1st Edition

Distinction A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste

By Pierre Bourdieu Copyright 1987
640 Pages
by Routledge

640 Pages
by Routledge

No judgement of taste is innocent - we are all snobs. Pierre Bourdieu’s Distinction brilliantly illuminates the social pretentions of the middle classes in the modern world, focusing on the tastes and preferences of the French bourgeoisie. First published in 1979, the book is at once a vast ethnography of contemporary France and a dissection of the bourgeois mind. In the course of everyday... Read more

Preface to the English-Language Edition  Introduction  Part 1: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste  1. The Aristocracy of Culture  Part 2: The Economy of Practices  2. The Social Space and its Transformations  3. The Habitus and the Space of Life-Styles  4. The Dynamics of Fields  Part 3: Class Tastes and Life-Styles  5. The Sense of Distinction  6. Cultural Good Will  7. The Choice of the Necessary  8. Culture and Politics Conclusion: Classes and Classifications  Postscript: Towards a ‘Vulgar’ Critique of ‘Pure’ Critiques  Appendices  Notes  Credits  Index

 

Biography

Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) was one of France’s leading sociologists. Champion of the anti-globalization movement, his work spanned a broad range of subjects, from ethnography to art, and education to television.

'In this rich and probing guide to the strategies of pretension in contemporary France, Bourdieu describes how class segments separate from each other by their contrasting attitudes towards art and beauty.' - The Observer