Conference Local Elites

Conference local elites and the modernisation of local government, 1850-1940. University of Groningen, the Netherlands, September 21-23, 2005

Link to programme

Link to conference papers (PDF)

In this conference we want to investigate the impact of urbanisation and industrialisation on local elites between 1850 and 1940.

The modernisation of the city, caused by industrialisation and leading to urbanisation and eventually suburbanisation, not only deeply affected local government, but also profoundly changed social relations in the city, and the relation between the city and its rural environment.

In many cities in Europe and Northern-America the composition of the social and political local elite changed. ‘Old elites’ gradually or suddenly were replaced by ‘new elites’, whilst elsewhere they succeeded to retain their sometimes centuries-old position in local government. The mechanisms of change differed from city to city. Newcomers could mix with the old elite, by marriage, by business partnerships etc. Political change could lead to a new local regime, with the old elite withdrawing from public life. Local elites could absorb representatives from neighbouring elites. Political newcomers like socialists, radical-liberals, Christian-democrats could form new sub-elites. Upward social mobility and the expansion of local administration could lead to the entrance of new professionals and/or bourgeois representatives into the local elite.

The democratisation and bureaucratisation of local government thus radically changed the composition, size and scope of urban elites since the second half of the nineteenth century. New elected representatives claimed their seats in local parliaments as a result of the expansion of franchise. The new executive bodies of public services and utilities were staffed by a group of civic professionals. Both groups were involved in the same general assignment, i.e. curbing and directing urban modernisation.

The challenges of modernity with its emphasis on technology and the implementation of knowledge (including social sciences), the exigencies of governing metropolis-megalopolis, the emergence of democracy and mass politics at the local level demanded new forms of government, in which the local elite, old or new, was to take the lead.

Supported by the Division of the Humanities of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-Gebied Geesteswetenschappen) and the Groningen Research School for the Study of the Humanities.