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Distinction
A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste
Series: Routledge Classics
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
An essential read for students and enthusiasts of sociology, philosophy, cultural studies, and anyone interested in understanding the social dynamics behind taste and class.
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See moreFirst published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
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Description
No judgement of taste is innocent — we are all snobs. Pierre Bourdieu’s Distinction brilliantly illuminates the social pretensions 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 life, we constantly choose between what we find aesthetically pleasing, and what we consider tacky, merely trendy, or ugly. Taste is not pure. Bourdieu demonstrates that our different aesthetic choices are all distinctions — that is, choices made in opposition to those made by other classes. This fascinating work argues that the social world functions simultaneously as a system of power relations and as a symbolic system in which minute distinctions of taste become the basis for social judgement.
Series: Routledge Classics
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
'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
'Full of insights of fundamental importance.' - Tom Gretton, Oxford Art Journal
'Brilliant insights ... richly informative and insightful.' - Barry King, Reviewing Sociology
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781138835078
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 20 July 2015
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Routledge
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education
DIMENSIONS
Width: 138.0mm
Height: 216.0mm
Weight: 1340g
Pages: 640
About the Author
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.
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