Distinction

Grazie soprattutto alla nascita dei reality show, un nuovo tipo di celebrità ha fatto la sua comparsa: la celebrità negativa, famosa perché i suoi comportamenti suscitano disprezzo e compassione. Diverse ricerche di area anglofona hanno analizzato questo fenomeno, legandolo spesso a questioni di classe. Questo articolo indaga la formazione di questo tipo di celebrità nel caso italiano, utilizzando focus group per analizzare come tali celebrità siano percepite dal pubblico.

We address a largely neglected issue in contemporary research on cultural class divisions: economic capital and its associated lifestyles and symbolic expressions. Using qualitative interviews, we explore how adolescents from wealthy elite backgrounds, namely students at Oslo Commerce School (OCS), traditionally one of the most prestigious upper-secondary schools in Norway, demarcate themselves symbolically from others. They draw symbolic boundaries against students at other elite schools in Oslo, more characterized by backgrounds with high cultural capital, accusing them of mimicking a 'hipster' style. Within the OCS student body, we describe identity work centring on styles of material consumption and bodily distinctions. The most salient dividing line is between those who manage to master a 'natural' style, where expensive clothes and the desired bodily attributes are displayed discreetly, and those who are 'trying too hard' and thus marked by the stigma of effort. We also show some interesting intersections between class and gender: girls aspiring to the economic elite obey the 'rules of the game' by exercising extensive control over their bodies and adhering to demanding bodily norms for their weight and slimness. Such rules are less evident among the boys, where a lack of discipline, unruliness, hard partying and even fighting constitute parts of the lifestyle valued. This article contributes to the field of cultural stratification, highlighting the importance of the 'hows' of material consumption when expressing elite distinction. It also adds new insight to the research field of elite education by showing how a mastery of 'high-end' consumer culture is involved in fostering favourable dispositions at elite schools.

Alors que les classes populaires confèrent comme on l'a vu ci-dessus beaucoup d'importance à la famille et la chaleur du foyer, elles semblent demeurer aujourd'hui également attachées -comme nos données empiriques l'attestent largement (ce que nous examinerons dans un effort de synthèse plus loin) -à un type d'ethos éducatif relativement autoritaire qui valorise les vertus de la discipline et de l'obéissance dans l'éducation de l'enfant. Cette conception relativement tutélaire et autoritaire de l'éducation des enfants va de pair avec une certaine représentation implicite de l'enfant comme petit animal sauvage à discipliner. Or, avant de rendre compte de façon condensée à partir de nos données empiriques ce type particulier d'ethos éducatif, en nous efforçant de le saisir à partir de sa logique et de sa cohérence spécifique, il convient de rappeler que cette manière de définir les classes populaires comme autoritaires ou plus enclines à l'« autoritarisme » que d'autres classes 1 relève d'une forme d'illusion naturaliste dont le sociologue -en bon « chasseur de mythe » (Elias, 1991, 55-81 2 ) -doit se méfier au plus haut point. Tout comme l'attachement à la vie familiale et à la chaleur du foyer, l'inclination ou l'affection particulière en milieu populaire pour l'éducation « à l'ancienne » comme on dit aujourd'hui, n'est en rien la manifestation d'une propriété essentielle ou endogène de ces classes. La représentation des classes populaires « comme classes autoritaires » est en soi mystificatrices dans la mesure où elle passe sous silence le fait que cette forme particulière d'ethos 3 éducatif est lui-même la conséquence de tout un processus de civilisation des moeurs qui a été impulsé lui aussi par le haut. On sait en effet que les vertus de l'autorité seront tout particulièrement exaltées par les couches « éclairées » du XIX e siècle et qu'elles viendront alimenter les stratégies missionnaristes que celles-ci chercheront à insuffler dans l'ensemble de la société et dans les classes populaires jugées en retard sur le processus de * in Schultheis F., Frauenfelder A., Delay C., Pigot N. et al. (2009), Les classes populaires aujourd'hui. Portraits de familles, cadres sociologiques, Paris : L'Harmattan, 349-383. 1 Parce que moins ouverte à la discussion et à la négociation que les couches sociales perçues ou se percevant comme plus « éclairées », parce que plus attachées à des principes hiérarchiques d'organisation des relations entre les membres de la famille qu'à des principes démocratiques de personne à personne. 2 Cf. chap. 2. « Le sociologue comme chasseur de mythes ». 3 « Cet ethos, loin de se cantonner au plan des idées, renvoie à un système de disposition qui impriment une orientation à l'action, structurant celle-ci en une « conduite de vie » (Lebensführung) » (Grossein, 1996, 61).

