Introduction

In introducing the Fields, Capitals, Habitus collection, this chapter outlines the background to the book in the Australian Cultural Fields research project from which it derives. In doing so, it identifies the contributions the book makes to current debates associated with each of its three key concepts: the social analysis of fields of cultural consumption, the role of cultural capital in the reproduction of social inequalities, and the aesthetic, ethical, political and civic aspects of habitus. The stress here is placed on the distinctive insights that are derived from engaging with these questions in the Australian context. The methods used in relation to both the survey of cultural tastes and practices conducted by the Australian Cultural Fields project and the household interviews with a selection of the survey respondents are summarised. Distinctive strengths as well as the limitations of these research data are identified.