assignment
twinkle22
ICS392tastestatusveblengoffman.pptxICS 392: Consumer Culture
Taste, status, Veblen and Goffman
Last edited: August 5, 2019
Taste, status, Veblen and Goffman
Much of social life centers on a quest for status
Three types of resources
Economic capital
Social capital
Cultural capital
We use these three resources to achieve our status or symbolic capital.
Economic – obvious
Social capital – relationships, organizational affiliations and networks.
Social capital who helps you move to a new apartment or helps you find a new job
We’re gonna zero in on cultural capital
As McCracken noted on p. 67: “what one wants, how one chooses, the sophistication evident in one’s material world. This determines where we stand”
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Cultural capital
Distinctive tastes, skills knowledge and practices
Ways of feeling, thinking and acting about: Politics. The arts, Religion,
Education, Business and Consumption.
In short, your taste.
Status is produced through expressing your tastes.
Your tastes are a product of your upbringing, socialization, education.
(this is why Fussell made the point about how hard it is to escape the class born to)
We continually negotiate our reputational position
Such as when we critique a movie, song, book, work of art, etc.
Or, when we seek distinction via our consumption practices
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A large part of status is taste.
We reveal our class when we reveal what we like and what we dislike and how we behave.
Making an overt status claim doesn’t have to be the goal for status to influence the expression of taste.
Rather, your tastes, preferences and behaviors reveal your status
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Social class
Coolness
Rebel cool
Dot cool
Authenticity
…and then?
The dominant taste hierarchies of the past 150 years.
What’s next?
Maybe normcore?
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Social class ruled here for a long time.
It was a cultural artifact of our colonization by the British who had a status system based on European notions of the aristocracy.
Social class ruled supreme as a status system for decades.
Taste informed by notions of social class ruled here for a long time.
Inherited from British just like our preference for single family homes.
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The Unlived in Living Room as a status message
An artifact of postwar status consumption
Ruled for second half of last century
Done in by evolving and fragmenting status systems and the emergence of the great room
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Thorstein Veblen: 1857 to 1929
The Theory of the Leisure Class (1897); essay entitled “Conspicuous Consumption”
Many of his ideas have become commonplace in the social sciences and criticism
Conspicuous consumption
Vicarious consumption
There is also a lot that he got wrong
See Quartz and Asp
We’re going to focus on the things still generally accepted
Taste, status, Veblen and Goffman
Consumption and the social hierarchy
“Consumption is not just about fulfilling individual needs/desires, but also about communicating to others one’s place in the social hierarchy”
“The consumption of luxuries, in the true sense, is a consumption directed to the comfort of the consumer himself, and is, therefore, a mark of the master” (p2.)
Taste, status, Veblen and Goffman
Conspicuous consumption
“Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure” (p4).
“The basis on which good repute in any highly organized industrial community ultimately rests is pecuniary strength; and the means of showing pecuniary strength, and of so gaining or retaining a good name, are leisure and a conspicuous consumption of goods” (p8).
Readily observable in social interactions - others have to see it
Why more powerful in the city?
More people watching you; and most have only scant information
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Increasingly conspicuous consumption
“The means of communication and the mobility of the population now expose the individual to the observation of many persons who have no other means of judging of his reputability than the display of goods (and perhaps of breeding) which he is able to make while he is under their direct observation” (p8).
“Consumption becomes a larger element in the standard of living in the city than in the country” (p9).
Think about this dynamic and the rise of social media
What has social media done? Made it easier to fake, perhaps
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Three rules for class mobility
“In order to avoid stultification he must also cultivate his tastes, for it now becomes incumbent on him to discriminate with some nicety between the noble and the ignoble [undistinguished] in consumer goods (p3).”
“Since the consumption of these more excellent goods is an evidence of wealth, it becomes honorific; and conversely, the failure to consume in due quantity and quality becomes a mark of inferiority and demerit (p3).”
“Closely related to the requirement that the gentleman must consume freely and of the right kind of goods, there is the requirement that he must know how to consume them in a seemly manner (p4).”
