Exploring and applying Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of taste, class and classification to modern day subcultures, and examining such results.
The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu was one of the earliest theorists to examine the question of symbolic consumption, outlining in particular the ways in which consumption, s an everyday practice, is implicated in ideology and capitalist hierarchies. (Lewis, J, 2008. P220)
Pierre Bourdieu, born and raised in France was a sociologist, anthropologist and philosopher. He was well educated and came from a modest social background. While working as a teacher he was deployed to Algeria during its War of Independence. After serving his time in Algeria, he stayed there and wrote his first book, Sociologie de l’Algeria. It was an instant hit.
Once he returned he worked in many Universities eventually taking over the Centre de Sociologie Européenne, which he directed until his death.
His work emphasized the social dynamics and the frameworks in which society was constructed. Bourdieu pioneered investigative terminologies such as the cultural, social and symbolic capital as well as the concepts of the habitus.
He looked to fellow theorists such as Karl Marx, Max Weber and Ludwig Wittenstein in his work. He also rejected the idea of the ‘total intellectual’ as embodied by Jean-Paul Sartre. (Wikipedia, 2014)
He is best known for his book, In Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (Bourdieu, P, 1984).
This book outlines the various ways in which people conduct their lives in reflection to one another and social institutions.
Bourdieu establishes his belief in how taste functions as a type of social structure, a guideline to society’s orientation in education, social ...
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...2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications. p3-20.
Lewis, J (2008). Cultural Studies The Basics. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications. P220-222
Lewis, J (2008). Cultural Studies The Basics. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications. P395-403
Alfrey, L,M. 2010, The Search for Authenticity: How Hipsters Transformed from a
Local Subculture to a Global Consumption Collective', MA thesis, Georgetown University, Washington DC, viewed 10 April 2014,
Shenkman, M. (2011). Bourdieu’s Theory and the Hipster in Society . Available: https://www.academia.edu/2007795/Bourdieus_Theory_and_the_Hipster_in_Society. Last accessed 12 April 2014.
Wikipedia. (2014). Cultural hegemony. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony. Last accessed 12 April 2014.
Wikipedia. (2014). Pierre Bourdieu. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Bourdieu. Last accessed 1st March 2014.
In Highbrow, Lowbrow, Levine argues that a distinction between high and low culture that did not exist in the first half of the 19th century emerged by the turn of the century and solidified during the 20th century, and that despite a move in the last few decades toward a more ecumenical interpretation of “culture,” the distinction between high art and popular entertainment and the revering of a canon of sacred, inalterable cultural works persists. In the prologue Levine states that one of his central arguments is that concepts of cultural boundaries have changed over the period he treats. Throughout Highbrow, Lowbrow, Levine defines culture as a process rather than a fixed entity, and as a product of interactions between the past and the present.
In Justin Pearson's memoir, From the Graveyard of the arousal Industry, he recounts the events that occured from his early years of adolesence to the latter years of his adulthood telling the story of his unforgiving and candid life. Set in the late 1970s "Punk" rock era, From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry offers a valuable perspective about the role culture takes in our lives, how we interact with it and how it differs from ideology.
Calder’s Thesis for this book follows the development of American consumer culture from its unorganized infancy around the 1890’s to about the 1940’s. There are several references to credit and debt outside this range as a reference to where we started and w...
Debord uses the term 'cultural theory' to denote the common ground between class and society. It could b...
He began attending College d’ Epinal where he was able to skip two years of schooling and easily earn his diploma in Letters in 1874 then in Science in 1875. Here he showed he was a brilliant student with a vast intellect. Seeking more knowledge he transferred to one of the greatest French high schools in Paris, Lycee Louis-le-Grand. While in Paris he began to prepare for the grueling acceptance exam for the prestigious school, Ecole Normale Superieur. During his time in Paris his father had became very ill and Durkheim became utterly miserable. The sickness was a great distraction to his studies and he was not able to pass the exam his first two attempts...
Yet, Ewen’s trends, fashions and styles that could be appropriately deemed traditions, are not explored from the perspective of tradition. Upon comparing the issues of identity crises suggested in A Bugs Life with those in Stewart Ewen’s The Chosen People, the sources and characteristics of identity crises in Ewen’s essay are found incomplete. Ewen limits his exploration of the sources and characteristics of identity crises of the middle class to consumerism and materialism as well as the obsession with image, style and fashion. By restricting his analysis to these issues, Ewen overlooks the perspectives of identity crises in relationship to tradition, the positive aspects of conformity and gender roles.
Since the release of Bourdieu’s work, authors looked into the affective factors that affected car consumption. Initial work done looked at subcultures in countries where the car was used not only for self-expression but also as a place of socialising with family and friends. The car was seen to bring individuals together and thus given a social value (Miller 2001; Urry 2001). Furthermore, the activities done with/to the car created different cultures and communities that reflected their values, rituals and interests through the good. In America, the car was customised through redesign, addition of paint or vocabulary on the car and was used in a manner that exhibited the values of belonging to a gang or a community (Moorhouse, 1991).
