This document discusses strategies that elites can use to maintain their dominance through soft power. It defines elites as the top 1% who control 40% of the world's wealth and benefit most from the existing power structures. The document presents two main micro-level soft power strategies used by elites: 1) Promoting the idea of personal responsibility to suggest that inequality results from individual choices rather than systemic factors, and 2) Perpetuating the illusion that equality of opportunity exists by highlighting examples of individuals who rose from humble beginnings. It argues that elites in the US rely more on "smart soft power" through subtle manipulation of identities and beliefs rather than overt hard power, allowing them to control society with less repression.

1. Secrets of Elite Soft Power
Kim, Lim, Piatov

2. Our Goal:
Our Goal:
Show how Elites can use Soft
Show how Elites can use Soft
Power to maintain their dominance
Power to maintain their dominance

3. How to
How to
prevent rise of
prevent rise of
masses in
masses in
Neo-Liberal
Neo-Liberal
System?
System?
Top 1% = The Real Elite

5. Who are the Elite?
• An exceptional and/or privileged group that
wields considerable power within its sphere
of influence.

6. Exceptional Group

7. Who are the Elite?
• Fragmented Group
• Dominant Elite
– Top 1% of Wealth (owning 40% of worlds wealth)
– Control and benefit most from structure
• Functional Elite
• Outlying Elite
Dominant Elite
Functional Elite
Elites
Masses
Outlying Elite

8. Why Elites Matter
Elite is a Role
• Elites have been in our
society since the beginning
of time
• It is in our nature to want to
have leaders
• Elites have the best interest
of society at heart
Elite is a Right
• Every society needs elites to
maintain order
– Wealth is compensation for
creating good living
conditions (see failure of
Tsarist Elites 1917)
• Elites are the enlightened
• Role of Elites is to “run”
bastions of power to
preserve and enhance their
socio-economic position

9. Considerable Power – Smart Power

10. Element of Fun: Outliers
Dominant (Structural) Elite
Outliers
Supporting Elite
• “Outliers”: Challenging the system and hierarchy
• The Outliers = The Outcasts
• Noam Chomsky
• Ha-Joon Chang

11. Maintenance of Elite
• « Transformational Leaders »
– Macro-level – maintaining the whole community
dominated by elites – identity voting
• « Transactional Leaders »
– Micro-level – from ‘one commoner’ to ‘the elite’ –
rite of passage
Adapted from Joseph Nye’s “The Powers to Lead”

12. Liminality – the rite of passage
• Concept developed by Arnold Van Gennep
“the time in which people are on the threshold
of entering a new phase in their life, having
left the previous one behind”
• Separation  Transition  Reincorporation
From one ‘imgined community’ to another...

13. Why do certain people tend to vote for elites against
their interests?
•
Identity Voting
– Reagan and his blue collar supporters
– Health Care in the U.S.
– War in Iraq
•
•
Benedict Anderson: Imagined Communities
Victor Turner: Communitas

14. Soft Power Strategies
• Example of:
Personal Responsibility
= Elite Manipulation
Charlton Heston : :Bloodline of Freedom
Charlton Heston Bloodline of Freedom
Individual Responsibility
Individual Responsibility

15. Micro-Level Strategies
• 2 Strategies that keep the masses embracing
inequalities and accepting “rules of the game”
1

16. Personal Responsibility
• Let the professionals

17. Soft Power Strategy
Idea of
Personal
Responsibility
&
Freedom
2 Functions
Brilliant!

18. Micro-Level Strategies
2
•
•
•
Perpetuate belief that making it to the top is easy
Abide by Elite’s rules
Enforce rules of the top group

19. Case Studies:
Illusion of Equality
“Anyone can make it!”
• Start-up: “Facebook” & Mark Zuckerberg
(always elitist oriented) Youngest billionaire
in the world
• Start-up: “Google” begun by Russian
Immigrants
• Competition: “American Idol”

21. Case Studies:
Cementing the Glass Floor
•
•
•
Singers: Rappers and Pop-singers e.g.
“Jenny from the Block”
Governments: China’s internet
censorship
Royal Wedding: Prince William & a
“Commoner”

22. Power Relationship?
Hard
Hard
Power
Power
Soft
Power
Hard
Hard
Power
Power
Soft
Power
Does a decrease in
HP Require an
Increase in SP?
Or can a reduction in
both be sufficient for
Elites to control
society?

23. Power Relationship?
• These Regimes use vast HP
(repression) AND SP (Propaganda) to
maintain Elite Position (domestic)
• While US Uses less of both
• US = “Smart Soft Power”
Hard
Hard
Power
Power
Soft
Power
Smart
Smart
Power?
Power?

24. Smart Soft Power
• As society evolves to knowledge economy
• Elites need more sophisticated tool of
manipulation
• Smart Soft Power uses subtle Transforming
strategies combined with less Hard Power:
– Identity Voting
– Individual Responsibility & Freedom
– False Hope