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SITES OF CONFLICT AND COLLABORATION 173

music-listening a technology of the self music or Yiddish tunes at weddings or Bar
adding new dimensions to Adorno’s ideas Mitzvah celebrations.
about reception (DeNora, 2000). Others pro- Becker identified four main types of artists
pose more macroscopic approaches that fea- in terms of their degree of integration with a
ture conflict and cooperation in a national or ‘system’ of aesthetic values and practices:
world systems perspectives (Luhmann, 2000; integrated professionals (who work within
Trajtenberg, 2002, 2005). the conventions of their art world in highly
structured organizational frameworks, like
classical musicians in symphonies), maver-
icks (who know the rules of the game but
Art worlds as sites of collaboration
choose not to follow them), folk artists (who
Art worlds are also studied as sites of collab- work in genres with shared traditions and
oration. Note here the choice of the term utilitarian uses, like quilt-makers) and naïve
‘collaboration’ instead of ‘cooperation’. artists. Becker’s model is widely considered
Collaboration means working together and to be more egalitarian than Pierre Bourdieu’s
implies active agency. ‘Cooperation’ is a ‘high culture model’, in part because Becker
form of collaboration but it is more restric- acknowledges the work of individuals not
tive since it implies working together for a always associated with art making (such as
specific shared goal of common interest. technicians), and in part because he recog-
Instances of cooperation in this narrower nizes different types of art worlds as distinct
sense do occur in the arts (for example, in entities rather than as lesser or imperfect
artists’ collectives, professional associations forms of artistic practice. However, Becker’s
or special interest groups); however, the more model is not wholly egalitarian, since it ranks
general notion of ‘working together’ implied types of art worlds in comparison with highly
by the term ‘collaboration’seems better suited structured elites.
to much sociological analysis of the arts.
Howard Becker proposed a highly influen-
tial model of the social organization of the arts The high culture model as an arena
in what he termed ‘art worlds’. His work is for competition
rooted in interpretative sociology, notably in
symbolic interactionism, but has been deeply Sociologists of the arts are not only con-
marked by his own creative experiences in his cerned with direct participants in artistic cre-
work as a jazz musician (Becker, 1982, 2005). ation. Publics, fans, connoisseurs and patrons
In his model participants in art worlds develop have played crucial roles in structuring both
creative relationships through shared conven- popular and high culture art forms
tions, consensus and collaboration. ‘Art (Martorella, 1995). Arts organizations shape
worlds’ include various types of participants, (but are influenced by) social boundaries and
some with roles outside occupational cate- practices. Participants in dissemination
gories traditionally associated with the arts processes like critics, gallery owners and
(for example, camera equipment manufactur- impresarios may serve as gatekeepers in
ers). Art worlds differ according to the form processes that define and legitimate practices
of collaboration and level of integration of in conflicts and in collaborative endeavours
artists. Participants may be involved with more (Balfe, 1993; Crane, 1987; Fournier and Roy-
than one art world at a time, for example a Valex, 2002; Moulin, 1987; Shrum, 1996).
musician in a symphony orchestra might also In the so-called ‘high culture model’agents
perform with a band in jazz clubs. People may or actors compete for power and position in a
participate in more than one way. An art con- field with a hierarchical structure (Bourdieu,
servator working in a museum may serve as an 1993). Organizational structures of arts insti-
arts administrator for an artists’ cooperative. A tutions and patterns of patronage are often
jazz musician may also play Italian popular intimately connected to status distinctions