Suchergebnisse

Preface and acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Towards a sociological theory of eating -- Elements of the theory of practice -- Elementary forms of eating -- Organising eating -- Habituation -- Repetition and the foundations of competence -- Conclusions: practice theory and eating out -- References

This book offers critical reflection on Pierre Bourdieu's account of the relationships between class, culture, power and taste. It compares and contrasts different theoretical and conceptual approaches, and brings empirical investigations to bear on relevant theoretical issues about social distinction. This book was published as a special issue of Journal of Cultural Economy.

This article examines the development of the sociology of consumption. It identifies three periods in its evolution: origins prior to the 1980s; the years between the 1980s and the mid-2000s under the influence of the cultural turn; and the subsequent decade, when new theoretical perspectives and political issues have emerged. Achievements of the second period are reviewed and three areas of fresh and productive recent research are identified: cultural consumption and its intersection with inequality and stratification, sustainable consumption and the organization of everyday life in Western societies, and the politics of consumption. The article concludes with a discussion of possibilities for future research.

Multi-disciplinary studies of consumption have proliferated in the last two decades. Heavily influenced by notions of 'the consumer' and tenets of 'the cultural turn', explanations have relied preponderantly upon models of voluntary action contextualised by webs of cultural meanings which constitute symbolic resources for individual choice. Arguably, the cultural turn has run its course and is beginning to unwind, a consequence of internal inconsistencies, misplaced emphases and the cycle of generational succession in theory development in the social sciences. Theories of practice provide a competing alternative approach which contests the colonisation of consumption by models of individual choice and cultural expressivism. To that end, this article explores the use of theories of practice as a lens to magnify aspects of common social processes which generate observable patterns of consumption. It is suggested that theories of practice might provide a general analytic framework for understanding consumption, one whose particular emphases capture important and relevant aspects overlooked by previously dominant approaches to consumption as culture. This article reviews reasons for the emergence of theories of practice and isolates some of their distinctive emphases. Strengths and weaknesses of the theory of practice as an approach to consumption are discussed.

The study of food and eating draws evidence from many different disciplines using many different methods. This paper argues that this should be viewed positively; the idea that there is one best method, or suite of methods, to which every social scientist should be committed is at odds with both processes of knowledge formation and the complexity of alimentary life. Complex research questions necessitate multiple sources and methods, the greatest challenge being to fashion and to justify an integrated interpretation of different types of data. The paper examines these issues with reference to debates about the use of mixed methods, which have mostly focused on the reconciliation within a single study of quantitative and qualitative data. A broader remit is advocated, paying attention to protocols for integrating multiple methods. The argument is illustrated with reference to the design and analysis of a study which collected evidence about the activity of eating out. The paper speculates about whether deliberate and purposeful use of multiple methods may be a key to generating explanations, and ultimately theories, which transcend disciplinary boundaries.

It is often remarked that dislikes are more revealing of taste than likes. The evidential basis of this insight, which can be found in the work of Bourdieu (1984) and of Douglas (1996), who called it 'cultural hostility', is slight. This paper specifies and evaluates the thesis, 'the cultural hostility thesis', that people share strong, symbolically significant, dislikes which function to demarcate cultural boundaries between antagonistic social groups. I examine progressively more precisely specified versions of the thesis and, using data from a survey of cultural practice in Britain, apply different operationalizations in order to estimate the prevalence of cultural hostility. I show that: expressed dislikes are probably not the primary indicator of meaningful social boundaries; evidence for overt generalized cultural hostility is relatively weak; even the best indicators of hostility suggest limited antagonism; class differences are evident, but more because cultural omnivorousness has become a principle of good taste than as an expression of condescension or resentment. Indications of cultural hostility can be found, but they operate in a restricted manner, revolving around axes not only of class but also generation and gender. I conclude that a strong cultural hostility thesis is not readily applicable to contemporary Britain.