HIGHBROW CULTURAL CONSUMPTION AND THE PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL PRESTIGE IN EUROPE

Abstract

The association between class and culture as an important way to understand the determinants of individual tastes is well-known. Although numerous studies have confirmed this association by using education and income as proxies of cultural and economic capital in highbrow cultural consumption at the individual level, cross-national comparisons remain scarce. I contribute to the existing body of knowledge by focusing on taste publics—groups of individuals distinguished by their levels of economic and cultural capital—rather than separately dealing with education and family affluence. I examine the extent to which taste publics and specific country characteristics such as a country’s population characteristics, its wealth, and its level of cultural funding affect highbrow cultural consumption across European countries. I further test the extent to which the association between taste publics and highbrow cultural consumption is moderated by these country characteristics. Using Eurobarometer (2007) data, I show that taste publics have distinct highbrow cultural consumption scores and the association between taste publics and highbrow cultural consumption varies across Europe. Furthermore, I show that highbrow cultural consumption is affected by specific country characteristics. Lastly, I find that the social prestige perceived through consuming highbrow culture becomes an important predictor of who consumes highbrow culture.

Keywords

• Taste Publics,Pierre Bourdieu,Homology,Highbrow Cultural Consumption

AVRUPA’DA ENTELEKTÜEL KÜLTÜREL TÜKETİM VE SOSYAL PRESTİJ ALGISI

Abstract

Birey beğenilerinin belirleyici faktörlerini anlamak için sınıf ve kültür arasındaki ilişki önemli bir yöntem olarak bilinir. Birey seviyesindeki entelektüel kültürel tüketimde eğitim ve gelir seviyesini kültürel ve ekonomik sermayenin temsilcisi olarak kullanarak hazırlanan birçok çalışma bu ilişkiyi doğrulamasına rağmen, uluslararası kıyaslamalar yapan çalışmaların sayısı oldukça azdır. Bu çalışma, mevcut literatüre eğitim ve aile servetini ayrı birer etken olarak incelemek yerine beğeni grupları—ekonomik ve kültürel sermaye seviyelerine göre ayrışmış birey grupları—üzerine odaklanarak katkıda bulunmaktadır. Avrupa ülkelerinde ülkelerin nüfusları, zenginlikleri ve kültürel kaynak yaratma seviyeleri gibi ülkesel özellikleri ile beğeni gruplarının o ülkelerdeki entelektüel kültürel tüketimi ne oranda etkilediklerini incelenmektedir. Ayrıca, beğeni grupları ile entelektüel kültürel tüketim arasındaki ilişkinin ülkesel özellikler tarafından ne oranda ılımlaştırıldığı test edilmektedir. Eurobarometer (2007) veri setini kullanarak, beğeni gruplarının farklı entelektüel kültürel tüketim puanları olduğu ve beğeni grupları ile entelektüel kültürel tüketim arasındaki ilişkinin Avrupa ülkelerinde değişkenlik gösterdiği gösterilmiştir. Buna ek olarak, entelektüel kültürel tüketimin ülkesel özelliklerden de etkilendiği gösterilmiştir. Son olarak, entelektüel kültür tüketim sonucu elde edilen sosyal prestij algısının kimin entelektüel kültür tüketeceğinin önemli bir göstergesi olduğu bulunmuştur.

Keywords

• Beğeni Grupları,Pierre Bourdieu,Türdeşlik,Entelektüel Kültürel Tüketim

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