Social Status and Cultural Consumption [Hardcover]

In this volume, leading scholars from around the world examine the social stratification of arts and culture in contemporary society.Is there any relationship between cultural hierarchy and social hierarchy or has cultural consumption become individualised to the extent that it has no social basis? This volume examines the social stratification of arts and culture, demonstrating that cultural consumption is primarily stratified by social status rather than social class.Is there any relationship between cultural hierarchy and social hierarchy or has cultural consumption become individualised to the extent that it has no social basis? This volume examines the social stratification of arts and culture, demonstrating that cultural consumption is primarily stratified by social status rather than social class.How does cultural hierarchy relate to social hierarchy? Do the more advantaged consume high' culture, while the less advantaged consume popular culture? Or has cultural consumption in contemporary societies become individualised to such a degree that there is no longer any social basis for cultural consumption? Leading scholars from the UK, the USA, Chile, France, Hungary and the Netherlands systematically examine the social stratification of arts and culture. They evaluate the class-culture homology argument' of Pierre Bourdieu and Herbert Gans; the individualisation arguments' of Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Bauman; and the omnivore-univore argument' of Richard Peterson. They also demonstrate that, consistent with Max Weber's class-status distinction, cultural consumption, as a key element of lifestyle, is stratified primarily on the basis of social status rather than by social class.1. Social status and cultural consumption Tak Wing Chan and John H. Goldthorpe; 2. The social status scale: its construction and properties Tak Wing Chan; 3. Social stratification and musical consumption: highbrow-middlebrow in the United States Arthur S. Alderson, IsaalÔ