Der Beitrag stellt theoretische und methodische Ansätze vor, die in der Europäischen Ethnologie / Empirischen Kulturwissenschaft zur Analyse populärkultureller Phänomene verwendet werden. Grundlegend sind ein offenes Verständnis des "Populären" und flexible definitorische Ein- und Abgrenzungen von Populärkultur als Interaktionsphänomen. Ausführlicher wird auf Ansätze der britischen Cultural Studies sowie auf die ästhetische Dimension der Nutzung von Massenkünsten eingegangen.

Social classes arise in drawing boundaries, and social identities are defined and asserted through difference (Bourdieu 2010: 167). In this chapter of the book, I consider distinctions within the middle class expressed through concepts and practices, the experience of pleasure, and the disappointments of middle-class consumers in St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk. Concepts and practices along with approval and disapproval of past and current situations regarding consumption show the strategies used by classes and other social groups to construct themselves, secure a social place in the world, and distinguish themselves from other groups. Drawing on in-depth interviews, I will explore the current process of negotiation and renegotiation of age differences, class, gender and sexuality, and capital versus regional distinctions. Drawing on the self and the class concepts of Skeggs (2004), Devine et al. (2005), and others, I will discuss how differences in clothing are produced, how they are articulated in consumers’ accounts, and how they are brought into the daily lives of urban dwellers in the Russian cities of St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk.

El legado de Pierre Bourdieu ha dejado para la sociología un denso entramado de conceptos teóricos, estrategias metodológicas y preguntas fundamentales para pensar lo social. Pero encontramos en la obra de Bourdieu más una guía de imaginación sociológica en tanto estrategia de conocimiento que una propuesta teórica acabada de la cual extraer conceptos para analizar lo social. Es por eso que el presente trabajo se propone reponer en qué medida ciertos elementos presentes en La Distinción. Criterios y bases sociales del gusto abonan la posibilidad de enriquecer nuestra mirada sobre lo social, más allá del objeto de investigación que el título de esta obra sugiere. Con tal objetivo, se retoman algunos datos de la vida del autor y de su educación –en sus propios términos, de su origen social y de su trayectoria escolar-, que permiten ubicar el propio lugar en el mundo desde el cual Bourdieu observa los fenómenos sociales y culturales. Luego, se describen algunos elementos de su propuesta teórica, en su herencia de la sociología clásica y en su novedad conceptual. Finalmente, tras hacer pie en su estudio de los gustos y las preferencias en materia cultural, se plantea en qué sentido cada una de sus obras es una nueva contribución a la desnaturalización de los procesos y fenómenos sociales, así como una invitación constante a la reflexión crítica y la reflexividad académica.

Fondandosi ampiamente sulla teoria dei sistemi autoreferenziali di Niklas Luhmann, il presente elaborato si propone di descrivere la coscienza quale sistema di pensieri che producono pensieri e che si differenzia dal suo ambiente proprio per mezzo di tale autoriproduzione. I primi due capitoli illustrano quindi i principali concetti della teoria luhmanniana: distinzione sistema/ambiente, autoreferenza, autopoiesi, chiusura operativa, complessità, struttura, osservazione, senso, interpenetrazione. Il terzo capitolo, invece, concentra la riflessione sul sistema psichico o coscienza e affronta questioni come quella dell’inconscio e dell’inconsapevolezza, della contingenza e del libero arbitrio, fino alla costituzione dell’identità da parte della coscienza mediante una triplice distinzione nei confronti del corpo vissuto, della propria storia e della propria persona. In particolare, in forza di quest’ultimo costrutto, risulterà chiaro come coscienza e società – pur chiuse nei rispettivi confini operativi – contribuiscano alla reciproca costruzione, in un gioco di osservazioni in cui l’una e l’altra si auto-osservano e si scoprono contestualmente esposte ad altri osservatori che le osservano.

