Comparing Class Habitus During Social Movement Group Conflicts

• In Event: 277 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 10. Social Psychology and Movements

Abstract

In studies of US class cultures, the most common finding is a cultural dichotomy between working-class and middle-class habitus. But an empirical study of responses to conflicts in 25 US social movement organizations found more fine-tuned class-cultural contrasts, in particular between lower and higher professionals. Whether a group had a culture of candor or conflict avoidance tended to line up with the predominant class of the membership. In coping with conflict and breaches of group norms, activists tended to use different cultural repertoires depending on their class. When condemning breaches, members from working-class and professional-middle-class backgrounds drew different kinds of moral boundaries. Using Bourdieu’s theories of habitus and field, the study found an interplay between individuals’ class predispositions and the groups’ conflict norms and movement traditions. The sharply differing practices and attitudes found at nearby class locations show that class habitus is neither a continuum nor a duality, but is conditioned by specific life experiences.

Author

• Betsy Leondar-Wright, Boston College