Pierre Bourdieu

Distinction and Taste

 French sociologist His work is based on the analysis of empirical data collected by doing fieldwork and ethnographies of Parisians He studied the routines and lifestyles of Parisians:
Habitual practices Dress, Hairstyles Dining, Choice of schools Magazines..

Big Ideas
Taste is a product of the personal and the social
Acquired through upbringing and education Taste classifies the classifier: the function of taste in capitalist societies is to mark class boundaries

Legacy
Simmel
Imitation and Differentiation Both processes at work but its not so simpleinvolves other cultural intermediaries Experts who consult and create style

Cultural Capital
Experts (cultural intermediaries) have cultural capital Cultural Capital is distinct from Economic Capital A storing link exists between cultural capital and economic capital

Cultural Intermediaries
Stylists Advertisers Magazine editors Their cultural capital is based on the fact they decide what is in and what is out They assign values and significance to commodities and They create symbolic violence in that this is a site of constant struggle and conflict

History of taste and distinction

In 17th c France up to the present privileged groups amongst the elite competed for cultural nobility in which their word was the last word on defining art Consumption is a language and involves decoding Art makes sense only to those who have the code to read it

Art..
A beholder (of art) who lacks the code feels lost Doesnt know how to read Watch You tube video : Damien Hirsts pickled shark What Bourdieu tells us is that appreciation is a function of knowledge

Art/knowledge/power
We are made to believe that art is made for all to appreciate That appreciation is a natural extension of viewing or seeing But B says that on the contrary it is an intellectual exercise based on being able to crack the code

Conclusion:art
The pure gaze is a historical invention. What is true is that the criteria used to judge art remains usually, implicit (7)

Conclusion: distinction/taste
What and how people consume can act as a social reproduction mechanism Expressions in taste are acts of distinction to the extent that they signal and help reproduce difference in social class Distinction can be added to other important class reproduction mechanisms such as
Educational credentials, wealth &, membership in clubs,

Case study: distinction and taste Water

Water- historically a public good Essential to life In the last 20 years the trend has been toward the privatization of water The irony is that at a time when water has been made safe to drink in millions of homes the same people go out and buy their water in shops

 Why? Some see bottled water as a form of cultural consumption driven by status competition to a belief in magical curing
European bottled waters have been sold for centuries in restaurants around the world Gradations reflect class distinctions as well as age and gender (male athletes, kid fuel, pink brands) The end