Dès sa parution en 1979, le livre de Pierre Bourdieu, La Distinction, fait l’objet de vifs débats. Mettant au jour les déterminants sociaux de nos goûts et de nos choix dans des domaines très divers (culture, alimentation, politique…) et il montre la « lutte des classes » à l’œuvre dans les jugements les plus quotidiens. Il bouscule simultanément les routines de la recherche en sciences sociales. À partir des années 1980, les débats ont pris un tour international. Aujourd’hui, La Distinction est le livre de sociologie le plus cité au monde et il continue d’alimenter les discussions.
Le présent ouvrage dresse un bilan de sa postérité et de son actualité. La culture savante joue-t-elle, dans les sociétés contemporaines, le même rôle qu’il y a trente ans ? Comment l’élévation générale du niveau d’instruction, le développement d’un chômage de masse, ou encore la ségrégation spatiale croissante, ont-ils affecté les rapports entre les groupes sociaux ? Et que nous apprennent les sociologues étrangers qui transposent le cadre théorique de La Distinctionà d’autres contextes nationaux ?
En rassemblant une trentaine de spécialistes, français et étrangers, cet ouvrage invite à réfléchir aux transformations qui travaillent nos sociétés et, simultanément, au destin unique (quoique paradoxal) de La Distinction et de la sociologie de Pierre Bourdieu dans les sciences sociales contemporaines.

Il contributo si dedica all'analisi della moda, meccanismo generale di mutamento che investe numerosi settori, dall'arte alla divulgazione scientifica, dal linguaggio al turismo, dal cibo al costume, di cui l'abbigliamento rappresenta un terreno privilegiato di studio. La realtà della moda è molto complessa e chiama in causa un articolato sistema produttivo e distributivo. La diffusione della moda è connessa all'incedere della modernità, dove lo sviluppo industriale del tessile, l'accessibilità dei prezzi del vestiario, rappresentano aspetti di grande significato e importanza storica, che determinano l'affermarsi della moda come fenomeno di massa, insieme all'acquisizione progressiva di diritti fondamentali per la collettività. Sempre di più la moda si delinea, quindi, come un fenomeno che non interessa solamente le categorie dominanti: in alcuni settori della società si configura, spesso, come una delle possibili, ambivalenti e ambigue, modalità di relazione con l'ordine sociale. L'articolo si conclude con un'analisi del rapporto tra giovani, sottoculture e moda. In tal senso la moda diviene un ambito nel quale poter praticare identità provvisorie e operare delle scelte che contribuiscono a determinare un sé dotato di senso.

In this article, we synthesize and analyze sociological understanding of fashion, with the main part of the review devoted to classical and recent sociological work. To further the development of this largely interdisciplinary field, we also highlight the key points of research in other disciplines. We define fashion as an unplanned process of recurrent change against a backdrop of order in the public realm. We clarify this definition after tracing fashion's origins and history. As a social phenomenon, fashion has been culturally and economically significant since the dawn of Modernity and has increased in importance with the emergence of mass markets, in terms of both production and consumption. Most research on this topic is concerned with dress, but we argue that there are no domain restrictions that should constrain fashion theories. We identify venues around which sociologists could develop further research in this field.

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En los últimos 10 años, el Perú, como buena parte del continente, ha tenido una transformación radical en la composición de su población, al grado de revertir la proporción entre las personas que viven en estado de pobreza y las que no. La pobreza cayó de poco más del 50% a 23% el 2014, y en su lugar la población no pobre y no vulnerable creció hasta alcanzar 54% del total, según organismos como el BID. ¿Cómo se están representando estos profundos cambios estructurales en la producción artística y mediática? El presente estudio propone una respuesta a partir del análisis de la exitosa saga Asu Mare. Partiendo de su masiva convocatoria –'¡Asu mare! 2', el 2015, congregó más de 3 millones de asistentes, constituyéndose en la película más vista en la historia del Perú– y de un extenso trabajo de campo etnográfico entre sus audiencias, la investigación explora en los juicios y valoraciones de los asistentes frente a la película, mirándolos desde el prisma del análisis de clase y de sus mecanismos de distinción, así como de la performance del ritual cinematográfico mismo, un tipo de evento en notable crecimiento durante el mismo periodo. En ese marco, registraremos el aprecio que los asistentes tienen de la persona-personaje: Cachín, el protagonista, como sujeto de transferencia simbólica de la movilidad social mencionada, así como el papel del humor y la parodia como mecanismos expresivos utilizados para
atenuar las diferencias sociales.

