Skip to main content

Elite logics of justification and the lack of transparency

Elitism often survives on the sense of entitlement among the elites.

Thinking that "I am better than the rest" is often offered as a self-justification for a variety of benefits and deviations that elite claim for themselves. New rules and new normative guidelines can be created to justify this sense of entitlement, always operating under the notion "I am better than the rest."

For elites, this heightened sense of self is accompanied by a sense of disdain for the "other," especially for the margins.

The trials and tribulations of the margins are justified by the argument "They are not good enough." This argument therefore results in the conclusion "They are deserving of the way they are treated."

The notion that "they are not good enough" is usually some mix of "they are not hard working enough" and "they are not capable enough."

Both of these judgments about the poor work ethic and the poor ability of the "other" serve as the bases for elite justifications of inequality.

Inequality is thus natural for the elite.

Inequality in rewards and life outcomes are natural products of differences in ability and motivation.

In the elite mind, inequality is a justified order of society. The seduction of neoliberalism lies in its ability to speak to elitism, to nurture a narrow coterie of elites that run modern neoliberal organizations. For these elites, inequality is an accepted part of organizational life and elite privilege is a natural product of the "hard work" and "god gifted ability" of the elites.

It is this very logic then that creates a culture of non-transparency. The sense of entitlement adds as a convenient justification for creating opaqueness into the management of organizations built on elite logics.

"To the extent that I am better than the rest, I can make up the rules of the game and make sure that these rules are not visible to others."

For the elite, rendering organizational processes opaque is a byproduct of not having to respond to people of inferior quality.

"To the extent that I am ordained to lead by virtue of my superior qualities, I can run the organization whichever way I want to run it, retaining the power of decision-making in the hands of my elite network. I don't have to make transparent my processes and frameworks of decision-making."

Elitism thus perpetuates the hegemony of the elites, ensuring that decisions about outcomes, rewards, work distribution etc. are rendered opaque to organizational members.

Popular posts from this blog

The whiteness of binaries that erase the Global South: On Communicative Inversions and the invitation to Vijay Prashad in Aotearoa

When I learned through my activist networks that the public intellectual Vijay Prashad was coming to Aotearoa, I was filled with joy. In my early years in the U.S., when learning the basics of the struggle against the fascist forces of Hindutva, I came in conversation with Vijay's work. Two of his critical interventions, the book, The Karma of Brown Folk , and the journal article " The protean forms of Yankee Hindutva " co-authored with Biju Matthew and published in Ethnic and Racial Studies shaped my early activism. These pieces of work are core readings in understanding the workings of Hindutva fascism and how it mobilizes cultural tropes to serve fascist agendas. Much later, I felt overjoyed learning about his West Bengal roots and his actual commitment to the politics of the Left, reflected in the organising of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), a political register that shaped much of my earliest lessons around Global South resistance, collectivization, and orga...

Libertarianism, the Free Speech Union, and the Life of Disinformation

The rise of the far-right globally is intertwined with the globally networked power of libertarian think tanks, funded at the base by the global extractive industries . In this blog post, through an analysis of the disinformation-based campaign I have personally experienced since October 2023 mobilised by the communicative ecosystem of the Free Speech Union (FSU), I will attend to the lifecycle of disinformation in libertarian networks, arguing that the disinformation ecosystem is invested in upholding both white supremacy and extractive capital. The FSU’s investment in disinformation I argue that the FSU is invested in producing and circulating disinformation. In response to my analysis of the hypocrisy of the Free Speech Union (FSU) that positions itself as a champion of free speech in Aotearoa while one of its co-founders, council members and spokespersons David Cumin (who is also one of the key actors representing Israel Institute of New Zealand) actively targets the freedom of a...

Zionist hate mongering, the race/terror trope, and the Free Speech Union: Part 1

March 15, 2019. It was a day of terror. Unleashed by a white supremacist far-right terrorist. Driven by hate for brown people. Driven by Islamophobic hate. Earlier in the day, I had come across a hate-based hit piece targeting me, alongside other academics, the University of Auckland academic Professor Nicholas Rowe , Professor Richard Jackson at Otago University, Professor Kevin P Clements at Otago University, Dr. Rose Martin from University of Auckland and Dr. Nigel Parsons at Massey University.  Titled, "More extremists in New Zealand Universities," the article threw in the labels "terror sympathisers" and "extremist views." Written by one David Cumin and hosted on the website of the Israel Institute of New Zealand, the article sought to create outrage that academics critical of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid are actually employed by universities in New Zealand. Figure 1: The web post written by David Cumin on the site of Israel Institute ...