This volume contains an Open Access chapter. The present volume of Comparative Social Research offers a broad set of comparative studies of elites, stretching from the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt to women's political leadership in Brazil and Germany, via attainment of elite positions among minorities in France and the US.

Fredrik Engelstad is Professor (em) in Sociology at the University of Oslo. Trygve Gulbrandsen is Research Professor (em) at Institute of Social Research and formerly Adjunct Professor in Sociology at University of Oslo. Marte Mangset is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway. Mari Teigen is Research Professor at Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway.