Worlds, Fields and Networks: Becker, Bourdieu and the Structures of Social Relations

TLDR

The paper situates Bourdieu’s cultural fields, Becker’s art worlds, and social network analysis within a discussion of social relations. The authors argue that interaction generates social spaces and positions, and propose using social network analysis to derive these from concrete interactions. They employ social network analysis on data from two late‑1970s UK music scenes to derive positions and relations. The authors conclude that both Becker and Bourdieu underdevelop social connection, but their network‑based method bridges world and field analyses.

Abstract

This paper reflects upon Bourdieu’s concept of cultural fields, Becker’s concept of ‘art worlds’ and the concept of networks as developed in social network analysis. We challenge the distinction that Bourdieu makes between the objective ‘relations’ and ‘positions’ constitutive of ‘social space’ and visible social relationships. In contrast, we maintain that interaction is generative of social spaces and positions and should be integral to any account of them. Becker’s position is better from this perspective, but while Becker refers repeatedly to social networks, he fails to develop the concept or exploit its potential as a means of exploring social structures. Both Becker and Bourdieu have an underdeveloped conception of social connection which weakens their respective conceptions of the space of cultural production. Our proposed remedy is to use social network analysis to derive ‘positions’ and ‘relations’ between ‘positions’, as prioritized by Bourdieu, from data on concrete interactions and relations. This allows ‘world’ analysis to speak to the issues of field analysis without sacrificing its strengths. We illustrate our case by way of an analysis of two UK music scenes from the late 1970s.