Class Takes Place: Group-Making and Transatlantic Elite Sociability in St. Barts

In fifty years, the island of Saint-Barthélemy (French West Indies) has become one of the world’s most exclusive vacationing localities, mainly patronized by American and European – especially French – upper classes. Based on the ongoing collection of in-depth interviews, our paper examines how local sociability (involving vacationers and owners of secondary residences) may contribute to the building of a global elite.

Three main issues will be addressed: (1) how ties and class identity among the wealthiest are strengthened by sharing leisure time in the Caribbean and cohabitating regularly in a residential space that is even more segregated – and secluded – than the most high-end neighborhoods of Paris or New York City; (2) how the social capital they accumulate in St. Barts possess international ramifications that can be mobilized as resources worldwide and foster a globalized class-consciousness; (3) how rich vacationers envision their relations and interactions with the other groups living and/or working in St. Barts (often, directly or indirectly, at their service), and with the island as a whole.