Social Class: WTF? Introduction to Bourdieu and Marx on class
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2024
- In today's What the Theory?, I take a look social class looking at both Karl Marx's theory of class as well as Pierre Bourdieu, cultural capital and more societally rooted approaches to class in the twenty-first century.
This video should hopefully be useful for anyone looking to have an understanding of class in sociology, cultural studies and the humanities.
Further Reading
Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class by Owen Jones
US: amzn.to/2EGeCA6
UK: amzn.to/2VsxEiZ
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste by Pierre Bourdieu
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UK: amzn.to/2SBJfKL
[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]
If you've enjoyed this video then please do check out the rest of my channel where I put out a whole range of videos discussing theatre and playwriting from the perspective of an aspirant and (some might say) emerging playwright and theatre maker as well as reflecting on my experience as a PhD Student.
Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for watching! If you're interested, the video I mention partway through on Hegemony can be found here: th-cam.com/video/-LI_2-qsovo/w-d-xo.html
You are full of energy and give good outlines of theory. Being petty bourgeois, may I point out that Bordeaux is a wine region and Bourdieu is a social theorist.
ggmackie Haha, was this in the subtitles? Or is my pronunciation off? Wouldn’t be the first time either had happened, I am faaaaar from perfect I’m afraid!!
Thanks for the kind words though!
@@Tom_Nicholas Yeah the issue is your pronunciation -- Bourdieu is best approximated in English as "bord-yuh". You kept pronouncing Bourdieu like Bordeaux ("bor-do").
@@elizabethpatitsas565 you're three months ahead of me! I'm listening while putting up laundry and keep asking myself "Bordeaux.....?"
Tom you rock!
Dear gmackie, as a member of the petit bourgeoisie I need to try and boost my ego and status through correcting you in saying that it is not petty but petit bourgeoisie (small-noble/civil)
I seriously cannot thank you enough. I was stressing so much about this essay that I have to do and didn't understand the lecture on this. You explained it all! thank you so much! I am so so grateful, seriously
Glad to be of service, best of luck with the essay!
Thank you, you're delightful! Everything on Bourdieu is so complex I was starting to feel a little lost; your presentation of the information was sophisticated yet comprehensible and I really appreciated that!
Although I pretty much knew already everything you knew in the video I really enjoyed it and found it very interesting. It’s also cool to see where you started with your channel and where you are now.
Thanks for posting, Tom. Amazing. You crystalize the issues so well and I like your approach of using two theories to bring out your points. Liked and subscribed.
Brilliant! that was really well structured and easy to understand! keep up the good work, Tom.
Glad you found it to be easy to understand Chris, that is certainly the intention! Thanks!
I just found your channel and I love this series!! As a lit person myself, it's so interesting to get your theatrical take on all of this theory.
Ah cool, glad you're finding it interesting! There is a huge amount of crossover between the two subjects but I'm sure there is unique takes on either side!
Yeah, there's a ton of crossover, but it's always interesting to hear about the areas that other people are really passionate about that you may not have looked into as much!
this really helped write my dissertation, thank you!
No worries, glad it helped you out and best of luck with the dissertation!
Omg thank you so much for this video. I have an exam in a couple of days and I've been struggling to grasp this subject, now I think I'll be able to answer the questions! Thank you, great content!
No worries, best of luck with the exam!
Studying for my upcoming sociology midterm. This video was great!! Thanks!!!
Thank you for the video, Tom. It's clear and helpful.
No worries Cayla!
Thank you so much for posting this! It has helped me so much!!
No worries, glad it was useful!
My lecturer recommended to watch this, was super helpful!
"A member of the bourgeoisie,
Might own all or part of a company"
near-perfect iambic pentameter right there :)
Thank you so much for sharing this video! Super helpful! 🙏🏼
No problems at all Maria, thanks for watching!
Good video, very helpful - thanks.
Great content! Smartly presented. subscribed!
Thanks Alan! Hope you enjoy the rest of the videos!
great that , thanks hopefeully be able to pass this essay now
I very easily stumbled upon your video on Hegemony, but soon after found that it was a later, sequential video of just that. Naturally, I decided immediately to find a video of yours to start. The video I landed upon was the video of Millennial Socialism/Centrist Dads. Found that beyond informative simply in its humble recognition. Then I watched this video and in so offer the same credit. I must say that your videos, from the two I've been available to experience, have been a humble bag of thought; in which, easily determined, makes me happy, and to be more specific, inspired to delve deep in your analyses. Keep it up, mate.
