Culture, Stratification, and Symbolic Power: Toward a Multi-level Theory

• In Event: 3551 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 16. Stratification and Mobility

Abstract

Cultural stratification research has focused on identifying correlations between socioeconomic characteristics and repertoires of tastes, practices, and lifestyles. Less attention has been devoted to understanding how the use of culture varies by social contexts and interactional settings. To mitigate this, I outline a multi-level theory of cultural stratification which addresses the cultural stratification debate in two ways: (1) by challenging the conventional notion that social structure and culture are rigidly linked together, and (2) by specifying some mechanisms through which culture might work to reproduce or diminish social inequality in real life scenarios. Borrowing concepts from the social psychological theories of relational cohesion and affect control, I put forward propositions and visual models that problematize the relationship between culture and structure as one that is “necessary, absolute, and natural,” as Bourdieu once posited. In contrast, I suggest that the symbolic power of culture (as a tool for domination) is fluid and, at times, irrelevant in certain situations encountered by individuals.

Author

• Adam Vanzella-Yang, University of British Columbia