Researching elites in the Italian third sector: how formal position and substantial influence interact

The issue of leaders’ influence has not received much attention in civil society studies, classical leadership literature on the voluntary sector and elite research. This article explores self-representations of the different kinds of status and influence among Italian third sector leaders. It is based on 35 interviews with the leaders of major Italian third sector organisations and on an analysis of the self-representations of their status and influence and representations of their civil society colleagues. Following a critical anthropological perspective, it argues that a qualitative investigation of the different forms of influence can help to broaden scholarly understanding of the growing power stratification in the third sector and the elements that seem to be required for being considered a key leader actor or a civil society elite.