Cooperative Internationalism at the Intersection of Social Class and Economic Development

• In Event: 3183 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Citizenship and Identity

Abstract

Scholars have theorized that pro-global outlooks should be most common among economic and cultural elites living in urban centers. Yet, empirical work on this topic has produced mixed results. Recent events such as Brexit and the increasing prominence of nativist politics across the developed world indicate that there is a cleavage between urban elites and less educated rural populations, at least in these contexts. Using data from two cross-national values surveys, we test whether urban elites are generally more pro-global in their orientations than non-elites. Results indicate that elites are generally more pro-global, but that this cleavage is likely limited to populations in wealthy countries. This is contrary to expectations that non-elites in relatively poor countries should hold traditionalist attitudes while elites in those contexts are members of a transnational capitalist class who should hold attitudes consistent with elites in relatively wealthy countries. More generally, we argue that pro-global orientations are a product of both individuals’ socioeconomic positions within a country as well as a given country’s position in the international order.

Author

• Brandon Gorman, State University of New York-Albany