The Sociology of Art

How do art worlds operate?

Everyone agrees on some basic things - About how art worlds developed But disagreement on how to understand how they work today Two main approaches: - Howard ! Becker - "ierre Bourdieu

Bourdieu: #ield $o# cultural production% Durkheim: social structures influence individuals actions Weber: struggles and competition between individuals and groups To win power, be dominant &'()*+&T Becker $art world% American S mbolic !nteractionism &'-'"E,AT+'( Art is "collectivel produced# $ourdieu is mis-guided

Everyone agrees!!!
Art - A label, put on some things and not others - %abel put on things b powerful groups - !nvented & Social construction of modern societ - When' ()th centur !tal onwards*** - Wide influence from earl (+th centur : - The Romantics: Art versus Society Art versus Mass Culture

Art becomes institutionalised from c* (,-.s -ethod .: "A&E /reate new, separate, special spheres for the "worship# of "Art# "aul /i-aggio: Before 1850s, mixing of different sorts of culture After 1850s, culture divided up into separate spheres Art !igh culture" concert halls, opera houses Mass culture" popular theatres # clu$s

-ethod 0: -A,1ET A(/ -'(E2 Things defined as "Art# said not to be made for mone & profit 0nl "1ass /ulture# is made for profit 2omantic idea "Art for Arts Sake# "Artists# pure motives & creativit & self e3pression Art 4apparentl 5 removed from the wider 6conom

-ethod 0: -A,1ET A(/ -'(E2 $7T "Art# comes to have its own special economy Be#ore .3th &: products made for rich patrons 4"patronage# s stem5 .3th &: products made for a new art market, of 4upper5 middle class consumers S0 the "art world# is an econom that denies it is an econom /ollective belief: "Art# is about more than mone

-ethod 4: BE&'-+(5 A6T'('-'6 $efore (+th /: the production of cultural products is 80T S69A2AT6 :201 other parts of societ - %irect ECONOMIC control $y patrons - %irect POLITICAL control $y governments - esp* b (5 censorship; < Academies - :rom (,-.s: "art world# starts to break free of these forms of control $ecomes an "autonomous# social sphere

So by about .377!!! 9eople T=!8> there is a thing called "the art world#, and T=!8> it is "special# !t S661S to be removed from other parts of societ !t A/T7A%%? is, in this sense: !t works according to its own uni@ue wa s of operating !t is not controlled from "outside# !t has its own: (5 uni@ue econom <5 uni@ue forms of prestige: "great artist#

'ne Art 8orld9 or -any:

There is one big "Art World#, encompassing all the arts !t is made up of specific "art worlds# - 1usic A 9ainting - %iterature, etc - These in turn are made up of more specific "art worlds# e*g* %iterature art world: Drama art world 8ovels art world & 9oetr art world

Bourdieu;s way o# putting it!!!

There is one big )ield o# &ultural "roduction $)&"% - &nvolving 'Art( A)% 'Mass Culture cannot e3amine one without the other :/9 involves sub-#ields - 1usic, 9ainting, %iterature e*g* the field of literar production 6ach of these is made up of sub-sub-fields 4e*g* 1usic: opera; BaCC; rock, etc5 A%% :!6%DS W02> !8 S!1!%A2 WA?S

B'6,/+E6 - 6--A,2
HAB+T6 < &A"+TA* < )+E*/ An individual is thoroughl shaped b their =A$!T7S =A$!T7S is class-based An individuals =A$!T7S is primaril that of the social class of their parents 4this can be changed to some e3tent later eg b formal education5 Some =A$!T7S are more sociall valued than others: 7pper middle class & working class

B'6,/+E6 - 6--A,2
7pper middle class habitus A '&+ATE/ 8+TH high levels o# &A"+TA* T=266 T?96S 0: 5E(E,A* /A9!TA%: a56conomic b5Social c5/ultural %ower middle class habitus D middling levels Working class habitus D low levels

