Consecration as a Population-Level Phenomenon

Abstract

We tend to think of consecration as something happening to individuals: We say that someone has been consecrated when they have been declared a saint, inducted into a hall of fame, or presented with a lifetime achievement award. The present article explores the analytical payoffs of looking at consecration as a population-level phenomenon, that is, as the delineation of clear-cut divides between the chosen and the rest in a population of candidates. This approach, I argue, brings out the unique character of consecration as an abstract process of status formation: It enhances the perceived worth of the consecrated, not by confirming that they are individually worthy, but by asserting the existence in a field of a reliable hierarchy of worthiness. A population-level approach also implies that consecrating institutions derive some of their authority from the forcefulness of the divides they draw between elected individuals and others. The article shows how this explains some of the salient features of retrospective consecration projects. To make these points I analyze cases of consecration in a variety of empirical domains, from politics to the arts, sports, and religion.

The aesthetics of hierarchy

“…If on the contrary individuals' relative positions were fuzzy and equivocal, for example because different individuals would fare inconsistently on two sub-dimensions of meritsay, English and math-that would not be averaged into a single score, observers would be more likely to wonder whether it makes sense to rank individuals by merit at all. Along similar lines, when multiple agencies compete to rate and rank individuals in a field, they are likely to return contradictory judgments that will undermine their ability to suggest the existence in their field of a meaningful hierarchy of greatness (Accominotti, 2021). In fact, "if there are too many competing assessment agencies, the entire business of ranking may lose its legitimacy" (Healy, 2017, p. 516).…”

“…Along similar lines, when multiple agencies compete to rate and rank individuals in a field, they are likely to return contradictory judgments that will undermine their ability to suggest the existence in their field of a meaningful hierarchy of greatness (Accominotti, 2021). In fact, “if there are too many competing assessment agencies, the entire business of ranking may lose its legitimacy” (Healy, 2017, p. 516).…”

Trajectories of Consecration: Signature Style and the Pace of Category Spanning

“…As the "ultimate process of status formation" (Accominotti, 2018, p. 3), consecration exalts producers and makes them worthy of veneration and esteem from the public. To shed light on drivers of consecration, one strand of research in cultural production has focused on field-level mechanisms, noting how a field's structure, evaluative criteria, or audience composition facilitate or hinder consecration (e.g., Accominotti, 2018;Cattani et al, 2014). Another strand has instead focused on individual characteristics, highlighting how the position of a producer's identity in the socio-cultural space in which audiences operate and anchor their evaluations (Goldberg et al, 2016) underpins consecration dynamics (e.g., Aadland et al, 2019;Askin & Mauskapf, 2017;Brewer, 1991;Leung, 2014).…”

Earning rent with your talent: Modern-day inequality rests on the power to define, transfer and institutionalize talent

“…Looking at society through the lens of talent equates success with merit, failure with incompetence. Talent consecrates people's privileged place in society (Accominotti 2018;Khan 2010). Talent today is what inherited land was to feudal societies; an unchallenged source of symbolic and economic rewards.…”