound Bite 89
Michael Ian Borer
6 Examining Elites Using Qualitative Media Analysis:
Celebrity News Coverage and TMZ 103
Christopher J. Schneider
7 Overlooking the Workers: Community Leaders’ Perspectives on
Plant Closures and Economic Recession 121
June Corman, Ann Duffy and Norene Pupo
8 The Globality of Globals: From Floating to Escape Routes 141
Anthony Elliott
9 Studying Immigrant Entrepreneurs:
From Ordinary to Big Players in the Transnational Capitalist Class 159
Karl Froschauer and Lloyd L. Wong
vi Researching Amongst Elites
10 Productive Disorientation, or the Ups and Downs of
Embodied Research 179
Virginie Magnat
11 Interviewing Elite Men: Feminist Reflections on
Studying “Up” and Selling Out 199
Shelley Pacholok
12 Turning over Rocks and Unsettling Memories: “Studying Up”
Euro-Canadians in the Spaces between Cultures 217
Natalie A. Chambers
13 Methodological Challenges Faced when Researching in Hostile
Environments: The SAWP in a Canadian Hinterland 233
Patricia Tomic and Ricardo Trumper
Afterword 253
Luis L.M. Aguiar and Christopher J. Schneider
Index 257
Acknowledgments
My thanks to the contributors to this volume for their patience, professionalism
and belief in this project form the outset. Some are old friends while others I
befriended (hopefully) through our collective engagement in this collection. To
Neil Jordan, a big thank you for believing in the project and for being so patient,
understanding, prompt, professional and collegial. Gemma Hayman, also at
Ashgate, deserves my thanks too for shepherding this book through the final stages
to publication. The usual disclaimers apply.
Luis L.M. Aguiar
I wish to express my gratitude to the contributors to this volume, to Ashgate Senior
Commissioning Editor Neil Jordan, and for the helpful comments provided during
the peer-review process. I also wish to acknowledge my friends and colleagues,
Luis Aguiar, David Altheide, Ariane Hanemaayer, Jessica Stites Mor, and
Peter Urmetzer.
Christopher J. Schneider
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About the Editors
Luis L.M. Aguiar is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Barber School
of Arts and Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He is co-editor of
the book The Dirty Work of Neoliberalism: Cleaners in the Global Economy
(with Andrew Herod, Blackwell, 2006) and has published academic articles in,
amongst others, Antipode; The Canadian Journal of Urban Research; Geoforum;
Capital & Class; and Social Justice. In his most recent work he explores the
changing economic base of the Okanagan Valley and the recruitment of new labour
forces for farms, tourism and other service work in the post-industrial economy of
the Valley. His research on Jamaicans and Mexican migrant workers into the valley
is published in the book Interrogating the New Economy (University of Toronto
Press) and in BC Studies. Dr. Aguiar is a recipient of a SSHRC Standard Research
Grant award (2010–2013) for a project on global unions and transnational labor
organizing, especially as it applies to building cleaners. He is in the latter phases of
this research project and a manuscript is in preparation. He has taught a qualitative
methods course at UBC and uses these methodological approaches in the study
of building cleaners in Canada, Europe, as well as in examining Jamaican and
Mexican migrant workers’ experiences in the Okanagan Valley.
Christopher J. Schneider is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University
of British Columbia, Okanagan campus. Dr. Schneider has received awards in
recognition of his teaching, research, and community service contributions to
public education. His research investigates mass media messages about crime,
deviance, popular music, and information technologies in daily life. Dr. Schneider
has published articles and chapters as well as co-authored and co-edited books
in these areas. He has given more than 250 interviews with various news media
across North America.