3 interlocking rules for class mobility
Useful for A#1
a) consume the right goods
b) in the right amount
c) with the right style/in the right way
I'm gonna serve caviar at my party, buy for 60,
served on Dorritos – FAIL
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The fragmentation of classes
“As wealth accumulates, the leisure class develops further in function and structure, and there arises a differentiation within the class. There is a more or less elaborate system of rank and grades” (p4).
“…a system of hierarchical gradations. Those who stand near the higher and the highest grades of the wealthy leisure class, in point of birth, or in point of wealth, or both, outrank the remoter-born and the pecuniarily weaker” (p4).
“In the new American structure there seem to be an infinite number of classes”
there was always be need for differentiation
Portentous - class fragmentation
2 -> 3 ->9 ->60
Claritas PRIZM
62 lifestyles in 15 socio-econ groups (geodemographics)
Blue Blood Estates, Greenbelt Families, Urban Achievers
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Vicarious consumption
“Another, scarcely less obtrusive or less effective form of vicarious consumption, and a much more widely prevalent one, is the consumption of food, clothing, dwelling, and furniture by the lady and the rest of the domestic establishment” (p1).
“Many… have in turn attached to their persons a more or less comprehensive group of vicarious consumers in the persons of their wives and children, their servants, retainers, etc” (p5).
status consumption by proxy
Single income HH
Baby Gap
Pet Spas
3 Dog bakery
Runchkins.com – trunk club for kids
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Luxuries become necessities
“The leisure class stands at the head of the social structure in point of reputability; and its manner of life and its standards of worth therefore afford the norm of reputability for the community. … The result is that the members of each stratum accept as their ideal of decency the scheme of life in vogue in the next higher stratum, and bend their energies to live up to that ideal” (p7).
“It frequently happens that an element of the standard of living which set out being primarily wasteful, ends with becoming, in the apprehension of the consumer, a necessary of life; and it may in this way become as indispensable as any other item of the consumer's habitual expenditure” (p14).
We constantly look up for our consumption cues - we try to emulate those above
It is all based on distinction - (being unique)
If lower classes are successful in their mimcry,
the higher classes have to find another way to be distinctive
Cell phones; laptops; TV
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It is pervasive
“No class of society, not even the most abjectly poor, forgoes all customary conspicuous consumption. The last items of this category of consumption are not given up except under stress of the direct necessity. Very much of squalor and discomfort will be endured before the last trinket of pretense of pecuniary decency is put away” (p8).
Taste, status, Veblen and Goffman
Erving Goffman: 1922 – 1982
Considered by some to be the most influential sociologist of the 20th century
A pioneer of micro-sociology: close examination of the social interactions that compose everyday life.
Status is obviously bound up with all of this.
Erving Goffman: 1922 – 1982
https://www.thoughtco.com/erving-goffman-3026489
Considered by some to be the most influential sociologist of the 20th century
A pioneer of micro-sociology: close examination of the social interactions that compose everyday life.
The social construction of the self as it is presented to and managed for others.
Most widely read works include The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life and Stigma: Notes the Management of Spoiled Identity.
Status is obviously bound up with all of this.
This essay explores how status affects and is enacted in everyday social life.
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Status: rights, obligation and enforcement
“the rights and obligations of a status are fixed through time by means of external sanctions enforced by law, public opinion, and threat of socio-economic loss, and by internalized sanctions of the kind that are built into a conception of self and give rise to guilt, remorse, and shame” (p. 294)
Status: rights, obligation and enforcement
“the rights and obligations of a status are fixed through time by means of external sanctions enforced by law, public opinion, and threat of socio-economic loss, and by internalized sanctions of the kind that are built into a conception of self and give rise to guilt, remorse, and shame” (p. 294)
Law, public opinion, socio-economic loss; guilt, shame and remorse
Fussell talks about status anxiety.
Quartz and Asp noted that status anxiety effects every human system: cognitive, immune, fertility.
Powerful stuff.
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Maintaining status system consensus
“Co-operative activity based on a differentiation and integration of statuses is a universal characteristic of social life. This kind of harmony requires that the occupant of each status act toward others in a manner which conveys the impression that his conception of himself and of them is the same as their conception of themselves and him. A working consensus of this sort therefore requires adequate communication about conceptions of status.” (p. 294)
“Persons in the same social position tend to possess a similar pattern of behaviour” (p. 295)
In order for a status system to be stable and enduring, everyone needs to be on the same page.
