CACS – Summary Week 2 PDF

CACS – Summary Week 2 Should be able to: - Describe what Durkheim means by the totemic principle - Describe what Weber meant with the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism - Describe how Bourdieu theorizes the development and division of fields Emile Durkheim - Culture as a cogniti...

CACS – Summary Week 2 Should be able to: - Describe what Durkheim means by the totemic principle - Describe what Weber meant with the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism - Describe how Bourdieu theorizes the development and division of fields Emile Durkheim - Culture as a cognitive structure Central problem: - Social integration of modern society - Where does solidarity come from? The elementary forms of religious life (1912) - Elementary forms o Central shared signs → totem – ‘mana’ o Double function of the totem ▪ Represents and is sacred ▪ Badge of the group o Sacred rituals with external force (mana) setting moral boundaries ➔ Collective effervescence o Totem is highly visible during rituals ➔ Effervescence attributed to totem o Totem as focus of attention on group itself ➔ Collective representation – symbol of abstract group o Reminder of the group during profane phase ➔ Prolong feelings of belonging Max Weber – Culture in action The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (1930) - Cultural explanations of action - The spirit of capitalism o Capitalism not just a type of economy, but also a style of life o Central elements (proper way of life in the west) ▪ Work as an end in itself ▪ Profit as an indicator of personal virtue ▪ Discipline, self-control and reason ▪ Delayed gratification instead of immediate pleasure o Weber tried to find explanation for this life style in its cultural foundations ➔ Protestantism - The protestant ethic o Calvinists believed in predestination ▪ A precise number of souls would go to heaven ▪ Calvinists were on the lookout for signs that they were amongst this group A sign would be that they were actively contributing to their community through their work o Weber argued that the Calvinists need to reassure themselves through their industry was an important factor in the growth of capitalism ▪ They build businesses that generated wealth and would reinvest this money as they lived thrifty lives Eventually capitalism would have a life of its own - Weber’s model of culture and action o Culture = ends & means  ▪ Set goals that people aspire → ends ▪ Constrains means to get there → means Pierre Bourdieu – Production of culture - Field o Any domain in society that is characterized by some form of competition, where you can be better than others ▪ Prestige, status, or distinction o People have stakes in the field ▪ Capital o There’s a hierarchy of positions based on this capital o People preserve or improve their position ▪ Position-taking o People’s activity in the field depends on their position in relation to other positions o Rules of the game → Doxa ▪ Dominant (legitimate) capital in the field Economic or cultural capital ▪ Decided by top positions o Position determines strategy of position-takings ▪ Top positions want to preserve position Orthodoxy – defending the doxa ▪ Pretenders want to improve position Heterodoxy – changing the doxa - Hierarchy of fields o Society is made up of numerous fields ▪ Some fields are considered more important in general ▪ Some forms of capital render more prestige in society at large o Fields overlap, have subfields, and can be more or less autonomous ▪ Autonomy Capital is specific to the field, so criterion for distinction is specific to the field ▪ Heteronomy Capital from another field, so criterion for distinction is not specific to the field - Bourdieu and the production of culture o Field of large-scale production ▪ Rules of the market → heteronomy ▪ Distinction through success ▪ Economic capital ▪ Quality → selling to the many uninitiated (general public) ▪ Short term ▪ Art is accessible to render profit ▪ Art is functional o Field of restricted production ▪ Denial of the market → autonomy ▪ Art for art’s sake, form over function, originality ▪ Doxa phrased as charismatic ideology Only source of quality is talent ▪ Specialized cultural capital You need to know what’s been done before to be original ▪ Distinction through reputation ▪ Quality → recognition by the few initiated peers ▪ Long term ▪ Art is original, challenging and inaccessible (otherwise not rare enough)