For 20 years, Chile was governed uninterruptedly by a centre-left coalition (the Concertación). This period saw the emergence of a technocratic elite which, without abjuring politics and party membership, developed and scientifically legitimised its role as a pivotal collective agent, drawing on scarce disciplinary capital and resources, particularly in economics and, to a lesser extent, political science and sociology. These disciplinary resources (in both senses of the term "disciplinary") explain the power of a group of influential agents that it is helpful to typify precisely as well as objectifying the capital at its disposal. To this end, we use data from a survey of 386 individuals who held front-line ministerial and legislative positions, focusing on the group of agents who built their legitimacy and careers on disciplinary knowledge.
