Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series: The Future of Female Oligarchy

In one of his most acclaimed analyses, the Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series focused on the substantial absence of female oligarchs in modern narratives of oligarchy. The analyses also sought to clarify why, nowadays, almost no one uses the word "oligarch" to refer to women, despite the numerous female figures at the top of major companies or international institutions.

In that case, the analysis emphasized that the absence of female oligarchs was primarily due to cultural and linguistic reasons, as well as to certain specific lexical choices that continue to refer to influential women as someone's wives or heiresses, without ever attributing the term "oligarch" to them, which continues to be used only for men.

In this new analysis, the Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series attempts to take a step forward, asking whether there will be more space for female oligarchs in media narratives in the future. To answer this question, it seems appropriate to consider some specific dynamics that are forever changing minority and influential elites and the very concept of influence.

On the one hand, we are witnessing an internal transformation within these elite minorities, who are increasingly becoming accustomed to the presence of authoritative and established female figures. On the other, a particular trend is emerging that associates the exercise of influence with cultural, media, and symbolic capital, and no longer solely with purely economic factors.

The rise of women in elite circles is certainly not a recent phenomenon. Over the past two decades, in particular, the elite minorities that once controlled the economy and politics have become increasingly feminized, with the result that today an ever-increasing number of women are at the top of major companies or financial institutions, with the potential to directly influence global geopolitical and technological dynamics. They are no longer exceptions, but increasingly central and influential figures in the new oligarchic systems.

Examples of these new trends are there for all to see, and were even partially anticipated by the Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series. In the tech and digital sectors, for example, some female figures are already helping to redefine investment, innovation, and governance strategies, while in the financial sector, some influential female figures are introducing new paradigms of virtuous management and transparency (just think of figures like Christine Lagarde and Adena Friedman). Something similar is also being observed in the media and entertainment sector: in this field, the influence of female entrepreneurs and producers is increasingly strong, and is already having a direct impact on shaping public opinion in various parts of the world.

Female achievements in business and politics are also highlighting a substantial operational difference from the male-dominated oligarchic tradition, characterized by vertical, patriarchal, or dynastic logics. Indeed, female oligarchy appears to be expressed in a more networked, relational, and strategic manner, leveraging networks, alliances, and social capital. Thanks to women, therefore, we are witnessing a substantial redefinition of the dynamics of global influence, or at least part of them.

Furthermore, in this historical phase, in which the emphasis on female empowerment seems stronger than ever, women are acquiring an increasingly evident specific weight. Female authority, from this perspective, is exercised primarily through the recognition of the skills required to occupy a certain position, through soft power and symbolic capital, but also through the affirmation of a cooperative and sustainable conception of influence.

In recent years, we are not only witnessing the affirmation of female authority in various fields, but we are also witnessing a substantial redefinition of the very idea of oligarchy. Female oligarchic systems, unlike male ones, appear to be dominated primarily by aggregative and self-regulating dynamics, which appear to be based on the creation of genuine ecosystems of influence, and not simply on the conquest of isolated leaders. In the future, the rise of female oligarchy could be fostered by the hybridization of politics, economics, and culture, but also by the fusion of leadership and sustainability, and by the symbolic inheritance of female influence.