P.S. Having not had the opportunity to explore your channel, and with emphasis on Marxist ideology, might you be able to suggest a video(s) of yours/elsewise in that regard. Cheers, my friend; and thank you.
Absolutely wonderful! Keep up the good work.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you!! I'm doing a master's in Sociology, but my undergrad was in Journalism. I need to learn a looot about class (besides the basics of Marxism) for my dissertation topic. I feel like I don't have enough time nor MENTAL ENERGY to process academic papers in my second language (English). So thanks thanks thanks for breaking this down in such a digestible way!
Great video mate!
Great content, I also watched your Video on Antonio Gramsci and Hegemony. These have helped me decide to use Gramsci's theory to bridge the artists Woody Guthrie and Rage Against the machine in my music perspectives report.
Just had my British Culture exam, your video helped a lot - thx!
Glad to have helped Patrick! (Although the idea of an exam on British Culture made me smile, it's always really bizarre to think of someone studying your culture from an outside perspective even though I'm sure I've done the same of other countries in the past, haha!) Hope the exam went well!
@@Tom_Nicholas It's also interesting how it's mostly been British/American people studying Indian society and culture, and I can find very little theory on cohabitation outside marriage that I can apply to the Indian context!
Thank you very much. This was quite helpful.
No worries, glad you found it useful Aldish!
Thank you so much! It was interesting!!
Great video mate! Perfect for any Sociologists out there!
Cheers Jake!
Great coverage of Bourdieu's work.
great video, thank you!!
No worries, thanks for saying so!
Hey Thomas! Your explanation has been great as usual! Do you perhaps have a recommendation on books about Pierre Bordieu that will be considered easy for beginners? I tried different sources and it still feels too difficult for me to understand the concept of the theory well due to the language complexity and structure. Thanks a lot!
...Not quite for 'cultural capital'. Cultural capital is basically knowledge, whether in a specific field or general ( ex: vocabulary + language skills ), and is a form of intangible wealth - it's not necessarily about the class-based type of culture one has, whether deemed "legitimate" by the upper-classes (ex: "Literature", classical music, opera, etc. ), or not ( i.e. "popular culture"; ex: football, comic books, action movies, etc. ). For example, an engineer, a professor, or a doctor might possess a great deal of 'cultural capital' in his or her field, but not necessarily _economic_ (i.e. financial) capital - though he or she might be able to trade his or her expertise for a wage and/or privileges. What you are referring to is closer to Bourdieu's notion of 'habitus': the internalized experience of one's class, including gait, posture, affect, use of language, tastes, predispositions, behavior, etc. Note: You also forgot one type of capital Bourdieu added on: _symbolic_ capital. For example, possessing a renowned family name ( like Rothschild ) - assuming you are one of them, or people believe you are -, the kinds of clothes one wears ( ex: business suit vs casual attire), the car one drives, etc. Symbolic attributes / ornaments allowing some individuals to tacitly assert their social dominance / authority, thus often gaining compliance more easily ( = a form of moral violence - dubbed 'symbolic violence' - when the difference in power is extreme ).
How would one explain the transition of mass culture into select elitist culture? As seen the Harlem Renaissance that focused more on social and cultural aspects. How does either Jazz , Blues or African dance or art gain currency?
Wonderfully compacted and explained. Thank you Tom!
Glad you found it useful!
Good content. Short video that cover a lot.
loved the intro
Ahhh this was really helpful!!! I'm writing my thesis this year about social class and cultural critique thought humours art photography
Brilliant! Thank you : )
Glad you found it useful Ausra!
U said we could ask for topics to be covered!
Pls analyze more plays and works of literature the way you did with “all my sons”. It was brilliant: analysis of American literature from a british perspective was genius! Analyse British and American works ! Your analysis is targeted, organized and eloquent !
very clear.... thank you
No problem Antinell!
you're just AMAZING.
*blushes*
excellent mate!
Cheers Joe!
You are amazing!
Thanks!!!
Your videos are great and helpful. I have a question about a statement you made in this video about social class. You said that Karl Marx believed that all history was a struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoise. Didn't Marx believe that all history was class struggle, but that the struggle btwn the proletariat and the bourgeoise is a unique struggle, and one which is an effect of industrial capitalism, a new historical epoch? Because I thought Marx believed that proletariat and bourgeoise are unique social classes, that even though they may be existing in the same historical dialectic of class struggle, both classes - proletariat and bourgeoise - are purely unique to industrial capitalism.
