The Price of Prestige
lily
(lily)
#1
48 chapter two
reflect and enable these changes. Thus, the great European powers could
find themselves fighting over the acquisition of new colonies as the most
coveted status symbol at one point in time and over who provides more
foreign aid to these former colonies in another (Jackson 1993 ). Similarly,
watchtowers could be coveted sources of prestige and aesthetic satisfac
tion yet turn into grotesque demonstrations of bad taste a few decades
later. As values change, status symbols can decline in importance and even
become a drain on an actor’s prestige. The dynamic nature of status sym
bols, again, highlights the social aspect of prestige politics.
Because we face several alternative indexes that measure different as
pects of power at any given time, the ability to influence the choice of one
indicator over another becomes an important yet often neglected aspect
of power in international relations (Hurd 2007 , 57 ). Each index can gen
erate different status symbols. Actors will naturally try to promote those
indexes in which they enjoy a relative advantage. While a great power may
focus on status symbols that reflect its military might, a weaker middle
power may choose to promote prosocial behavior as an alternative index.^13
The choice of one index over another also implies a judgment regarding
the values that each index represents. Being able to affect the legitimacy
and relative importance of competing indexes and status symbols is thus
an important source of power that cannot be detached from questions of
interest (Bourdieu 1984 , 85 – 96 ).
In a study of international stratification in Latin America, for example,
Schwartzman and Mora Y Araujo ( 1966 ) asked groups of students to rank
the region’s countries, divide them into classes, and single out the indexes
that matter most for assessing a country’s prestige. The study shows high
correlation in rankings as well as a regional consensus that industrializa
tion and development are the main sources of regional prestige.^14 Interest
ingly, the only ones to suggest an alternative index were Chilean students.
According to Schwartzman and Mora Y Araujo, Chileans saw themselves
as legitimate members of the Latin American “upper class,” together with
Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. However, based on industrialization and
development indexes at the time of the study, Chile did not make the cut.
Hence, Chilean students ardently rejected indexes such as territory and
population, which disadvantaged Chile and underplayed the importance
of industrialization. Instead, Chilean participants promoted education as
the most important index for establishing regional stratification because
this was an index in which Chile enjoyed a relative advantage. Similarly,
Feinsilver ( 1989 ) argues that Cuba tried to gain prestige through the pro
motion of the quality of health services as an important international
