Critique and Renewal in the Sociology of Music: Bourdieu and Beyond
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This paper reviews the status, position and legacy of Bourdieu in the sociology of music, the waxing and waning of his influence and the recent move away from Bourdieu towards something like a post-critical engagement with musical forms and practices. The idea is to show the reaction to and treatment of Bourdieu’s ideas as a gauge of where we are in the sociology of culture, the various strands of influence that emanate from his work, and to assess what is at stake in a ‘post-Bourdieu’ moment when a position once considered progressive and critical now acts as the foil against which new work is being conducted. The article engages with some recent contributions to the music/society debate from figures in the UK and France, and points to the ways these contributions move debates on musico-social relations into territories more sensitive to the complex mediating qualities of music. Such work is better placed, it is argued, to represent music as an animating force in everyday life, including its specific mediating qualities ‘in action’. At the same time, however, the construction of a new sociology of music is not without its perils. The article will conclude with some potential problems with these approaches, and take stock of what might be lost as well as gained by adherence to them.
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Bourdieu's terminology circulates widely in the discourses of associated conferences, journals and textbooks, while a veritable 'Bourdieu industry' has sprung up in the discipline of sociology at large.
“Bourdieu's terminology circulates widely in the discourses of associated conferences, journals and textbooks, while a veritable ''Bourdieu industry'' has sprung up in the discipline of sociology at large (Prior 2011).”
From Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Consumption: A Critical Assessment of Recent Developments (2013) · cites this paper as Prior 2011
The supplied passages contain bibliographic material and an abstract, but no passage from the paper’s body addresses circulation of Bourdieu’s terminology through conferences, journals, or textbooks, or a ‘Bourdieu industry’ in sociology at large. Searches for those distinctive terms returned no relevant passage from the paper’s text. (LLM, conf=0.72)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBourdieu's conceptual apparatus has provided an important frame of reference for a 'critical' sociology concerned with showing how power and inequality are central to categorisations of music.
“Bourdieu's conceptual apparatus has provided an important frame of reference for a ''critical'' sociology concerned with showing how power and inequality are central to categorisations of music (Prior 2011).”
From Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Consumption: A Critical Assessment of Recent Developments (2013) · cites this paper as Prior 2011
The indexed passages provide an abstract and bibliographic metadata, but no substantive passage establishing the claim about power, inequality, and categorisations of music. Searches for those terms and related phrasing returned no relevant discussion from the paper’s text; the abstract alone cannot settle the attribution. (LLM, conf=0.68)
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Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Consumption: A Critical Assessment of Recent Developments
Prior, N. (2013) · Sociology Compass · doi:10.1111/soc4.12020 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Prior, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Prior, Nick
- ORCID
- Prior, Nick
- Venue
- Cultural Sociology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-03
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 121-138
- ISSN
- 1749-9755 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-9763
- OpenAlex
- W2074964295
- Cited by
- 139
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 217.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- Cultural Sociology (publishedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Music History and Culture
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Cultural Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Musicology and Musical Analysis
- Keywords
- Pierre Bourdieu, sociology of music, music and society, everyday life, sociology of culture, critical theory, reception of Bourdieu
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