Taste, Classification And Social Reproduction

The study on class is a significant issue in sociology. With the development ofwestern capitalism, the boundaries between different classes have blurred,meanwhile, studies on class have the tendency for the direction of culture andconsumption. Due to these reasons, the question that whether the traditional theoriesof social stratification are capable of guiding current is facing serious challenges.Many modern sociologists have presented new ideas for it. Among all of them,Bourdieu took critical inherence from Karl.Max and Max.Weber, and pointed outthat cultural practice, like taste, hobbies, lifestyles, has constituted the culturalsignals for different classes, thus, essentially, the cultural barriers of differentclasses are the reasons for social stratification.This essay firstly introduces the definition, classifications and functions ofTastes in Bourdieu’s theories, then tries to depict the presentation of associations of‘Field’ and ‘Taste’ in his understandings. And then analyzing the functions of ‘Field’and ‘habitus’ during the ‘doxa’ forms itself to explain the relationship betweenself-classification and social classification by emphasizing the concepts of‘classification’ and ‘doxa’ which are easily ignored in the studies of Bourdieu. Thuswe can develop the basic attitude in his social stratification theory: although thereare possibilities for social mobility and social resistance, the structure of socialstratification in France is stable by some special mechanism. Finally is about theevaluations and reflects of Bourdieu’s social stratification theory, which is no doubtfunctional and meaningful for different kinds of Chinese sociology studies, such associal stratification, class conflict, education fair etc. But his theories are criticizedby some aspects, both for study method and subjective reasons.Based on Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, this essay isaiming at expound Bourdieu’s social stratification theory comprehensively and indetail, in order to do some basic work and theoretical references for Chinese socialstratification study.