Praca na rzecz gospodarki narodowej w każdym przypadku stanowi samoistną wartość, gdyż to dzięki wkładowi czasu, energii i wiedzy mieszkańców zwiększa się dobrobyt państwa. Oprócz wynagrodzenia finansowego, wieloletnia praca oraz wybitne zasługi mogą spotykać się ze szczególnym przejawem wdzięczności pod postacią odznak honorowych. W niniejszym artykule przedstawione zostały wyróżnienia ustanowione przez Radę Ministrów w Polsce za zasługi położone w poszczególnych sektorach gospodarki. Ze względu na elitarny charakter orderów i odznaczeń, odznaki resortowe stanowią najpopularniejszy, symboliczny sposób na nagrodzenie wysiłków obywateli związanych z wykonywaniem określonej pracy zawodowej.

George Spencer-Brown's Laws of Form is a mathematical treatise that calls for philosophical interpretation. Its core component, the calculus of indications, progresses from the simple act of drawing a distinction, through a number of levels of the indication of that distinction, until it finally reaches the level of real existence and the universe as we know it. While applicable to any special case of indication and semantic expression, this calculus is simultaneously a direct analysis of the underlying and ubiquitous substratum of creation from nothing. This means that Laws of Form should be understood as offering a theory of being (an ontology) and a theory of form (a phenomenology) on the common ground of an intuitive simplicity. The calculus of indications gives us a way of understanding everything-every possible object, every overall gestalt, every possible world, every 'thing' in both the precise literal sense and the diffuse metaphorical sense-as a form of indication, and all indication-the very 'form' codified by this calculus-as based on an original and primary distinction at the boundary between everything and nothing. This ultimate boundary, called "the first distinction," stands in a very peculiar relation to every familiar thing in our conscious experience. This singular peculiarity of the first distinction should be regarded on the basis of mathematical ontology, in terms of what is called prima philosophia, first philosophy (Greek: πρώτη φιλοσοφία), and in such terms we can determine its ontological and phenomenological status. ...

RESUMEN: En este trabajo se estudian las trayectorias de una selección de familias de comerciantes gaditanos desde mitad del siglo XVIII hasta principios del XX con el objetivo de analizar cómo las élites sociales se transformaron a lo largo de este periodo. En concreto, nos interesa indagar cómo estas parentelas gaditanas reconocieron, asimilaron, administraron y negociaron los cambios dentro y fuera de la familia. Como hilo conductor se propone observar las formas, mecanismos y recursos que desplegaron para ser reconocidas como «honradas», una de las máximas sociales más importantes que se fue forjando a lo largo de todo el ochocientos. ABSTRACT: This present work studies the family trajectories of a selection of Cadiz traders from the mid-18th century until the early 20th century in order to analyse how social elites changed throughout this period. In particular, it is looked into how these relatives recognised, assimilated, managed, and negotiated several transformations, inside family as well as outside. With this aim, the article examines the ways, mechanisms, and resources that these families deployed to be recognised as 'respectable' people, one of the most relevant social maxims, which was forging during the 19th century.

