Showing papers by "Alan Warde published in 2008"

Social mobility and social capital in contemporary Britain.

Abstract: This paper seeks to contribute to social capital research by linking measures of formal and informal forms of social capital to social mobility trajectories and assessing their impact on social trust. Drawing on data from a recent national survey –Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion (2003/2004) – we analyse formal civic engagement and informal social connections. The latter data are obtained using, for the first time in a study in Britain, Lin's (2001) ‘Position Generator’ approach as a means to identify the volume, range and position of individuals' informal social contacts. The pattern of contacts suggests that access to social ties is strongly conditioned by mobility trajectory. We also show that civic engagement in formal associations is especially high among second-generation members of the service class. It is also shown that both class trajectory and possession of two types of social capital have significant impacts on trust. Among the social groups disadvantaged in terms of bridging social ties are not only those in lower classes but also women and members of minority ethnic groups.

Class and Cultural Division in the UK

Abstract: Using data drawn from the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion study, we examine the relationship between social class membership and cultural participation and taste in the areas of music, reading, television and film, visual arts, leisure, and eating out Using Geometric Data Analysis, we examine the nature of the two most important axes which distinguish `the space of lifestyles' By superimposing socio-demographic variables on this cultural map, we show that the first, most important, axis is indeed strongly associated with class We inductively assess which kind of class boundaries can most effectively differentiate individuals within this `space of lifestyles'The most effective model distinguishes a relatively small professional class (24%) from an intermediate class of lower managerial workers, supervisors, the self-employed, senior technicians and white collar workers (32%) and a relatively large working class which includes lower supervisors and technicians (44%)

Dimensions of a theory of taste

Abstract: This paper draws upon and draws together some key propositions made in this special issue of the Journal of Cultural Economy on cultural consumption, classification and power. Based on reconsiderations of Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction, it seeks ways give greater coherence to social theories of taste. It suggests that evaluations of Distinction depend in part on whether critics are concerned with understanding taste formation, judgments of taste, or justifications of taste. Exploring this, it first discusses the generalizability of the analysis presented in Distinction, focussing on criticisms of the main concepts deployed – habitus, cultural capital and legitimate culture. Finding them insufficient in themselves, the paper proceeds to examine analytical approaches to changing patterns of taste, to social class and judgments of social standing based upon tastes, and to the making of aesthetic justifications of cultural practice. The consequences for a research agenda in the sociology of culture and the the...

INTRODUCTION: Cultural consumption, classification and power

Abstract: In the wake of economism, social scientists in the 1970s began to identify the complicit role of cultural practices in the operation of power. Cultural cognition, competence and commitment, capture...