Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul's School

245 Pages·2011·2.74 MB·English

by  Shamus Rahman Khan

Privilege
Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology
Paul J. DiMaggio, Michèle Lamont,
Robert J. Wuthnow, Viviana A. Zelizer, series editors
a list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book
Privilege
the making of an adolescent elite
at st. paul’s school
Shamus Rahman Khan
Princeton University Press
Princeton & Oxford
Copyright © 2011 by Shamus Rahman Khan
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be
sent to Permissions, Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Khan, Shamus Rahman.
Privilege : the making of an adolescent elite at St. Paul’s School / Shamus Rahman Khan.
p. cm. — (Princeton studies in cultural sociology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-14528-0 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. St. Paul’s School (Concord, N.H.)—History. 2. Boarding schools—
New Hampshire—Concord—History. 3. Boarding schools—Social
aspects—New Hampshire—Concord. I. Title.
LD7501.C822K53 2011
373.742´72—dc22 2010021520
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Adobe Garamond
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
For my parents, whose enduring love and support I have had
the privilege of enjoying all of my life
The barrier has changed shape rather than place
—Alexis de Tocqueville
Contents
Introduction: Democratic Inequality 1
1. The New Elite 18
2. Finding One’s Place 41
3. The Ease of Privilege 77
4. Gender and the Performance of Privilege 114
5. Learning Beowulf and Jaws 151
Conclusion 193
Methodological and Theoretical Reflections 201
Acknowledgments 207
Notes 211
Works Cited 223
Index 229
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Privilege