Résumé
Dans  cette  présentation,  Agnieszka  Jachec-Neale  nous  a  proposé  d’aborder  la  question  de  la 
perte de protection des biens de caractère civil, que ce soit par leur utilisation, leur nature ou
leur emplacement. Il est aujourd’hui généralement admis que les hostilités conduites au sein des
villes et autres zones résidentielles posent de nombreuses difficultés opérationnelles, notamment
en ce qui concerne le processus de ciblage ou «
targeting
», dont le but est d’identifier, de sélec-
tionner et d’établir les priorités d’attaque parmi des cibles militaires présumées légitimes. Elle
a d’abord analysé en quoi le milieu urbain constitue un environnement complexe, pour ensuite
se concentrer sur les difficultés liées au ciblage des infrastructures, tant de surface que sous-
terraines. Dans sa conclusion, Agnieszka Jachec-Neale a rappelé qu’en cas de doute, un bien qui
est normalement affecté à un usage civil, est présumé ne pas être utilisé en vue d’apporter une
contribution  effective  à  l’action  militaire,  conformément  à  l’article  52(3)  du  Premier  protocol 
additionnel de 1977.

At issue here is to advocate for a rare event – the introduction of a new symbol. We are all familiar with symbols such as "+", "-", "&", "%", "§", "©", "@", "𝄞", "√", "♂", "♀" and even, pinnacle of the mysterious, the sign for equals, "=". We calculate with them, routinely follow their commands and employ them wherever we might use them. Yet only a minute's reflection suffices and we start to hesitate. Where do we know these signs from and for how long have we known what they mean? How often have we witnessed them, following them but without considering, not even for a minute, their meaning or their distinction? And while we're at it, what is the story with other puzzling signs such as "1", "2", "3" or "a", "b", "c"? What do we do when we read "and"? And what is different when we read "or"? Why is it that still today the truth tables of logic have no entry for "yes, but"? And we could pursue this questioning and would not have even left the pertinent circle of a European or even western symbolic universe. In fact, however, I do not want to put our symbolic world into doubt, but instead to supplement it with another symbol, one that I would hope that some day we come to use as routinely and unreflectively as the above-mentioned signs. It is a symbol that British mathematician George Spencer-Brown introduced in the year of 1969, leaving the expert world rather unimpressed, in order to take a further step toward the old dream of reducing mathematical calculus to a single sign. George Boole, in his Laws of Thought, had reduced the entirety of algebra in the year of 1845 to the two numerals of "0" (for Nothing) and "1" (for Universe), so why should this not be taken further. Spencer-Brown introduced the sign, ¬, as a mark of distinction, marking cross, the operation of indication involving a distinction.

Le film français Le Goût des autres fut un énorme succès commercial et critique à sa sortie en 2000. Dans le même temps Pierre Bourdieu gagnait une audience, qui devait aller bien au-delà de la sphère universitaire de la sociologie. Le film a souvent été présenté comme une illustration créative et singulière de la théorie de « la violence symbolique », de la construction sociale des goûts esthétiques et de l’illégitimité culturelle, présentant Le Goût des autres comme un « film sociologique » innovant. Néanmoins, cette affinité entre le film et la théorie de Pierre Bourdieu a toujours été prise pour un acquis sans avoir été analysée sociologiquement. Cet article tente a contrario de décrire la dynamique entre la fiction et la sociologie 1) en enquêtant sur la façon dont la sociologie a pu influencer le processus de production du film, à partir d’un entretien mené avec la réalisatrice ; 2) en réfléchissant sur la façon dont la « règle du jeu » narrative du film peut questionner et interroger la sociologie. Le premier axe montre comment la connaissance sociologique a pu être intériorisée à travers les spécificités d’une trajectoire biographique, marquée par l’expérience du désajustement social, le second montre comment la fiction peut illustrer efficacement des phénomènes sociologiques spécifiques, à savoir l’expérience du vacillement social, le jeu des mises à distance sociales tacites et réciproques et les signes du possibleimprobable.

The Taste of Others: Sociology of Intentions and Sociological IntentionsThe French film The Taste of Others was a huge commercial and critical success when it was released in 2000. At the very same time Pierre Bourdieu gained an audience, which was to go far beyond the academic sphere of sociology. The film has often been presented as a unique creative illustration of Bourdieu’s theory about ‘symbolic violence’, social building of aesthetical tastes and cultural illegitimacy, presenting the Taste of Others as a break through ‘sociological movie’. Nevertheless, this affinity between the film and Bourdieu’s theory has always been taken for granted and has never been analysed sociologically. This paper intends to do so by understanding the dynamics in between fiction and sociology by i) presenting a sociological inquiry about how sociology could have influenced the production process of the film, based on a personal interview with the movie maker; ii) reflecting upon how the narrative ‘rule’ of the film can challenge sociology. The first concern shows how sociological knowledge can be integrated throughout the specificities of a biographical trajectory, marked by the experience of social misfits, the later shows how fiction can render particular sociological phenomenon in an efficient way: the experience of social vacillating, the reciprocal game of mutual distanciation in between groups and signs of improbable possibilities occurring in social life.

The homology idea contends that a very close relationship takes place between social positions (economic and cultural capital) and cultural practices. In this paper, we use data from the International Social Survey Programme for comparing 26 countries.

Various studies suggest that those who are ‘socially disadvantaged’ remain less likely to attend theatre. However, empirical research shows that pricing is only one ‘barrier’ to attendance; simultaneously, research into the experience of both theatregoers and non-theatregoers reveals an anxiety about theatregoing expressed through a preoccupation with dress, convention and other forms of ritual. However, much of this research does not distinguish on the basis of class and there is little evidence of how working class people experience theatergoing when they do attend.

The paper uses ‘thick description’ and ethnographic research conducted via focus groups to build on Pierre Bourdieu’s work on the relationship between ‘taste’ and class in order to examine mainstream theatre as a site for struggle. It uses the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, as a locus, due to the theatre’s success in attracting people from the most deprived wards of the UK.

This thesis concerns the correspondence between relations of social class and relations of social status. Dating back to the early days of the social sciences, the debate about class and status has been revitalised in the wake of the initial advances made by the late French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), who firmly asserted that class relations express themselves through socially structured, and symbolically significant, lifestyle differences in contemporary societies. As a point of departure this thesis takes the debate about the applicability of Bourdieu’s theoretical-methodological framework and his substantial claims about what I call the class-status nexus to investigate processes of social closure based on lifestyle differences; in particular differences in people’s consumption preferences and aesthetical tastes. It addresses the question of whether, and if so in which ways, such lifestyle differences lead to social boundaries being formed between more or less exclusive groups of people. Empirically investigating an urban community located on the south-west coast of Norway – the city of Stavanger – the study is based on qualitative interviews with forty-six individuals located in different classes and class fractions.

Three substantial claims are forwarded. First, the analysis points to structural affinities between class positions and different cultural tastes. In particular, the thesis makes the point that how people appreciate cultural and material goods is at least as significant as what they prefer, consume or engage in. Based on the assumption that the ways in which people classify various goods are indicative of their modes of perceiving, appropriating and appreciating these goods, four main modes of consumption corresponding to different class positions are identified. These findings indicate that the social distribution of different consumption preferences and aesthetical tastes is clearly linked to the local class structure. Second, the analysis supports the idea that this classed distribution of lifestyles amounts to the formation of more or less exclusive status groups. It is argued that the interviewees’ expressed aversions to others indicate more or less explicit lifestyle-related antagonisms between social actors located in different class positions.  More specifically, it is shown that entwinements of aesthetical and moral criteria of evaluation are used by interviewees to systematically demarcate ‘us’ from ‘them’. These findings indicate that the local class structure not only corresponds to a differential distribution of lifestyles; they also manifest themselves in socially differentiated judgements of lifestyle differences, indicating elective affinities and taste-related status hierarchies. Finally, the analysis suggests that socially recognised lifestyle differences express relations of domination and subordination, in the sense that privileged groups have power over less privileged groups. While the analysis certainly points to an extensive mobilisation of egalitarian sentiments against the perceived ‘elitism’ implied in certain lifestyles, such classifications are exclusively directed against people who are regarded as ‘showing off’ in ways deemed to be morally dubious. The unequal distribution of privileges and advantages tied to lifestyle differentials is, however, rarely problematised. On the contrary, if privileged others are perceived as acting in morally acceptable ways, it seems they are provided with an extraordinary endorsement in the eyes of the non-privileged. Thus, the analysis suggests that closure processes are largely misrecognised, because the privileged act under the ‘moral radar’ of egalitarian sentiments.

