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Social Distinction

What and how people consume are critical components of how individuals define themselves in relation to others. Yet, consumption practices are also meaningful social signals that individuals use to categorize and evaluate others. As such, consumption is not only a basis but also a marker of social identity that can serve as a powerful source of social differentiation and stratification in interaction. Research on social distinction focuses on analyzing two primary issues: (1) how individuals define and interpret the social, cultural, and/or material value of individuals, objects, and organizations; and (2) how such classification schemes—including those based on consumption—contribute to broader systems of social inequality. This entry reviews key authors and works relevant to the study of social distinction, highlights key debates pertinent to the topic, and describes current trends in research.

Key Authors

Max Weber

The writings of classical social theorist Max Weber are integral to contemporary understandings of distinction. In his seminal essay “Class, Status, and Party,” Weber argues that social status—defined as social estimations of worth, honor, and/or esteem—is a key basis of societal power and social stratification. According to Weber, status groups are social communities that share a quality or characteristic that affords them a certain level of admiration from others; they tend to be bounded units that exhibit similar lifestyle and consumption practices as well as a sense of shared identity. Unlike economic classes, whose power stems from ownership of property and/or control of production relations, status groups derive their influence through social and symbolic exclusion. In particular, status groups monopolize access to valued resources, a process referred to as social closure. To facilitate such exclusion, status groups tend to adopt one or more “badges” of belonging, most commonly physical markers such as dress, accent, or skin color, so that group membership is clearly demarcated and easily perceptible to all.

Thorstein Veblen and Norbert Elias

Building on Weber's insights, Thorstein Veblen and Norbert Elias provide in-depth analyses of the badges that status groups use to demarcate membership. In Theory of the Leisure Class, Veblen argues that members of affluent classes engage in “conspicuous consumption” of costly or scarce goods and services to publicly communicate their elevated status to others. Focusing more on behavior, Elias documents the elaborate etiquette and interaction rituals common among premodern cultivated classes in The Civilizing Process.

Pierre Bourdieu

Yet it is the work of Pierre Bourdieu that has been the most influential in shaping contemporary understandings of distinction. Similar to Weber, Veblen, and Elias, Bourdieu contends that status signals play a profound role in social stratification. However, Bourdieu's work advances prior scholarship by articulating how processes of distinction serve to reproduce economic inequalities, particularly with respect to social class.

Forms of Capital

Bourdieu argues that in addition to economic capital, there are two nonmonetary resources that play a crucial role in the maintenance of class inequality. The first of these resources is what Bourdieu refers to as social capital, or the size, strength, and status of one's social connections. The second is cultural capital, or high-status cultural signals. According to Bourdieu, cultural capital occurs in three forms: the objectified state (e.g., material goods and possessions), the embodied state (e.g., individual skills and knowledge), and the institutionalized state (e.g., credentials). Reminiscent of Weber's notion of social closure, Bourdieu contends that elite groups use both social and cultural capital as “markers” of class membership and bases for exclusion from valued objects and opportunities. More than just status signals, however, Bourdieu asserts that these resources are forms of capital in their own right; they are valuable not only because of their association with high-status members of society but also because possessors can theoretically use them to procure greater material rewards. Consequently, although seemingly nonmonetary in nature, social and cultural capital represent subtler forms of economic capital. When used as criteria of selection or exclusion, they serve to veil the true economic basis of social differentiation and make class inequality seem more legitimate.

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