Wright Mills 權力精英

In 1956 book The Power Elite; C. Wright Mills indicated the interwoven interests of the leaders of the military, corporate, and political elements of the American society and the ordinary citizen in modern times is a relatively powerless subject of their manipulation.

Wright Mills 權力精英

作者：C. 賴特·米爾斯 (作者)、Alan Wolfe (作者) 2000 年 2 月 15 日

《權力精英》於 1956 年首次出版，是當代社會科學和社會批評的經典之作。C. 賴特·米爾斯考察並批評了美國的權力組織，提請人們注意三個緊密相連的權力分支：軍事、企業和政治精英。 《權力精英》可以很好地描述其寫作時美國的情況，但它背後的問題——美國在實踐中是否像在理論上一樣民主——在今天仍然非常重要。

《權力精英》在 1956 年向讀者介紹了美國權力組織在他們有生之年發生了多大的變化，艾倫·沃爾夫為這本新版所寫的精明後記讓我們了解了最新情況，說明了自那時以來發生了多大的變化。沃爾夫整理了米爾斯書中哪些內容有用，哪些預言沒有實現，列舉了美國資本主義的根本變化，從激烈的全球競爭和共產主義的崩潰到快速的技術轉型和不斷變化的消費者口味。《權力精英》激發了一代又一代的讀者思考他們擁有什麽樣的社會以及他們可能想要什麽樣的社會，值得每一代人閱讀。

權力精英

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elite

社會學家 C. Wright Mills 於 1956 年出版的一本書，書中 Mills 呼籲關注美國社會軍事、企業和政治元素領導人的相互交織的利益，並指出現代普通公民是這三個實體操縱的相對無能的主體。

背景
這本書是 Mills 1951 年作品《白領：美國中產階級》的翻版，該書探討了當時中層管理人員在美國社會中日益增長的作用。這本書的主要靈感來自 Franz Leopold Neumann 於 1942 年出版的《龐然大物：國家社會主義的結構和實踐》，該書研究了納粹主義如何在德國這樣的民主國家掌權。《龐然大物》對 Mills 產生了重大影響。[2]

摘要

參謀長聯席會議（1949 年的照片）是 Mills 確定的六個統治精英之一。

根據米爾斯的說法，所謂的“權力精英”是那些在一個主導國家的三大支柱機構（國家安全、經濟和政治）中占據主導地位的人。他們的決定（或不做決定）不僅對美國人，而且對“世界底層民眾”都有著巨大的影響。米爾斯認為，他們所領導的機構是一個三巨頭集團，它們繼承了或繼承了較弱的前任：

“兩三百家巨型公司”取代了傳統的農業和手工業經濟，一個強大的聯邦政治秩序繼承了“幾十個州的分散權力”，“現在進入了社會結構的每一個角落”，以及軍事機構，以前是“由州民兵培養的不信任對象”，但現在是一個“擁有龐大官僚領域所有嚴峻和笨拙效率”的實體。

重要的是，與現代美國陰謀論不同的是，米爾斯解釋說，精英階層本身可能沒有意識到自己作為精英階層的地位，他指出“他們往往對自己的角色不確定”，並且“不自覺地努力，他們就吸收了成為……決策者的願望。”盡管如此，他還是將他們視為準世襲階層。米爾斯認為，權力精英的成員往往通過在哈佛、普林斯頓和耶魯等東部名牌大學獲得的教育進入社會顯赫地位。但是，米爾斯指出，“哈佛、耶魯或普林斯頓還不夠……重點不是哈佛，而是哪個哈佛？”

米爾斯將常春藤盟校的校友分為兩類：一類是加入上層兄弟會的人，例如哈佛學院的波塞利安或飛行俱樂部社交俱樂部，另一類是沒有加入的人。米爾斯繼續說，那些通過這種方式入選的人，是根據他們在精英私立預科學院建立的社會聯係而收到邀請的，他們入讀這些學院是出於家庭傳統和家庭關係。通過這種方式，精英的衣缽通常會沿著家族血脈代代相傳。

