Özkan, Vildane; Dinç, Artum

In the post-globalization era, global elites face a transformed landscape of resurgent national sovereignty and civilizational rhetoric. This article examines how transnational power-holders-once emblematic of a borderless world - are recalibrating their cultural strategies and legitimacy mechanisms amid these shifts. Drawing on cultural sociology and elite theory (Bourdieu, Bauman, Castells, Gramsci), the analysis integrates non-Western scholarly perspectives. It reconceptualizes cosmopolitan elite culture under conditions of de-globalization. We argue that global elites are neither passive victims of de-globalization nor static cosmopolitans. Instead, they act as cultural brokers who selectively adjust their identities and narratives. Some accentuate patriotic or civilizational themes to align with ascendant statecentric discourses, while others redouble on universalist rhetoric through new transnational alliances. Comparative illustrations from Western countries, Russia, China, and T & uuml;rkiye demonstrate that elites are actively adapting to a fragmented world order. These shifts suggest that sociological inquiry needs to move beyond treating globalization as a given context and toward analyzing the cultural dynamics of elite power in a fractured world-one where questions of meaning, identity, and legitimacy have become as pivotal as economic forces.

Özkan, Vildane

This article examines the social functions of highland festivals in Türkiye’s Eastern Black Sea uplands and their role in sustaining cultural continuity. Drawing on participant observation at major festivals in Gümüşhane, Rize, and Artvin, alongside relevant case studies, the research finds that these rituals generate strong collective effervescence and enact common values. Despite pressures from emigration and tourism, the festivals have adapted practices to maintain social cohesion. Interpreted through a cultural sociological framework, the analysis shows how ritual performances operate as symbolic practices that reinforce identity, embody shared habitus, and mediate the tension between tradition and modernity. The research thus illustrates how highland festivals function as sites of cultural reproduction and collective solidarity under conditions of social change.