What cultural hierarchy? Cultural tastes,status and inequality

Research on cultural stratification often draws on Bourdieu's misrecognition model to interpret socioeconomic gradients in cultural tastes and participation. In this model, an assumed cultural hierarchy leads individuals to adopt cultural tastes and behaviours whose status is congruent with that of their socioeconomic position (SEP). Yet, this assumed cultural hierarchy remains opaque. In this paper, we derive and test three empirical implications of the cultural hierarchy: (1) cultural activities have different status (recognition); (2) individuals in high and low SEPs have similar perceptions of the status of cultural activities (necessary condition for misrecognition); and (3) individuals prefer and engage in cultural activities whose status matches that of their SEP (status congruence). We collected survey data in Denmark and find that cultural activities differ in terms of perceived status (e.g., opera has higher perceived status than flea market), status perceptions are similar in high- and low-SEP groups and individuals prefer activities whose status matches that of their SEP. These results are consistent with the idea that a cultural hierarchy exists that sustains SEP gradients in cultural tastes and participation.     

Shame and recognition: Social work practice with vulnerable young people

Drawing on the findings from a longitudinal study of vulnerable young people's transitions to adulthood, this paper explores the ideas of shame and recognition. The young people, aged between 12 and 17 years at the first interview, had experienced chronic exposure to adversity from an early age (abuse, violence, mental health issues, addictions, and expulsion from school). They were clients of statutory and non‐governmental services: child welfare, juvenile justice, remedial education, and mental health services. This paper draws on the qualitative phase of the study (n = 107); young people and a trusted other, nominated by the young person, participated in three annual qualitative interviews. Interviews focused on young people's experiences of services, key transitions, their relationships, and the strategies they used to locate support and resources. Experiences of shame, misrecognition, and seeking recognition emerged as dominant themes in the young people's accounts, and these are explored in this paper. The paper concludes with a discussion on responsive social work interventions that generate a deeper understanding of young people's experiences of shame and misrecognition. Central to this practice are critical and relational social work practices that actively support young people to achieve recognition.     

农民工身份的建构与转变:基于承认的视角

以户籍制度为标志的城乡二元社会经济结构使社会形成了“农民-工人”相分离的主导的身份模式.改革开放以来,随着经济和社会结构的双重转型,农民与工人两种不同的身份实现了过去人们难以想象的奇异结合,“农民工”这一特殊身份的建构是错误承认的结果,因而农民工身份的转变需要合理的承认来实现.     

拉康的镜像理论与自我的建构

拉康认为,自我的建构离不开自身也离不开自我的对应物,即来自于镜中自我的影像;自我通过与这个影像的认同而实现。镜像阶段是一个自欺的瞬间,是一个由虚幻影像引起的迷恋过程,是想像性思维方式的起点。自我并不是自己的主宰;人们苦苦寻找自我,而当找到它时,它却外在于我们,总是作为一个他者而存在,被自身无法掌控的外部力量所决定,永久地被限定在与自己异化的境地。镜像阶段的想像性认同与人类知识同构,具有相似性。最后,笛卡儿式的主体不再能够自由地决定自己的生活,相反,该主体要受制于主体无法控制的外部力量。