30483 - Producing, Circulating, and Evaluating Culture

Description

In 1997, Du Gay et al. theorized that one cannot look at a cultural object alone to understand its meaning; rather, we must understand the object in its larger circuit of representation, identity, production, consumption and regulation. Following this line of inquiry, the present panel asks: how does valuation get sedimented, and how do social actors navigate, adapt to, or contest the expectations of cultural objects and fields?

The first paper, an analysis of the Gender-Divided Market of Chinese Online Fiction, explores how valuation gets shaped by broader forces and sedimented as the norm of a genre. The next two papers feature how documentary filmmakers and culinary professionals navigate the challenges of authenticity and realness imposed by their respective fields. Finally, two papers examine how social actors respond to cultural devaluation and stigmatization outside of the cultural industries: specifically, how sellers on Facebook Marketplace mitigate suspicion around used engagement rings, and how Dominican women navigate Eurocentric straight-hair beauty ideals.

Sub Unit

• Section on Sociology of Culture / Producing, Circulating, and Evaluating Culture

Presider

• Katherine Beekman, Vanderbilt University

Individual Presentations

• Shelved under ‘M’ or ‘F’: The Political Economy of Chinese Online Fiction - Wanze Ma, Zhejiang University

• Relational Authenticity Work in the American Culinary Field - Eli R. Wilson, University of New Mexico-Albuquerque; Ellen T. Meiser, University of Hawaii-Hilo

• Conformity to Beauty in the Matrix of Domination - Katie Duarte, Smith College

• Valuing Cursed Objects: Mitigating Suspicions Around Engagement Rings Sold on Facebook Marketplace - Kenadi Silcox, University of Notre Dame; Terence Emmett McDonnell, University of Notre Dame

Discussant

• Katherine Beekman, Vanderbilt University

Session Organizer

• Laura Garbes, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities