Januari 20 | Symposium: Current Contestations of Cultural Capital

This symposium revolves around current developments in cultural capital research. Although the symposium is a separate event, it is instigated by the PhD thesis of Janna Michael. On January 19, she will defend her dissertation on the cultural lifestyles of young adults.

Cultural capital is one of the most widely used concepts in cultural sociology. In recent debate, many different forms of cultural capital have been suggested, including various forms of eclecticism, cosmopolitanism or physical beauty. But the mastery of prestigious modes of consumption can be seen as a form of cultural capital as well.

The symposium will address the central questions in the current debate about cultural capital: What is the role and function of cultural capital and how can we best capture cultural distinction theoretically? What research agenda follows from these considerations?

Four presentations on this theme are offered, each revolving around emerging forms of cultural capital:

• Henk Roose (Ghent University): Cultural Capital: A View from Social Space
• Ian Woodward (University of Southern Denmark): Cosmopolitanism: Being and Openness
• Alan Warde (University of Manchester): Accounting for Tastes
• Laura Braden & Janna Michael: Capitalizing on Morals: Connecting Cultural Capital and Moral Judgments

Discussants will be Kobe de Keere (University of Amsterdam) and Koen van Eijck (EUR).