In research on cultural taste and distinction, inconsistent and ambivalent attitudes towards hierarchy versus equality have largely been ignored. This study shows, by means of in-depth interviews with 90 Dutch people on their own and others' cultural tastes, that both a hierarchical and an egalitarian repertoire appear in people's narratives, and that these repertoires are often used simultaneously. People still distinguish culturally from others, but not consistently and often reluctantly, as they morally object to high-low distinctions based on aesthetic evaluations at the same time. This article analyses both repertoires and explores when and how tensions between the two come forward. We interpret these tensions on the micro level of self-presentation and habitus, and on the macro level of changing structures of inequality and meritocratic ideas.
Although cultural hierarchy is a social construction-the result of ever changing distinction practices by elites-the consequential division between 'high culture' and 'low culture' is often either taken for granted as a fixed opposition, or disputed because of waning boundaries. To what extent individuals of different status groups adhere to such hierarchy is not known, nor whether changed cultural taste patterns result in alternate perceptions. This article aims to unravel cultural taste, perceptions of and opinions on cultural hierarchy, by means of a ranking task with musical items among ninety people in the Netherlands. It shows, first, that perceptions of cultural hierarchy are still sound among many, regardless of egalitarian opinions. Second, many distinguish personal tastes-which are evidently diverse-from their perceptions of cultural hierarchy-on which a certain agreement exists. Third, this agreement is not absolute, as there are several deviations, that are related to educational level and age.
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