Elites

Elite Distinction and Consumption

While the birth date of consumer society is contested, most authors concur that, originally, consumption was essentially related to intra-elite competition. For aristocrats—or bourgeois aiming to live “nobly”—it was an investment of sorts with a view to bearing out their social worth. Consumption was principally directed to categories of expenditure such as household, adornment, and military equipment, but also to art and liturgical apparatus, for instance. This intraelite competition was often affected by the adoption of sumptuary laws aimed at bringing manifestations of social eminence under control. Although other purposes may be distinguished (notably moralizing and protectionist ones), sumptuary exclusivity should mainly be understood as a defensive reaction by established elites concerned with preserving an exclusive access to prestige goods ostensibly “materializing” their higher position. In this respect, it appears that such legislation has been enacted particularly when conventional markers of social superiority were challenged from below. A classic example is found in the symbolic rivalry between the nobility and the rising merchant class in Western Europe, throughout those centuries witnessing the long transition from social structuration through hereditary statuses to new logics based on socioeconomic achievements. The significant role played by acquisition practices in intra-elite competition during those past centuries was especially crucial within court societies. Of importance here are the contributions of Werner Sombart and Norbert Elias. In his book on Luxury and Capitalism, Sombart analyzed how lecherous kings and courtiers used desirable femininity and erotic conquests as a central emblem of distinction. According to Sombart, by showering presents on their mistresses, elites led to intensification on the demand for luxuries. On his side, in his famous work on The Court Society, Elias insisted on the imperative pressure for competitive display between courtiers eager to defend their prestige around the figure of the king. Although they have been extended by more systematic historical explorations, these pioneering reflections on the links between elite distinction and consumption can still be regarded as fundamental.

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