Consensus about the status system must be maintained
Maintaining status system consensus
“Co-operative activity based on a differentiation and integration of statuses is a universal characteristic of social life. This kind of harmony requires that the occupant of each status act toward others in a manner which conveys the impression that his conception of himself and of them is the same as their conception of themselves and him. A working consensus of this sort therefore requires adequate communication about conceptions of status.” (p. 294)
You have to act like someone of your status is supposed to act and you have to treat others in that status how they think they should be treated.
There are lots of unspoken rules that need to be propagated
They act alike
“Persons in the same social position tend to possess a similar pattern of behaviour” (p. 295)
This requires symbols (for conveying status) and mechanisms for regulation
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Status symbols
“The rights and obligations of a status are frequently ill-adapted to the requirements of ordinary communication. Specialized means of displaying one’s position frequently develop. Such sign-vehicles have been called status symbols. They are the cues which select for a person the status that is to be imputed to him and the way in which others are to treat him”
Status symbols
“The rights and obligations of a status are frequently ill-adapted to the requirements of ordinary communication. Specialized means of displaying one’s position frequently develop. Such sign-vehicles have been called status symbols. They are the cues which select for a person the status that is to be imputed to him and the way in which others are to treat him”
Status can be murky without agreed-upon symbols. Symbols help keep things functioning smoothly.
Boundaries and boundary maintenance.
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How members treat each other and outsiders
“Persons in the same social position behave in many ways that are common to all the occupants of the position as well as particular to them”
“Status symbols visibly divide the social world into categories of persons, thereby helping to maintain solidarity within a category and hostility between different categories.”
How members treat each other and outsiders
“Persons in the same social position behave in many ways that are common to all the occupants of the position as well as particular to them”
Solidarity within & hostility between categories
“Status symbols visibly divide the social world into categories of persons, thereby helping to maintain solidarity within a category and hostility between different categories.”
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Complex, multifaceted
“No matter how we define social class we must refer to discrete or dis-continuous levels of prestige and privilege, where admission to any one of these levels is, typically, determined by a complex of social qualifications, no one or two of which are necessarily essential. Symbols of class status do not typically refer to a specific source of status but rather to something based upon a configuration of sources” (p. 296).
Complex, multifaceted
“No matter how we define social class we must refer to discrete or dis-continuous levels of prestige and privilege, where admission to any one of these levels is, typically, determined by a complex of social qualifications, no one or two of which are necessarily essential. Symbols of class status do not typically refer to a specific source of status but rather to something based upon a configuration of sources” (p. 296).
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Restrictive mechanisms
“We may say, then, that continuing use of status symbols in social situations requires mechanisms for restricting the opportunities that arise for misrepresentation. We may approach the study of status symbols by classifying the restrictive mechanisms embodied in them” (p. 296).
“Every class symbol embodies one or more devices for restricting mis-representative use of it. The following restrictive devices are among the most typical”
“On the whole, then, class symbols serve not so much to represent or misrepresent one's position, but rather to influence in a desired direction other persons' judgment of it” (p. 297).
There are restrictive mechanisms that control access to and use of status symbols
Restrictive mechanisms
“We may say, then, that continuing use of status symbols in social situations requires mechanisms for restricting the opportunities that arise for misrepresentation. We may approach the study of status symbols by classifying the restrictive mechanisms embodied in them” (p. 296).
There are mechanisms to keep people from claiming status that they have not earned.
“Every class symbol embodies one or more devices for restricting mis-representative use of it. The following restrictive devices are among the most typical”
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Moral restrictions
“Just as a system of economic contract is made effective by people's willingness to acknowledge the legitimacy of the rights which underlie the system, so the use of certain symbols is made effective by inner moral constraints which inhibit people from misrepresenting them-selves.”
“these self-applied constraints, however phrased, are reinforced by the pressure of the opinion both of one's original group and of the class whose symbols one may misemploy. But the efficacy of these external sanctions is due in part to the readiness with which they are reinforced by internalized moral constraints.”
