Culture and Social Class Inequality: Problems and Partial Solutions of Studying Reproduction without Mobility

• In Event: 170 - Section on Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Paper Session. Culture and Inequality

Abstract

Since the 1960s, theories of culture and inequality have been decidedly one sided. The culture of poverty and urban poverty theories, Bourdieusian, cultural Marxist, and stereotype theories all explain how culture is linked to class reproduction but pay little attention to how culture is linked to class mobility. This article argues that this theoretical unbalance is deeply problematic as it facilitates potentially incorrect interpretations of empirical results, ignores two thirds of stratification processes, and puts scholars at risk of victim blaming. This article then develops six concepts that link culture to upward mobility and five concepts that link culture to downward mobility. Though preliminary, these concepts offer steps toward understanding how cultural differences between the classes may be associated with class mobility as well as class reproduction.

Author

• Jessi Streib, Duke University