Elite

Elite

achieving, example, dedicated, best

Basketball, Indiana, Rich

best, top, privileged

education, desirable, fancy

intellectual, MIT, best

Ivy League, smart

kings, aristocracy, power

MIT, rich, highly talented

President, Money, Talent

president, royalty, clubs

Privilege, Title, Power

select, privileged, wealthy

selectional, competitive, stuck-up

upper class, premier, wealthy, mansions

Wealth, the top, gold, the premium

wealthy, powerful, above

arrogance, prétention, superficiel

concept, travail, sélection

difficile, prestigieux, travailler

excellence, pouvoir, intelligence, travail

Génie, dirigeant,

grandes écoles

Intelligence

jeux, richesse, blanc

meilleur, premier, dirigeant

Nanti, riche, pouvoir

nobel, coupe du monde, prépas

Politique, directeur, entrepreneur

Polytechnique, ENA, MIT

publication, formation, groupe

réussir, chercheurs, mérite

réussite, avenir, intelligence

top du top

Discussion

French 11am 2/25:

Americans think of "elite" more as wealth and power (kings, aristocracy, powerpresident, royalty, clubs) while the French students were more about contributions to society/awards (coupe du monde, nobel) and talent (politique, directeur, entrepreneur). Both sides had some negative and some positive connotations (arrogance, prétention, superficiel for the French; selectional, competitive, stuck-up for Americans), and overall the view of wealth and power is less positive than that of contributions to society. MIT was on both lists.

MATMECA students acknowledged it was difficult and a lot of work to become elite, while MIT students said the elite were a "selectional", "priviledged" group.

The phrase "top de top" is pretty entertaining :-)

I enjoyed this category because there seemed to be a pattern each of the American and French list but not much of a mix between the both. In fact, it seemed quite opposite. From the many words submitted, I deduced that we, Americans, view "Elite" quite differently than do the French. To us, elite revolves more around wealth, power, and priviledges. But the French see it rather opposite. They believe elite relates more to intelligence, merit, and excellence in their work. In some ways, I think the things they wrote seem more valuable. After reading both lists, the connotations of the words in the American side began to look negative such that it reminded me of greed and that success and "eliteness" is not all about money. Instead, I think the important things like education, knowledge, and having a talent that can achieve many things for society makes a person elite. 

Les Américains perçoivent l'élite comme un privilége réservé aux personnes talentueuses et intelligentes, et font beaucoup référence à l'argent. Les Français y voient la réussite des études où l'intelligence et le travail sont récompensés, et le statut social est plus important que la richesse. Nous avons globalement une perception positive de l'élite en France et aux Etats-Unis.

Les Français voient plus l'élite comme un aboutissant de la réussite et de l'intelligence, alors que pour les américains, l'argent revient assez souvent.

Je pense que c'est lié au prix de l'année d'étude et le niveau des universités américaines. Plus on paie cher, meilleure sera l'école.

En France, ce concept est peu (toujours trop) utilisé, et souvent faux. Hormis les toutes meilleures écoles, les écoles privées(payantes) n'ont pas trop la côte, et certaines (nottement en informatique) sont connus pour avoir un niveau plus faible, alors que l'année coûte plus de 5000€ (démesuré pour de l'éducation en France)

En france appartenir à l'élite est plutôt envisagée comme une reconnaissance, acquise non pas par ce que l'on est mais par ce que l'on fait. C'est sans doute pour cela que la richesse ou le pouvoir sont moins présents dans la liste française, et laisse sa place à la réussite et au actes méritants

The most dominant word in the American view of elitism is the word "wealth." This is interesting, because wealth is not an indicator of ability, talent, or intelligence. Wealth is just an indicator of a current financial status, and in many cases, money comes and goes just like the seasons. 

In my opinion, the French view elitism as more of a symbol of achievement, ability, talent, or intelligence rather than a symbol of wealth. I think the French view on elitism is better than the American view, because if one has wealth but no talents then one can lose the wealth; however, with talent, ability, or intelligence, one can always become elite.

test

 

The French students most often associated words such as "travail" and "intelligence" with the word, "elite." In my opinion, these words have positive connotations. The words that many American students referenced were "best, privilege, power/powerful, and wealth." While some of these words can be viewed positively, such as "best, powerful, and wealth," since many people strive to achieve these attributes, the word "privilege" has negative connotations. 

The notion of what constitutes being "elite" and the role of "elites" in society is a common topic of mainstream news in the U.S. Thus, I think the American students' word choices may reflect these ideas.

I wonder whether many of the French students believe that the keys to achieving "elite" status are working hard and intelligence, since those were the words they most often cited in assocation with the word "elite."

@Clement

I agree that from what I can infer from the responses by French students that social status does seem to be more important than wealth in France. This implies that wealth does not necessarily afford someone elite status. However, increasingly in the United States, anyone with personal wealth (regardless of his/her intelligence, in many cases) is considered elite. In addition, I believe the word "elite" has become a much more loosely used term in recent years, no longer only being applied to a very specific upper echelon.

@Louis

I think you raise a very interesting point that perhaps in France, the notion of being elite describes a way of doing something, whereas in the United States we still refer to individuals and groups of people as being elite. This may further illustrate the tendency of associating levels of education with elitism in France since higher levels of education may indicate greater levels of academic ability.

@Mathias

It is true that if education and intellectual prowess are to be the key determinants of elitism, the cost of higher education and prestigious universities must be considered. Otherwise, we will conveniently overlook the possibility that higher education and wealth reinforce each other and therefore that wealth may still be the underlying deciding factor of elite status.

@Mathias:

 

That is a great point you made. In the US, money is simply related to many things, which is why I believe that we put "money" and "wealth" a lot in this category. The more prestigious/elite the school is, the more expensive it becomes. And in the end, these expensive schools are where most of the elite and most intelligent people graduate from.

Je ne suis globalement pas très surpris par les réponses des deux côtés.

De mon point de vue, la France a toujours eu une vision positive de l'Elite comme un individu qui a beaucoup travaillé et qui a su se distinguer par son excellence.

Ceci dit, je pense que cette idée commence à laisser place à une autre idée plus négative issue de récents événements de société. En effet, la vision des ENArques est maintenant en train de rejoindre celle que les Américains ont de leurs élites. De même, certaines affaires politiques ont parfois amené certains à parler de France ou de justice à deux temps (expression "France d'en bas" par le Premier Ministre Raffarin, les affaires de la mairie de Paris).

En ce qui concerne les réponses des Américains, je ne peux que spéculer, mais je pense que le fait que leurs élites - ceux qui sortent de leurs établissements les plus prestigieux - doivent souvent disposer d'importants moyens financiers pourrait expliquer cette association des Ivy Leagues et de la classe "élevée" de la société.