曆史上顯赫的家族，如肯尼迪家族，組成了“大都會 400 人”。

圖中是 1940 年的羅斯和約瑟夫·肯尼迪。
根據米爾斯的說法，控製三大主導機構（軍事、經濟和政治體係）的精英階層通常可以分為六種類型：

“大都會 400 人”：美國主要城市中曆史上著名的當地家族成員，他們通常出現在社交名錄中
“名人”：著名的演藝人員和媒體人物
“首席執行官”：每個工業部門最重要公司的總裁和首席執行官。

“企業富豪”：大地主和企業股東
“軍閥”：高級軍官，最重要的是參謀長聯席會議
“政治理事會”：美國聯邦政府“行政部門的五十多名人員”，包括總統行政辦公室的高級領導，他們有時來自民主黨和共和黨的民選官員，但通常是專業的政府官僚
米爾斯對他的書做了一個非常簡短的總結：“畢竟，誰在管理美國？沒有人管理整個美國，但就任何團體而言，都是權力精英。”[3]

接受和批評
在評論《權力精英》時，亞瑟·M·施萊辛格 (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.) 嘲諷地說：“我期待米爾斯先生交還他的先知長袍，重新成為一名社會學家。”[4] 阿道夫·伯爾 (Adolf Berle) 指出，這本書包含“令人不安的真相”，但米爾斯呈現的是“一幅憤怒的漫畫，而不是嚴肅的圖片”。[4] 丹尼斯·朗將《權力精英》描述為“新聞、社會學和道德憤慨的不均衡混合”。[5] 《路易斯安那法律評論》對這本書的評論哀歎道，“米爾斯先生對當前形勢的悲觀解讀的實際危險在於，他的讀者將專注於回答他的偏見性斷言，而不是思考他真正強大的研究結果”。[6] 對這本書的評價已經變得稍微有利了。 2006 年，G. William Domhoff 寫道：“米爾斯看起來比 50 年前更好”。 米爾斯的傳記作者約翰·薩默斯認為這本書的曆史價值“似乎有保證”。

在流行文化中
2017 年，Netflix 電視連續劇《心靈獵人》第 5 集包含一個場景，其中一個主角，社會學博士生 Deborah“Debbie”Mitford 撰寫了一篇關於《權力精英》的論文。

在諾亞·鮑姆巴赫的電影《年輕時候》中，主角喬什·施雷布尼克是一位紀錄片製作人，他引用了米爾斯的話，並多次引用其紀錄片主題的專業知識以及艾拉·曼德爾施塔姆與《權力精英》相關的觀點。

The Power Elite 

by C. Wright Mills (Author), Alan Wolfe (Author) Feb. 15 2000

First published in 1956, The Power Elite stands as a contemporary classic of social science and social criticism. C. Wright Mills examines and critiques the organization of power in the United States, calling attention to three firmly interlocked prongs of power: the military, corporate, and political elite. The Power Elite can be read as a good account of what was taking place in America at the time it was written, but its underlying question of whether America is as democratic in practice as it is in theory continues to matter very much today.

What The Power Elite informed readers of in 1956 was how much the organization of power in America had changed during their lifetimes, and Alan Wolfe's astute afterword to this new edition brings us up to date, illustrating how much more has changed since then. Wolfe sorts out what is helpful in Mills' book and which of his predictions have not come to bear, laying out the radical changes in American capitalism, from intense global competition and the collapse of communism to rapid technological transformations and ever changing consumer tastes. The Power Elite has stimulated generations of readers to think about the kind of society they have and the kind of society they might want, and deserves to be read by every new generation.

The Power Elite

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elite

A 1956 book by sociologist C. Wright Mills, in which Mills calls attention to the interwoven interests of the leaders of the military, corporate, and political elements of the American society and suggests that the ordinary citizen in modern times is a relatively powerless subject of manipulation by those three entities.

Background
The book is something of a counterpart of Mills' 1951 work, White Collar: The American Middle Classes, which examines the then-growing role of middle managers in American society. A main inspiration for the book was Franz Leopold Neumann's book Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism in 1942, a study of how Nazism came into a position of power in a democratic state like Germany. Behemoth had a major impact on Mills.[2]

Summary

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, pictured here in 1949, are one of six ruling elites Mills identified.

