Signs of ‘Emerging’ Cultural Capital? Analysing Symbolic Struggles Using Class Specific Analysis

Abstract

The central focus of this article is to analyse empirically whether and how the monopoly and legitimacy of highbrow arts as a status marker varies across age groups. Drawing on unique Flemish survey data ( n = 2846) that include information on what cultural objects are consumed as well as on how these are appropriated, I construct a two-dimensional social space that relates cultural practices to positions in the social hierarchy through Multiple Correspondence Analysis. Using Class Specific Analysis, I look into the structuring principles within two age clusters (−25 and 55+) and try to determine the ways in which the distinguishing status and legitimacy of highbrow arts varies among different groups – thus challenging the assumption that cultural classifications are equally salient to every social group.