The thesis contributes to contemporary sociological debates on class, status and social closure, both on a substantial and on a theoretical-methodological level. Substantially, it expands on a body of research on class and cultural life, in particular the work of Professor Lennart Rosenlund, who has analysed correspondences between class and status relations in Stavanger on the basis of survey data. More generally, the present analysis points to an enduring significance of class in the structuring of social inequalities, in the sense that the social and economic conditions entailed by different class positions fundamentally affect the ways in which people perceive, think and act in the social world. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that these classed modes of conduct amount to social closure, meaning that groups of social actors, intentionally or otherwise, monopolise advantages and privileges by restricting opportunities to outsiders. While the structuring of subjectivities and cultural identities might not always be expressed in class terms by social actors themselves, the expressed demarcations and symbolic value production nevertheless seem to be systematically structured by underlying class relations.

On a theoretical-methodological level, this thesis explores the applicability of Bourdieu’s conceptual framework, employing it to comprehend a different research object than it was originally designed for. It is argued that an extended Bourdieu-inspired analytical framework applied in a relational manner can contribute to a further development of what has come to be known as cultural class analysis, i.e. a type of class analysis which encompasses the cultural sphere of society. While the application of Bourdieu’s work is already at the forefront of this development, the present study can be seen as contributing new theoretical-methodological clarifications and elaborations regarding (1) the social distribution of lifestyle properties; (2) the formation of status groups on the basis of lifestyle differentials; and (3) how the unequal distribution of advantages and privileges come to be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the non-privileged.

NOTA BENE il y a deux pièces jointes : le texte lui-même et la couverture du livre

Pour citer ce texte : Jérôme Maucourant, « Transformer la valeur (sociale) en prix (de marché) : sur la résistance du social », in Massimo Vallerani (dir.), Valore delle cose e valore delle persone : dall’Antichità all’Età moderna, Rome, Viella, 2019, pp. 351-368.   

Plan
0. Introduction : valeur des personnes et individualisme

1. La personne à l’ère du système de prix (Veblen et le luxe)
      1. 1 Comment la question du luxe a disparu
      1. 2 Valeur des puissants et consommation ostentatoire
        1. 3 Economie de la servitude volontaire

2. Monnaie, échange de bien et statut social : l’apport de Karl Polanyi
      2.1 Monnaies précapitalistes et statuts sociaux
        2.2 L’échange avant le Grand Marché
        2.3 Valeur des groupes et hiérarchie par la monnaie à l’ère contemporaine

3. Conclusion -  La résistance du social

EXTRAIT
Nous évoquerons ainsi, dans un premier temps, la perspective adoptée par Thorstein Veblen qui repose, dans des termes nouveaux, la vieille « querelle du luxe » pour montrer, contre le point de vue libéral, son impossible dépassement. En effet, la conception dominante de l’économie s’est construite par un rejet de la pertinence de la notion de luxe, laquelle est porteuse de sens moral et sociaux incompatibles avec ses axiomes. Or, c’est par le luxe que les sociétés manifestent des valeurs sociales dont le prix des choses et leur possession n’est qu’un moyen. Dans un second temps, nous illustrerons une aute perspective sociologique sur l’économie, celle de Polanyi, qui essaie d’articuler monnaies, statuts sociaux et échange ; selon cette conception, la monnaie participe de la reproduction d’un ordre social hiérarchisé, la fonction politique de l’ordre monétaire existant également pour les sociétés capitalistes contemporaine.

This chapter first explores the reasons of the decline of class analysis in the age of neoliberalism before engaging with the arguments for the return of class. The chapter considers social anthropology’s changing relationship to the class concept by asking what ethnographers have done with the idea, why it fell out of favour during the 1980s and 1990s, and how attention to the topic has since been reinvigorated by analyses of precarity, economic crisis and social capital. The chapter concludes by considering why contemporary political anthropology must continue to engage carefully with the types of power relations described by the term ‘class’.

