Discuss the theories of Simmel, Veblen, Bourdieu, and the cultural omnivore theory on stratified consumption, addressing what each theory says elites are expressing through consumption. How would each of these theories describe how elites would consume music in contrast with the music consumption of those in other social classes?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers vary but should include a discussion of Georg Simmel and Thorstein Veblen, who both believe that the elite want their consumption to be evident to others. Veblen used the term conspicuous consumption to describe the desire to have others see what the elite can consume to differentiate from the lower classes. Simmel and Veblen differ because Simmel assumes that the lower classes will imitate the things that the elites consume, but Veblen felt that the elite's consumption included things that were not easily copied by the lower classes because they were too expensive to buy. Veblen understood the elites to engage in wasteful consumption to maintain this difference. Bourdieu talked about taste not only in terms of a way to achieve status or indicate one's membership in an elite class, but that people in each social class end up developing tastes that are to their cultural and social structural location. It is not only how others classify you, but how you classify yourself and demonstrate your taste or lack thereof. While Simmel and Veblen focus on the economic aspects of consumption, Bourdieu focuses on the cultural dimension, or our desire to distinguish ourselves from others, and that the elite are trying to establish that they have good taste. The cultural omnivores theory suggests that elites are not trying to just express refined taste, but are trying to appear worldly, wide-ranging, and inclusive in their tastes. They have access to more resources, including cultural resources and travel, so elites can develop very diverse tastes that range from highly refined to knowing the nitty-gritty of pop culture. By contrast, the lower classes might be more limited in their cultural knowledge and in their consumption choices. For music, Simmel and Veblen would probably describe elites as selecting a large music selection, expensive music performances such as operas to attend, where they would wear expensive clothes and jewelry and display conspicuous consumption so that others could tell they belonged to the elite class. Bourdieu might say that they were not only displaying membership but were also using their musical consumption of opera or classical music as a part of their own identity by having hobbies that seemed to reflect refinement and good taste. By contrast, the theory of the cultural omnivore would expect the elite who is interested in music to have a broad knowledge of music, from the highest forms of classical and opera to street music and lowbrow forms such as hip-hop, and to be comfortable jumping between various types.