ABSTRACT
In eighteenth-century Europe, the power and influence of the landed aristocracy began to cede ground to a drive for social mobility that was expressed through culture and defined by taste. Pierre Bourdieu’s analysis of taste, in common with his other work, is built on his ingenuity in founding analytical rigour on the limits of a theory of practice, rather than on its opportunities. Nonetheless, the 'payoff' of the historical transformation of social hierarchy by taste is that it has placed culture at the centre of social life and has given us the chance to seek self-determination and enhanced social status within it. Taste, in other words, is what makes becoming socially mobile the responsible and the civilised thing to do. It does not simply create a representation of social value or define our place in a hierarchy. The chapter also presents an overview of key concepts discussed in this book.