In this paper, we would like to make some remarks regarding the role of film criticism in the process of the revaluation and spread of cultural codes. Since the rise of cinema departments at universities, film criticism has changed, incorporating academic methodologies of analysis, theories from arts and human sciences, and specific spaces where films are publicly discussed (such as conferences, journals, and papers). University researchers are playing an important role as they bring mass culture to the center of academic concerns. By doing so, they create a bridge between popular culture and high taste, making easier the process of accepting movies as a legitimate object of study and proposing interpretations that reveal the codes by which artwork is created.

Es wird ein alltagskulturhistorisches Herangehen an Prozesse kulturellen Transfers und kultureller Aneignung skizziert, die in Deutschland seit dem 19. Jh. als "Amerikanisierung" thematisiert wurden und werden. Mit Blick auf die 1950er stehen zwei analytische Zugänge im Zentrum: Generationenablösung und jugendliche Stilbastelei sowie Distinktion und Hegemonie.

Despite research on fans, relatively little is known about the mechanisms behind the negotiation of cultural value of genre texts by fan consumers. The overall image of fandom that emerges from the literature (for example Fiske, 1992; Jenkins, 2012) is as a fairly uniform social formation of audience members devoted to specific pop-/subcultural goods and therefore displaying quantities of appropriate capital enabling them to engage a given field. I will explore field structures that build on Bourdieusian field theory (Bourdieu, 1979, 1992, 1993; Jenkins, 1992) by showing a lack of specificity in terms of field boundaries, allowing me to theorise fandom in relation to what I term an SF “mega-field”. I focus on relationships between cinematic science fiction and fans who engage with texts displaying a spectrum of ‘quality’ signified by cultural value.
To illustrate the negotiation of cultural value of texts by fans I examine three case studies: Alien (1979), Moon (2009) and Avatar (2009). These represent different qualities (canonical, art-house, blockbuster) and correspond to a palette of Bourdieusian tastes. I conduct empirical research using qualitative interviews with thirty-two science fiction fans who vary in terms of social background, gender, age, and level of engagement with the field.
Drawing from my data, I theorize Bourdieusian-based phenomena such as intra-fandom distinctions whereby fans engage with texts via a “fan gaze” showing paradoxically “detached immersion”. I also show supportive evidence for the downward cultural mobility of the most elite audience, omnivorous fans, which expands on Bourdieu’s theorisation of social action. Furthermore, I explore fandom’s approach to generic SF texts by illustrating the fannish drive to canonise textual novelty in otherwise theoretically repetitive texts. By focusing on readings of texts in relation to personal pragmatics, I discuss SF canonisation via “innovative cliché” – a position-taking which splits and recombines the repetition and difference inherent to genre (Neale, 1980). Ultimately, this enables me to theorize the formation of an SF “mega-field” acting as an industrial tool for audience expansion. To this end, I describe the intermedial nature of cinema which allows me to theorise SF films, as they are valued by fans, as multifunctional generic texts with an appeal directed towards the widest possible audience.

Whilst differences in British English accents can be traditionally evidenced through variances in pronunciation, syntax and lexical choices, justification for these preferences are more complicated and contentious (Cheshire et al, 1989; 1999; Kerswill, 2002). Over the past 40 or so years sociolinguists have systematically observed accents throughout the British isles, and have attempted to document and provide explanations for regional differences and distinct varieties. The present study examined the speculation by Wells (1982a, b) that the happY vowel in use in working-class Nottingham differs from the rest of the United Kingdom and can be realised as approaching [ɛ] of the DRESS lexical set instead of the more common KIT [ɪ] or FLEECE [i]. In addition to documenting the variable, the subsequent study also looked into whether there is a relationship between usage of the innovation and age, gender or formality. From the results, it was established that the happY vowel in use in a working-class native Nottingham accent can be realised approaching [ɛ] of the DRESS lexical set and that even though all speakers have a high usage of the variant the form is formality driven; as well as being both age and gender-specific.

Through defining kitsch art, looking at Bourdieu’s Distinction theory, applying McCoy and Scarborough’s (2014) viewing styles, and linking it to Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis, the following essay will elaborate on the role of kitsch art in society and how it is an example of bad taste.