Abstract: The sociology of elite,in particular its critical tradition,is experiencing a revival,largely due to the expanding inequality in the Western world and consequent social movements. Thanks to increasingly divergent data and new methods,sociology of elite today has been managing to reshape its analytical frame and subjects by focusing more intensively on the Super Elite and the Minority Elite. Network analysis and class analysis have also been improved,with more reflective researchers by using quantitative,qualitative,and hybrid methodology. Following the historical stream of elite studies in sociology,this article systematically reviews contributions and flaws of these newly emerging theoretical and methodological works,and provides a primarily discussion on how Chinese scholars could renewal their works on elites in the Chinese context.
The Chinese Version Appeared in Jianghai Academic Journal(01, 2020).