Distinction Key thinkers: Pierre Bourdieu & Robert Putnam Lecturer: Olivera Tesnohlidkova o.tesnohlidkova@mail.muni.cz Office hours: contact via e-mail beforehand Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) uDistinction: A Critique of the Judgement of Taste (1979) uDistinction – double meaning: to distinguish & taste (to differentiate and appreciate) uChoices which we tend to attribute to individual taste (e.g., what to wear) originate in society and depend on our training, (length of) our education and our social environment uThere is a link between different tastes/preferences (e.g., between music and food preferences) A person with his hand on his chin Description automatically generated with medium confidence 3 types of taste u(corresponding to educational levels and social classes) u u1) Legitimate taste - increases with educational level and is highest in those fractions of the dominant class that are richest in educational capital u2) Middle-brow taste - more common in the middle classes u3) Popular taste – most frequent among the working classes and varies in inverse ratio to education capital Capital uSocial inequality is organized in class inequality uClass divisions are based on the different conditions of existence - endowments of capital and social conditioning, i.e., sets of dispositions (habitus) uCapital - resources enabling people to profit from participating in different fields u4 main types of capital uEconomic (financial wealth, assets, material goods) uCultural (cultural skills, knowledge, titles, qualifications) uSocial (useful social connections) uSymbolic (social legitimation, honour, respect) – legitimated form of other capitals uSocial positions of individuals depend on the overall volume and composition of their capital uVolume and composition of capital can vary over time; they mark the trajectory of one’s social biography Cultural capital uDetermines collective identity (people with similar cultural capital are likely to associate with each other) u3 forms: uEmbodied – inherited and acquired, usually through family socialization(e.g., language/dialect) uObjectified – material objects/artifacts uInstitutionalized – institutional recognition of cultural capital Habitus uSet of durable, transposable dispositions that shape our practices (perceptions, judgement, how we act and make sense of the world) uCulture of a social group embodied in the individual - "society written into the body, into the biological individual" (In Other Words: Essays Towards a Reflexive Sociology, 1990: 63) uHabitus ≠ habit uClass-specific; durable (historically conditioned and internalized); transposable (operates across different settings – political, social, religious etc.) uJudgements of taste are part of social identity, as they express class-based habitus (i.e., our tastes affirm our class) uStructured and structuring – it is the product of our social class and reaffirms our social class by shaping our practices Field uSociety is divided into different spheres, i.e., fields (economy, art, politics, science, religion, etc.) uSemi-autonomous – each field has its own sets of rules, structures, forms of authority uArenas of struggle – competitive ‘market’ in which individuals employ relevant types of capital to fulfill their interests (preserving or changing the distribution of capital in that field) u Robert Putnam (1941-) u"Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital“ in Journal of Democracy (1995) uBowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000) uDecline in community involvement in the U.S. in the last 50 years uSocial capital - the social connections/networks we create have values uTrust is at the core of social capital – networks assume mutual obligations uSocial capital has individual and collective aspect u A person smiling for the camera Description automatically generated with medium confidence uSocial capital can be used for both benevolent and malevolent purposes uPromoting mutual support, cooperation, trust, institutional effectiveness uOR sectarianism, ethnocentrism, corruption u uBonding (exclusive) vs bridging (inclusive) social capital uNot exclusive categories uBonding – reinforcing exclusive identities and homogeneous groups (e.g., fraternal organizations, church-based women’s reading groups) uCreates in-group loyalty, but also out-group antagonism uBridging – outward looking, encompassing people across diverse social groups (civil rights movement, youth service groups, ecumenical religious organizations) Practical dimensions of social capital uGroups and Networks uTrust and Solidarity uCollective Action and Cooperation uSocial Cohesion and Inclusion uInformation and Communication u uGeneralized reciprocity – similar to “paying it forward”