Heiko writes:
>
>The "baby boom" is to simple as an explanation for what was going on in
>the 60s, my first idea when I read this.
I agree. Its not a matter simply of a quantitative population increase, but
of the effect that this increase has on the existing social structure (see
below).
>>
>> Bourdieu's sociological studies are extremely sophisticated, though I'm
>> unable to go on at length about them here.
>
>He is read all over the world ;-)
To be sure. As chair of sociology at the College de France, he is one of
France's leading intellectuals. Bourdieu is currently very active
politically as well, speaking out against the current free market philosophy
that pervades everything today. His book On Television (a searing critique
of contemporary journalism) and his book with Hans Haacke (dealing with the
relationship between art and politics) may be of particular interest to
people on this list.
>
>But where did those many "new entrants" come from ?
>
They were born as part of the baby boom. They could become "new entrants"
into the art world because, as Davidson pointed out so well, they were born
during a time of liberalization and expansion of the educational and
cultural system.
Normally, during static periods, the art world is stable, reproducing itself
through the gradual integration of a small stream of new entrants who follow
established strategies for achieving success. During the period of
expansion, however, the art world --and the educational and cultural system
in general-- was thrown into crisis because it could not *truly* absorb the
influx
of new people. While the system expanded, it continued to exclude. For
example, many people, "new entrants", began to see that the degrees
and qualifications that would normally guarantee them a position within the
established hierarchy (e.g., professor) no longer had the value they once
did. This deflation of qualifications lead them to criticize "the system"
and reject the values of the social world that didn't live up to its claims.
But, I explain this poorly. The best book to read on this is Bourdieu's
monumental (and very difficult) book Homo Academicus.
In general, we definitely continue to live in a period of conservative
reaction against the 60s and early 70s. In many, many cultural and
scientific fields (including, for example, computer science), we are still
living off the cultural innovations of the 60s/70s (e.g., with respect to
computers, TCP/IP, GUI, O-O programming and more -- Alan Kay is great for
making this point). The current "free market" policies of governments will
result only in continued cultural stagnation... In fact, I wonder if its
possible that they may lead to eventual sterility and an eventual decline in
profits which more and more rely on scientific innovation? A new version of
Marx's crisis theory??? ;-) ... Now, how do we organize politically for this
coming crisis!! ;-)
cheers,
George