You are very correct. I think I perhaps over-simplified here. Marx indeed posits that there has always been a conflict between classes but differentiates between serf/lord, master/slave and capitalist/proletariat as being the specific articulations of class dynamics in different societal systems.
would you ever go into beverley skeggs' writing on class and gender?
I am currently writing a presentation on postcolonial drama. It's a killer. Hating being a white Brit right now. Your videos have helped me a lot, for this I thank you. x
What happened before you were born and became an adult is not your fault. What happens after that is a matter of what you do about it.
Cheers man, this is ace
No probs, thanks for saying so James!
Capitalists are not necessary those who control the means of production, they are those who Capital.
I talk about theatre, my phd and those two things sort of
CRUSHED TOGETHER IN A VICE
O_O
Based on which of Bordieus works is this?
While Bordieu explain how these class differences are created and continued. Does he give any suggestions for how to change this pattern of action or is he forever stuck in the challenges of structralism?
While Bourdieu did not provide a grand solution to the problem of class inequality, he did acknowledge that we have to expose this subtle and hidden forms of domination and inequalities which he calls symbolic domination. For him, only when social agents can awaken from their "doxic slumber", that is, when social agents can recognize that power and domination are actually social constructs and not natural givens of the social space can the efficacy of social inequality start to be neutralized.
Yes
I was really confronted with my idea of my class. I went to Vietnam for a month, it was my first time being outside of Europe. I found myself not feeling comfortable going to restaurants, instead buying alot of the street food fenders, still fucking amazing food don't get me wrong. Eventhough I could easily pay for it there was something inside me telling me it was to high class for me. On one of my last days I went to a 2 star restaurant with my sweatpants and slippers, nobody found that weird. Got a three course meal for 20 euros, that was really outside of my comfort zone. I felt like I didn't belong there. Tells something about me, but a whole lot about the broader world around. As a European with low class status, I was still rich in Vietnam. Didn't much enjoyed it tho.
as a Vietnamese living in Europe, I know exactly what ur talking about
I love your accent
🔥
"History, as he had it, was the long struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie". Sure, because those classes have always existed...
Good job kid
Fab videos Tom but you must triple check your pronunciation.
What is Social class?
Fab
Bourdieu also seems less deterministic than Marx though one can see an influence there as well. The problem with Marx is in his rejection of an inherent human nature on the one hamd and class determinism on the other. We change society by eliminating class and thereby change individual natures. In Bourdieu, he seems to come close to a cultural determinism where taste in music or art is determined by one's class. But one can observe how in the 20th and 21st centuries western classical music has become embraced by non-western cultures around the world. We have choices and the ability to be open minded, listen, and learn. Thank you for your video.
Instant
Thanks for your helpful and lucid videos, but um... Maybe in the future you could first check, say, forvo.com for pronunciation of foreign names, since you seem to have trouble with them?
I know it doesn't really affect your main message, but it would give out a more professional vibe, don't you think?
(Ok, I've only watched two videos so far, but already it's been sort of disorienting to keep hearing about "Gramski" and "Bordeau"... I dread to think what might come next!)
PS. Just thought of something: Maybe it's all because you yourself had professors who didn't care about foreign pronunciation? All the more reason to try and break the vicious cycle, though!
Subtitle bahasa Indonesia gaada anjim
Aja
Boudieu, it's pronounced "buʁ dij œ" , FYI
Bad take, your understanding of Marx is highly influenced by determinist Marxism and is not a full nuanced understanding of the science of Marxism. Please read up on Overdeterminist Marxism
Hiya Stephen, thanks for your comment! Obviously trying to cram a discussion of every nuance of different Marxist frameworks would be impossible in an 8 minute video (particularly one which is based more broadly on class rather than exclusively on Marxism anyway). So, yes, I've focussed here largely on orthodox/vulgar Marxism.
Tom Nicholas I was definitely saying all of your videos should be indefinitely longer, in this time of great need, your videos really help those stuck at useless bottom rung jobs understand the world in a very important way.
Personally I understand Marxism as a science of overdetermination where as there is no instance determined by any in particular.
The most ironic thing about Karl Marx is that he was a very lavish spendthrift and enjoyed the fruits of capitalism as much as he wrote about despising it.
So what?
Throughout history artists, writers, actors have had benefactors.
@@MrCodeye1984 But he was pontificating from a position of privilege. Like Orwell, he was a class tourist.
He actually wasn't, he was expelled from most european countries he lived in to the point where his children couldn't even get medication. But you keep telling yourself this so you don't have to feel insecure about your ideology.