La Distinction

Distinction is the title of the main work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930 - 2002), subtitled A Social Critique of judgment, the distinction in the original French in 1979 as La first. Critique sociale du jugement appeared. The work describes cultural separation between the mechanisms of society. ( for definition see also Social distance).

Content

Bourdieu believes that taste is nothing individual, but that this is always something of the society Embossed. So taste is not a peculiarity of man, which naturally has everyone but always stir ago by the way someone was socialized and how and in what social context it moves. Thus was the social background to the always belong a certain habit, the Relevant. Thus arises include membership of a particular social field. Bourdieu developed this view on the basis of many empirical observations, which he performed as part of his study.

Here, Bourdieu distinguishes three dimensions of taste:

The differences between the three dimensions discussed Bourdieu, among others, the example of the cultural practice of listening to music. The Cultural is therefore not autonomous or spontaneous, but always the result of the respective socialization, as Bourdieu demonstrated by numerous everyday actions. Among other things, he also focuses on specific behaviors and flavors in the areas of food and drink, clothing style or home furnishings. Through the establishment of flavors was to be a manifestation of social stabilization and differences in a society. The various " flavors classes " thus reproduce itself also

With this view, Bourdieu overcomes the classical distinction of micro theory and macro theory by attempting to prove that objective structures and subjective orientations are closely linked. The individual may be regarded exclusively as the representative of a provided with certain socioeconomic characteristics grouping according to him. (also see Social group, population group)

Thus, according to Bourdieu, can be an advanced class theory justified, since the concept of class no longer remains closely tied to the economic position, but can be expanded in the area of culture.

Formation

Distinction is the written elaboration of a comprehensive study that Bourdieu 1963 conducted until 1979. The work is characterized by numerous detailed observations that are supported by a wealth of material. For major work of Bourdieu, the book was, inter alia, that is theoretically and empirically converge most aspects and themes with which Bourdieu life busy. Bourdieu consists in Distinction with bourgeois philosophy of Immanuel Kant critically.