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Li, Gordon C. (2021) 'From parvenu to “highbrow” tastes: the rise of cultural capital in China’s intergenerational elites.' The British Journal of Sociology, 72 (3). pp. 514-530.

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Abstract

A new generation of elites distinguished by their cultural endowments has emerged in China. Unlike the older generation of elites who signaled status through the display of wealth but shared similar tastes, the new generation of cultured elites has sophisticated, often Western-oriented “highbrow” tastes in their cultural consumption. By comparing the upbringings and the tastes of interviewees from various backgrounds, this study suggests a widening taste-chasm between the elites and the underclasses in urban cities. The social process behind this is argued to be the rapid formation of cultural capital in China, in which parental privileges accumulated in the market economy converted into cultural privileges in the new generation of new elites.

Item Type: Journal Article
Keywords: China; cultural capital; cultural consumption; music taste; intergenerational mobility
SOAS Departments & Centres: Regional Centres and Institutes > SOAS China Institute
Departments and Subunits > School of Finance & Management
Subjects: D History General and Old World > DS Asia
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
M Music and Books on Music > M Music
N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
ISSN: 00071315
Copyright Statement: © 2021 The Authors This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12862
Date Deposited: 28 May 2021 13:38
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/35150
Related URLs: https://doi.org ... 1468-4446.12862 (Publisher URL)

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