From the ‘What’ and ‘How’ to the ‘Where’: Class Distinction as a Matter of Place

Abstract

Research on the symbolic boundary work of upper-and middle-class actors has placed a greater emphasis on the "what" and "how" of cultural consumption than on the "where". However, the spaces where actors move are important: the "what" and "how" of marking distinction vary according to national class cultures and cultural fields. This article focusses on the "where" arguing that interaction settings shape actors' boundary work. Based upon research on Argentinean Pentecostalism, the study shows that middle-class Pentecostals switch between distinction-marking and "omnivore" performances of Pentecostalism depending on the social permeability of the spaces where they move. These insights suggest that the contextual conditions in which actors present themselves as "omnivores" or "snobs" deserve more attention.

I’m here! Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media

“…While certain discrepancies were identified between people with different capital portfolios, the main finding concerns the connection between geomedia practices and different volumes of capital. This study thus contributes to the broader field of cultural sociology, which has hitherto mainly focused on the 'what' and the 'how' of culture consumption (Koehrsen, 2019). In line with Koehrsen's (2019) callwe have added a focus upon the question of place, and 'where?'.…”

“…Answers were given according to a nominal scale: (1) has not visited the particular place, (2) has visited and 'checked in', 'tagged' or shared a photo of the given place, and (3) has visited the place but not 'checked in', 'tagged' or shared a photo. This study design captured both the what and the where of cultural distinction (Koehrsen, 2019) and allowed us to identify distinctions both outside of social media (who visits which places?) and on social media (who chooses to expose their visits to particular places in front of a social media audience?…”

“…In relation to the debate on the character of cultural distinction in late modernity Koehrsen (2019) rightly points out that focus tends to be put either on the what (e.g., 'low-brow' or 'high-brow') or the how (e.g., ironic consumption and ways of preferring [see, e.g., Daenekindt & Roose, 2017;Jarness, 2015; see also Peters et al, 2018]). Less is known about the where, that is, the place-related contexts in which cultural distinctions are played out (Koehrsen, 2019). Thus, Bourdieu's (2000, pp.…”

“…The body of literature concerned with the what and the how of culture consumption connects, for instance, the appreciation of 'high-brow' culture and ironic consumption of 'low-brow' culture to privileged strata of the population. The question of where remains largely unanswered (Koehrsen, 2019). Here, we study the significance of place in relation to cultural distinctions and we discern how cultural distinctions in the era of geomediatization contribute to the (re)production of not only social positions but also of space and place (cf.…”

Salvation as Cultural Distinction: Religion and Neoliberalism in Urban Africa

“…Importantly, this was recognised by others. Therefore, the rise of middle-class Pentecostalism does not necessarily mean that Pentecostal practitioners are economically successful and upwardly mobile because of their discipline, but that Pentecostalism can be attractive to the middle classes because it is culturally malleable and develops a particular middle-class style, which manifests itself in incorporated religious middle-class tastes as Koehrsen (2018, 2019) found in his research in Argentina.…”