)+E*/ "articular parts o# society are #ields: e*g* 6ducation, 2eligion, Eovernment, /ultural 9roduction, /ultural /onsumption (5Struggles&competition A between different <5individuals A A8D between different groups F5=ierarchicall organised: positions at top & middle & bottom G5 Struggles: those at top tr sta at top; those at middle and bottom want to take over top positions -5 Which position ou occup will be strongl influenced b our =abitus and /apital

-5 ?our habitus and capital must be ,E*E=A(T for the specific field ou are in )5 6ach field is centred around its own S96/!:!/ 4uni@ue5 T?96 0: /A9!TA% *ield of music" music capital *ield of +a,," +a,, version of music capital H5 To be "successful# in a field, ou must have a5The "right# sort of habitus and general capital :02 T=AT :!6%D 4in most, but not all fields, this means upper middle class habitus5 b5 =igh levels of the specific capital valued !8 T=AT :!6%D

A )ield o# &ultural "roduction

High capital producers -consecrated -'ld < Established

mall or no audience (ot #or pro#it Art #or art;s sake Autonomy

-ass audience )or pro#it Heteronomy

*ow capital producers -non-consecrated 2oung < not established

",'/6&E, : Art-House directors

High capital producers -consecrated -'ld < Established

",'/6&E, : "opular but >uality directors e!g! pielberg

mall or no audience (ot #or pro#it Art #or art;s sake Autonomy
",'/6&E, : 6nknown9 lowbudget indie directors

A6/+E(&E: *ower middle class -iddlebrow

-ass audience )or pro#it Heteronomy

*ow capital producers -non-consecrated 2oung < not established

",'/6&E, : Hollywood Blockbuster directors

.% 8hat T2"E o# cultural producer ou become 4i*e* which sort of position ou occup in the field5 Will be strongl influenced b our habitus and our general capital these will influence what field-specific capital ou can get <5 6ach T?96 of producer /+ *+1E what the 0T=62 T?96S represent & do "Sell-outs# 02 "pretentious# F5 &onstant struggles < competition -he young ne. .ant to overthro. the old esta$lished

Things to note:

Howard ! Becker
Bourdieu over-emphasises: - 9ower of habitus I capital - Struggles and competition - =idden, unconscious structures Bourdieu assumes what he will find 8ot empiricall -grounded need more fle3ible, more empiricall sensitive, grounded approach replace #ields with art worlds

The production of "art# 4or "popular culture#5 alwa s involves collective action 1ultiple people working together to produce something - This is "co-operation#, in a "cultural division o# labour# /o-operation need not be harmonious can involve conflicts

"Think, with respect to an work of art, of all

the activities that must be carried on for that work to appear as it finall does* :or a s mphon orchestra to give a concert, for instance, instruments must have been invented, manufactured and maintained, a notation must have been devised and music composed using that notation, people must have learned to pla the notated notes on the instruments, times and places for rehearsal must have been provided, ads for the concert must have been placed, publicit arranged and tickets sold# 4$ecker, (+HG5 &mportance of support personnel

6ven a solitary individual producer is involved in collective action 4without necessaril realising it5 The actions of a producer could have been di##erent from what the were some freedom of choice not .holly ha$itus/shaped Actions are guided b conventions - conventional .ays of ma0ing things - saves time # effort - &nnovations involve $ending conventions 9roducers observe each other I adapt their actions in light of this: alwa s collective production

"ower: Eatekeepers %eciding .hich artists art.or0s .ill $e valued not valued Art world gatekeepers trans#orm products into art e1g1 1250s on" '+a,, art .orld( &nvented $y music critics and po.erful musicians Eatekeepers never have total power

Art worlds more open and #luid than $ourdieu can see 1ust use ethnographic observation o# people actually making artworks The making of artworks is open9 conte?t-dependent @ comple? - 3roduct at start can $e very different from the finished version - )ever a simple expression of class $ased ha$itus

Becker - "roblems
.% -icro-#ocus A but where is "wider societ #' 0% &lass-based habitus not important' 4% impli#ies Bourdieu: