First, aristocratic/landed gentry pursuits like hunting, shooting, horse riding, polo and sailing, traditionally afforded by landed estates in the 19th century. Researchers used the music website Metacritic to analyse the average album score of the artists selected, discovering that they were consistently more critically acclaimed than average They also found three distinct historical phases of elite cultural distinction in Who’s Who. Tony Blair famously convened a focus group – as he did for many things – to help him calculate what to play.” It constitutes an even more public performance of one’s cultural identity. One of the most popular recreations in Who’s Who is ‘music’, so researchers analysed more than 1000 people in Who’s Who who have also been guests on Desert Island Discs.Īaron Reeves, joint author of the paper, added: “Like Who’s Who, what you play on Desert Island Discs matters. In this way, it is possible to read a very public expression of ordinary cultural preferences in Who’s Who as an attempt to forge cultural connection and claim authenticity with the public, while at the same time retaining many of the highbrow tastes that continue to function as a form of cultural capital.” Sam Friedman, joint author of the paper, From Aristocratic to Ordinary: Shifting Modes of Elite Distinctionis published in American Sociological Review, commented: “Research suggests that many people distinguish strongly between elites they see as decent and open, and those they see as snobbish and condescending.
#Highbrow define professional
The other 50 per cent are selected by a board of long-standing advisers, based on achieving other noteworthy professional appointments or on an assessment that they enjoy sustained prestige, influence or fame. Fifty per cent of entrants are included automatically upon reaching a prominent occupational position, such as MPs, peers, judges, ambassadors, FTSE 100 CEOs, Poet Laureates and Fellows of the British Academy.
#Highbrow define full
During the Second World War, Winston Churchill even personally intervened to ensure its publication was not affected by the paper shortage, arguing its full circulation was of “national importance.” Part of its appeal has always been the breadth of its coverage, and its understanding of eliteness as not necessarily confined to the landed or wealthy. For over a century, Who’s Who has functioned as the bible of the British establishment, the most authoritative and trusted catalogue of the country’s upper echelons, representing just 0.05 per cent of the population. The elites are, however, tending to show an interest in popular culture that is more critically acclaimed and retain some preferences for traditionally highbrow culture, the researchers found.
In Who’s Who, there is also a trend towards humour in listing recreations, for example “loud music, strong cider” (Jonathan Ashley-Smith, senior civil servant) and “the usual” (Admiral Sir Edward Ashmore, Chief of Naval Staff). They found that, over the past 120 years, and particularly in the last 30, there has been a significant shift from traditional aristocratic or highbrow pursuits, such as hunting and opera, to ordinary interests such as family, pets and pop music. Sam Friedman, Associate Professor in LSE’s Department of Sociology, and Aaron Reeves, Associate Professor in Oxford’s Department of Social Policy and Intervention, analysed the ‘recreations’ of more than 70,000 entrants in Who’s Who since 1897, as well as the musical tastes of more than 1,000 guests on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. Elites have begun publicly embracing everyday leisure activities like football and spending time with their families to indicate their ‘ordinariness’ as they become increasingly sensitive to public opinion in an era of rising inequality, suggests new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of Oxford.
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