...d subject. The overall opinion is that yes Veblen, Bourdieu and Baudrillard all do have some flaws but that fact that they can still be applied to today’s society decades and even longer in relation Veblen, even though they may not 100% fit within a modern 21 century culture. The biggest term that has survived and does not seem to be going anywhere is ‘conspicuous consumption as it has long be relevant within communities today. It is also an efficient method in which society can use the term to describe the bias that is apparent when individuals are status seeker with in consumption. Therefore, even though consumption is a broad topic and can link into many other subjects other than sociology it can be understood through the works of Veblen, Bourdieu and Baudrillard. However they are just a stepping stone there are numerous theories out there and more being created.
Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist. The place in France where he came from was a place where their language and way of speaking was a source of pride. Bourdieu was actually brought up in Bourgois and Schonfelds work. His idea of symbolic capital was incorporated into their work. Symbolic capital is basically a type of wealth that provides a person with a sort of social power. Everyone has some sort of symbolic capital even if they themselves do not realize it. With symbolic capital the one with higher symbolic capital has a dominance over those with lower symbolic capitals. This can be found in linguistic and cultural anthropology as well as in
Algeria, causing him to lose his job and he moved to Paris. Albert Camus also
The main effect on consumer culture on the lives of its citizens is "[t]he erosion of the ties of community" (Sagoff 94). The problems inherent in consumer culture exist as a spiral; the lack of community beget increased need of commodities, while at the same time consumption of a larger amount of commodities dissolves the ties of the community. To impede the downward spiral of consumer culture, one must take action upon the roots of the problem, the roots of increased need and loss of community. However, since the loss of community is a result of need, and need is a result of the loss of community it is difficult to pinpoint a single cause. Therefore, one must look at the movements within the cycle to determine what action to take to remedy the situation. Lack of community requires people to define themselves by their possessions: culturally, ability signaling as well as reference groups. Thus, the need for more possessions is created. This need for more increases the need for income, and demands longer work hours. The more time spent in the marketplace instead of the home absolves the community involvement. In addition, reduced community activities have left families susceptible to amplified exposure to advertising, which in turn also amplifies the perception of need. "We consume too much when market relationships displace the bonds of community, compassion, culture and place" (Sagoff 96). The solution to consuming too much exists in reducing need, the need for ability signaling, expression through commodities and the plethora of advertising. Hampering these building blocks of relative need will in turn reduce the loss of community. In addition, the public must make an effort to be involved in the community to redu...
In order to study and understand pop culture we must first and foremost confront the
Consumption is the way of society to show their life chances about who they are and would like to be. However, consuming certain things gives a sense of where people stand in society, but the inability of others to consume these ‘certain things’ can tell about the limited life chances that exist in the contemporary UK. Foremost, in the previous century, the UK society was seen as an industrial society as everything was based on manufacturing, and on making things. Several years later, 1970s and 1980s, it changed to a post-industrial society, ‘after the working-class communities shrank, and new jobs were created in the services sector’ (Hetherington and Havard, 2014, p. 121). As years went by, society wasn’t characterised by what it produced, but by what it consumed, and that led to the arriving of consumer society. Figure 5.1 in Chapter 5 (ONS, 2012,
At only 16, Auguste attended the Lycee Joffre and the University of Montpellier (Crossman). He later was admitted to Ecole Polytechnique, which was located in Paris (Wikipedia). The school later closed in 1816 and in 1817 Auguste made his home in Paris (Crossman). Auguste had no way to support himself. He later earned a living teaching mathematics and journalism (Crossman). Auguste was a brilliant
For several decades, as if, a typical undergraduate dream has been characterized with few major steps – getting prestigious high education, taking or buying a diploma, and consequently becoming a successful rich careerist with intuitively main goal to consume as much as possible in order to boost one’s utility at highest potential level. In this way of thinking, development of personal individualism and pursue of human values are left behind the curtains. Everything that can be seen on the scene of our being is mass consumerism, which slowly, gradually, but surely is transferring us into a hedonistic consumer society. According to an article in European Journal of Marketing, “A consumer society is defined as one directed largely by the accumulation and consumption of material goods. The term "consumer society" is used in a pejorative sense, coming from the perception that such a society will inevitably be hedonistic. It is the search for instant gratification that we traditionally associate with hedonism….”(41 Issue: 2007). In our way to gain deep pleasure, we are over purchasing items and gadgets which once were thought to be extreme luxuries. Most of the times, we are interested in what kind of IPhone we possess, whether to buy a tablet or a laptop, are we are driving more expensive and fancy car than the others, what is more fashionable – a pair of Armani jeans or a pair of Dolce and Cabaña trousers.