Moral restrictions
“Just as a system of economic contract is made effective by people's willingness to acknowledge the legitimacy of the rights which underlie the system, so the use of certain symbols is made effective by inner moral constraints which inhibit people from misrepresenting them-selves.”
“these self-applied constraints, however phrased, are reinforced by the pressure of the opinion both of one's original group and of the class whose symbols one may misemploy. But the efficacy of these external sanctions is due in part to the readiness with which they are reinforced by internalized moral constraints.”
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Intrinsic restrictions
“We symbolize our wealth by displaying it, our power by using it, and our skill by exercising it. In the case of wealth, for example, racing stables, large homes, and jewelry obviously imply that the owner has at least as much money as the symbols can bring on the open market” (p. 298).
“We must account for the high price placed upon certain scarce objects by referring to the social gains that their owners obtain by showing these possessions to other persons. The expressive superiority of an object merely accounts for the fact that it, rather than some other equally scarce object, was selected for use as a status symbol”
Intrinsic restrictions
“We symbolize our wealth by displaying it, our power by using it, and our skill by exercising it. In the case of wealth, for example, racing stables, large homes, and jewelry obviously imply that the owner has at least as much money as the symbols can bring on the open market” (p. 298).
“We must account for the high price placed upon certain scarce objects by referring to the social gains that their owners obtain by showing these possessions to other persons. The expressive superiority of an object merely accounts for the fact that it, rather than some other equally scarce object, was selected for use as a status symbol”
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Natural restrictions
“The most obvious basis of scarcity, perhaps, can be found in objects which are made from material that is very infrequently found in the natural world and which cannot be manufactured synthetically from materials that are less scarce. This is the basis of scarcity, for example, in the case of very large flawless diamonds” (p. 299).
“Similarly, furniture made " solidly " from certain hardwoods, regardless of style or workmanship, is used as a symbol of status. The trees which supply the material take so long a time to grow that, in terms of the current market, existing forests can be considered as a closed and decreasing supply”
Natural restrictions
“natural scarcities”
“The most obvious basis of scarcity, perhaps, can be found in objects which are made from material that is very infrequently found in the natural world and which cannot be manufactured synthetically from materials that are less scarce. This is the basis of scarcity, for example, in the case of very large flawless diamonds” (p. 299).
“Similarly, furniture made " solidly " from certain hardwoods, regardless of style or workmanship, is used as a symbol of status. The trees which supply the material take so long a time to grow that, in terms of the current market, existing forests can be considered as a closed and decreasing supply”
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Socialization restrictions
“An important symbol of membership in a given class is displayed during informal interaction” (p. 300).
“the suitability and likeableness of one's general manner”
“These behaviours involve matters of etiquette, dress, deportment, gesture, intonation, dialect, vocabulary, small bodily movements and automatically expressed evaluations concerning both the substance and the details of life. In a manner of speaking, these behaviours constitute a social style.”
“social style carries deep expressive significance. The style and manners of a class are, therefore, psychologically ill-suited to those whose life experiences took place in another class”
Socialization restrictions
“An important symbol of membership in a given class is displayed during informal interaction” (p. 300).
“the suitability and likeableness of one's general manner”
“These behaviours involve matters of etiquette, dress, deportment, gesture, intonation, dialect, vocabulary, small bodily movements and automatically expressed evaluations concerning both the substance and the details of life. In a manner of speaking, these behaviours constitute a social style.”
Fussell talks about this a lot
“social style carries deep expressive significance. The style and manners of a class are, therefore, psychologically ill-suited to those whose life experiences took place in another class”
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Cultivation restrictions
“In many societies, avocational pursuits involving the cultivation of arts, "tastes," sports, and handicrafts have been used as symbols of class status” (p. 301).
Cultivation restrictions
“In many societies, avocational pursuits in-volving the cultivation of arts, "tastes," sports, and handicrafts have been used as symbols of class status” (p. 301).
Appreciation of arts, sports and crafts
“A command of foreign languages, for example, has provided an effective source of this sort of symbol.”
“Anything which proves that a long span of past time has been spent in non-remunerative pursuits is likely to be used as a class symbol.”
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