Class, culture, and structure: Stratification and mechanisms of omnivorousness

Abstract

In this article, I discuss cultural omnivorousness through a structural framework. Omnivorousness is one of two theoretical approaches to class and culture, together with homology. In its original formulation, the omnivore thesis postulates that diversity, rather than exclusion, becomes the principle of cultural distinction: while the upper classes combine legitimate and illegitimate tastes and lifestyles, the lower classes remain restricted to illegitimate culture.The recent literature conceptualizes and operationalizes omnivorousness in two ways: first, as indicators of cultural diversity, second, as the multiplicity of logics structuring cultural fields. Omnivorousness is stratified along lines of class, specifically, education and social mobility, age and generation, and gender. Lastly, omnivorousness is associated with major, yet ambiguous shifts in Western cultural and social structures, including transformations of cultural production, pathways to democratization, normative beliefs about cosmopolitanism, and educational expansion.

On white-collar boxing and social class

“…de Boise, 2016; Prieur & Savage, 2013; Rimmer, 2012), versions of this argument continue to be made (e.g. Ferrant, 2018; Nuccio, Guerzoni, & Katz-Gerro, 2018), which, in reproducing the figure of the omnivore, ultimately suggest a severance between class and taste.…”

Testing the Omnivore Hypothesis in Russia

“…A higher social position is associated with more eclectic tastes [Veenstra, 2015;Chan, Goldthrope, 2005]. The omnivore listeners can appreciate different genres and styles thanks to the skills acquired during education and early socialization [Ferrant, 2018;Lizardo, Skiles, 2013]. As a result, cultural omnivorousness serves a group boundary marker [Lizardo, Skiles, 2013].…”

“…The more popular the omnivore concept has become, the more often it deals with specific cultural and geographical contexts [Cutts, Widdop, 2017]. Cross-cultural studies and one-country studies aim to detect different modifications of omnivorousness in different societies [Rossman, Peterson, 2015;Ferrant, 2018]. Numerous studies demonstrate how the same social demographic and lifestyle variables interplay in different societies, such as the Netherlands [Van Eijck, 2001, the US [García-Álvarez, Katz-Gerro, López-Sintas, 2007], Turkey [Rankin, Ergin, 2017], France [Coulangeon, 2005]; the UK [Warde, Gayo-Gal, 2009;Leguina, Miles, 2017], and Canada [Vanzella-Yang, 2018].…”

“…Some studies link the omnivore argument with Bourdieu's open or cosmopolitan attitude [Atkinson, 2011] and highlight the association between the omnivore musical consumption, tolerance, and openness to diversity [Coulangeon, Lemel, 2007]. Other studies show that omnivores put more trust in people, are more risk-taking, and reveal more post materialistic cosmopolitanism in Inglehart's spirit [Chan, 2019;Ferrant, 2018]. Cancellieri and Turrini [2018] found that omnivorousness is linked positively with political engagement, religiosity, and cultural openness.…”

“…The space dimension omnivorousness relies on the assumption that omnivores prefer sharing their lifestyles and network of con-tacts [Cutt, Widdop, 2017]. Different levels of cultural production in territories and the neighborhood effect play a role as well [Ferrant, 2018]. Cutt and Widdop [2017] identify three territorial clusters with different degrees of inhabitants' omnivorousness.…”