Cultural Participation: The perpetuation of middle-class privilege in Dublin, Ireland

Description

This book provides a nuanced account of cultural competence, knowledge and skills illustrated in distinctive taste in the middle and upper classes in Dublin, Ireland (Bourdieu, 1984, 1986). It highlights how the development of cultural taste at a young age is linked to cultural participation in later life. Inspired by work that captures the textured social cartography of distinctive cultural taste (Bennett, Emmison & Frow, 1999; Bennett, Savage, Silva, Warde, Gayo-Cal & Wright, 2009), this research charts the changing nature of cultural participation in Dublin, Ireland and shows how cultural consumption has broadened from the narrow range of traditional high art forms towards one which grazes across the general register of culture. As elsewhere, this omnivorous, broad and pluralistic cultural palette has not altered patterns of distinction in cultural participation, rather it belies an emerging cultural capital profile - one where art form boundaries have collapsed but social boundaries and cultural distinction remains intact. Through interviews with two age cohorts (18-24yrs) and (45-54yrs) in Dublin in 2019, this research shows how the dominant class, through histories of cultural exposure have developed cultural taste and competence that is remarkably enduring. Reviewing available data on arts attendance and cultural participation in Ireland today, this text highlights how years of cultural familiarity allow individuals to exert a cultural dominance that facilitates class to be performed obliquely. It also demonstrates  how existing surveys reinforce traditional ways of seeing with 'art' considered highbrow, formal and valued while culture is domestic, informal and less valued in the eyes of polity. This view informs Irish arts strategy and policy, ultimately reinforcing that 'ways of seeing' and policy perspectives, do matter (Berger, 1972). Preface Contents About the Author 1: Introduction Bourdieu, Key Cultural Thinker References 2: Sociological Questions of Culture Culture Structure Bourdieu Possibilities Beyond Bourdieu: Taste as Agency The Role of Education as a Tastemaker Bringing Structure and Agency in Taste Together Working with a Contemporary Bourdieu Cultural Participation and Policy Conclusion References 3: Ireland Ireland: An Overview Cultural Transformation Arts Audiences and the Arts Council of Ireland Surveys Arts Attendance and Cultural Participation Social Class, Income and Employment Gender Age and Geography Education Cultural Participation Reflections Research Developments Conclusion References 4: Researching Culture, Class and Distinction in Dublin, Ireland Relational Definitions Operationalising Cultural Capital in Dublin, Ireland Interviewees 45–54 Year Olds 18–24 Year Olds Sourcing Interviews Data Analysis Pointing the Way Forward References 5: A Nation Highly Engaged The Persistence of Background: The Urban Privileged Professional Cultural Transmission Cultural Confidence Naturalised Cultural Abilities A Discriminating Disposition Voracious Intensity Lives of Concerted Cultivation: The Urban Privileged Young Conclusion References 6: Emerging Cultural Capital Cultural Knowing Informational Capital Cultural Egalitarianism Cosmopolitan Nationalism Conclusion References 7: Policy Implications and Recommendations The Transposability of Bourdieu Policy Implications and Recommendations Pointing Towards the Future The Case for Mixing Methods A Final Few Words References Index