The formation of ruling class men: private schooling, class and gender relations in contemporary Chile

Abstract

This project examines the emerging masculinities and the transformation in gender relations in the contemporary Chilean ruling class, and among its different fractions. Special attention is given to the connections between elite private education and the formation of ruling class masculinities through the lives of these men. Ruling class men have not been systematically studied, in comparison with working or middle class men. Available studies focus on men at the top of key institutions or who are extremely rich. A more substantial concept of class is needed, and this project develops a relational conceptualization of class and gender. Forty-five life-history interviews were conducted with graduates of different types of elite private and selective public schools. Analysis of these interviews, by intensive case study method, explores the way in which family and school dynamics, and labour processes, interact in the formation of classed and gendered practices. The study includes life-histories with ruling class women in order to explore their role in the making of the ruling class and hegemonic masculinities. New ways of understanding social class and its relation to gender are presented, in a context of social changes promoted by neoliberal globalisation. The project seeks to enhance understanding of the interplay of gender and class in a generative perspective. In relation to masculinities, this perspective shows how masculinities are constructed historically through class practices, instead of conceptualising class as a pre-existent and static category that affects gender relations. The focus is on the process of growing up men, and the making of the ruling class, as two simultaneous and closely interconnected processes. Studying the lives of ruling class men is a way of broadening our understanding of social inequalities and the dynamics of oppression by including those who are in positions of power and privilege. Particularly, the study examines the relation between the formation of the contemporary ruling class and its role in producing hegemonic forms of masculinities.