According to Mills, the eponymous "power elite" are those that occupy the dominant positions, in the three pillar institutions (state security, economic and political) of a dominant country. Their decisions (or lack thereof) have enormous consequences, not only for Americans but, "the underlying populations of the world." Mills posits that the institutions that they head are a triumvirate of groups that have inherited or succeeded weaker predecessors:

"two or three hundred giant corporations" which have replaced the traditional agrarian and craft economy, a strong federal political order that has inherited power from "a decentralized set of several dozen states" and "now enters into each and every cranny of the social structure," and the military establishment, formerly an object of "distrust fed by state militia," but now an entity with "all the grim and clumsy efficiency of a sprawling bureaucratic domain."

Importantly and as distinct from modern American conspiracy theory, Mills explains that the elite themselves may not be aware of their status as an elite, noting that "often they are uncertain about their roles" and "without conscious effort, they absorb the aspiration to be... The Ones Who Decide." Nonetheless, he sees them as a quasi-hereditary caste. The members of the power elite, according to Mills, often enter into positions of societal prominence through educations obtained at eastern establishment universities like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. But, Mills notes, "Harvard or Yale or Princeton is not enough... the point is not Harvard, but which Harvard?"

Mills identifies two classes of Ivy League alumni: those were initiated into an upper echelon fraternity such as the Harvard College social clubs of Porcellian or Fly Club, and those who were not. Those so initiated, Mills continues, receive their invitations based on social links first established in elite private preparatory academies, where they were enrolled as part of family traditions and family connections. In that manner, the mantle of the elite is generally passed down along familial lines over the generations.

Historically prominent families, such as the Kennedy family, form the "Metropolitan 400". Shown here are Rose and Joseph Kennedy in 1940.
The resulting elites, who control the three dominant institutions (military, economy and political system) can be generally grouped into one of six types, according to Mills:

the "Metropolitan 400:" members of historically-notable local families in the principal American cities who are generally represented on the Social Register
"Celebrities:" prominent entertainers and media personalities
the "Chief Executives:" presidents and CEOs of the most important companies within each industrial sector.

the "Corporate Rich:" major landowners and corporate shareholders
the "Warlords:" senior military officers, most importantly the Joint Chiefs of Staff
the "Political Directorate:" "fifty-odd men of the executive branch" of the U.S. federal government, including the senior leadership in the Executive Office of the President, who are sometimes variously drawn from elected officials of the Democratic and Republican parties but are usually professional government bureaucrats
Mills formulated a very short summary of his book: "Who, after all, runs America? No one runs it altogether, but in so far as any group does, the power elite."[3]

Reception and criticism
Commenting on The Power Elite, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. derisively said, "I look forward to the time when Mr. Mills hands back his prophet's robes and settles down to being a sociologist again."[4] Adolf Berle noted the book contained "an uncomfortable degree of truth", but Mills presented "an angry cartoon, not a serious picture".[4] Dennis Wrong described The Power Elite as "an uneven blend of journalism, sociology, and moral indignation".[5] A review of the book in the Louisiana Law Review bemoaned that the "practical danger of Mr. Mills' pessimistic interpretation of the current situation is that his readers will concentrate on answering his prejudicial assertions rather than ponder the results of his really formidable research".[6] Consideration of the book has become moderately more favorable. In 2006, G. William Domhoff wrote, "Mills looks even better than he did 50 years ago".[7] Mills' biographer, John Summers, opined that book's historical value "seems assured".[4]

In popular culture
In 2017, episode 5 of the Netflix TV series Mindhunter contains a scene in which one of the main characters, a sociology PhD student Deborah "Debbie" Mitford, writes a paper on The Power Elite.

In the Noah Baumbach film While We're Young, the protagonist Josh Schrebnick is a documentarian who cites Mills, and frequently cites the expertise of the subject of his documentary, Ira Mandelstam's views as they relate to The Power Elite.