Lecture 3- Polarization Flashcards
(14 cards)
What was the 3 key theoretical concepts that was introduced by Bourdieu?
- Taste
- Habitus
- Capital
Taste
Taste refers to our preferences in things like food, fashion, art, and lifestyle—but according to Bourdieu, it’s not just about personal choice. Taste is shaped by our social class, upbringing, and education—what he calls our habitus.
Functions as a sort of social orientation, ‘a sense of one’s place’, guiding the occupants of a given field
Taste defines who is a member of one distinct social class/group and who is not
How it works: Taste becomes a way to show your identity and your class positioning. It’s a way to say, “This is who I am (and who I’m not).”
Example: Choosing minimalist furniture over colorful IKEA vibes isn’t just “aesthetic”—it might signal a desire to project “refined” or “educated” taste.
🧩 Taste reflects your habitus, and it helps you accumulate cultural and symbolic capital.
Misconception about taste
That it is a natural or given, when in fact it is deeply rooted in the social conditions of one’s upbringing and class position
Taste…
is not universally applicable independent of context, basically ‘good taste’ is subjective and dependent on one’s upbringing
What is Capital?
capital is similar to resources, anything valuable that can help you gain advantage in society.
Your habitus also tells how much capital you can access, it can either open up or closs of access to different kinds of capital
What is the 4 types of capital
Your Social Resources
Bourdieu expands “capital” beyond money. There are four main types:
Type of Capital
💰 Economic- Money + assets Owning property, buying expensive clothes
🎓 Cultural- Knowledge, skills, taste Knowing wine etiquette, reading philosophy
🤝 Social- Who you know Networking, elite social circles
🌟 Symbolic- Prestige, status Being respected as stylish or successful
How it works: Capital gives you power and legitimacy in different social “fields” (like fashion, academia, or marketing).
Capital can be used to maintain or climb the social hierarchy.
🧩 Your habitus determines how much capital you can access—and your taste expresses and reinforces that capital.
What is habitus?
Your Inner Compass
What it is: Your internalized way of thinking, feeling, and acting. It’s built over time from your upbringing, experiences, and environment—especially your social class.
How it works: It guides what feels “normal,” “natural,” or “obvious” to you.
Example: You might find going to a wine tasting normal, while someone else finds it intimidating or boring. That’s habitus at play.
🧩 Habitus is what shapes your tastes.
Metaphorically describes as a Backpack or brick wall
what is the ‘fields’?
When it comes to fields — you called them micro-groups, which is a nice way to think about it — fields are these social spaces where people and their capital interact and compete.Different field also have different rules.
Why doesn’t Bourdieu’s theory of taste fully hold up in today’s cultural landscape?
While Bourdieu’s theory links taste to social class and explains how people use taste for social distinction, it faces key critiques today:
🔁 Cultural Fluidity: People now mix high and low culture (e.g., luxury + streetwear), challenging old class-based boundaries.
📱 Social Media Democratization: Platforms like TikTok and Instagram give cultural influence to people regardless of class or traditional capital.
🌍 Globalization: Global fashion brands and internet culture blur local/class-based taste hierarchies—creating hybrid, border-crossing styles.
🎭 Identity Play: Taste today is often about creative self-expression, not just class signaling—people use style to explore identity, not conform to it.
🧠 Bottom Line: Bourdieu still helps explain how inequality shapes taste, but today’s world is more flexible, performative, and remix-driven than his structured model allows.
What is Polarization?
Polarization is when a society, group, or culture splits into opposing sides—often with extreme, rigid views and very little middle ground.
It’s like:
“You’re either with us, or you’re against us.”
The problem arises when differences between groups become accentuated and used to create hierarchical structures of entitlement
How does polarization influence consumption and identity in today’s world?
In a polarized society, consumption becomes a tool for identity signaling and belonging.
Consumption expresses the self we want to become, the communities we want to join, and the beliefs we want to be seen living by.
How globalization and digitalization shaped polarization?
Through globalization, we’re exposed to a massive exchange of culture, trends, and ideas—we have more access than ever to different ways of living, thinking, and expressing identity.
BUT—because of digitalization, especially algorithms on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, that global flow of information gets filtered and personalized to match what we already like or believe. So instead of seeing the full picture, we’re shown a customized slice of the world—a digital mirror of ourselves.
➡️ This leads to confirmation bias: we only see what we already agree with.
➡️ And over time, this narrows our worldview and increases polarization—because we believe our curated “truth” is the truth.
So yes: even though we could be more connected and informed, we’re often trapped in echo chambers—believing our tastes, views, or lifestyles are the “right” or “normal” ones… because that’s all we see.
What the down side of this?
In today’s world, globalization offers us access to diverse cultures, ideas, and truths—but digitalization filters that access through personalized algorithms. These algorithms are designed to serve you, showing only what you like, believe in, or subscribe to. As a result, we no longer share one common world—we each live in our own curated reality, where our truths are confirmed, and opposing views are hidden. This not only deepens polarization, but also creates a kind of digital cage: one where we become unknowingly ignorant of others and overly confident in our own version of the truth.
Now, how does the marketing world exploit polarization?
Companies are using the “us vs them” to connect with their target audience. It becomes a profitable opportunity.
The human need to belong, to be part of a group, and have a sense of a purpose, is commonly used in marketing
