Page 108 - Cultural Change and Ordinary Life

The omnivore thesis 99

may be informing this pattern of taste and suggests that the omnivores are
able to switch between different types of discourse. However, these processes
also link very importantly to the types of distinction that I have considered
in other parts of this book. Thus, van Eijck argues that world music, or the
sorts of combination that maybe fall under this heading, might become
‘the art music of the twenty-first century’ (p. 219) and that appreciation of
this type of music renders ‘distinction because it is in accord with today’s
standard of what members of the upper-middle class are supposed to enjoy’
(p. 219). Thus, the argument might be that omnivorousness is simply another
mode of the pursuit of status on the part of relatively privileged groups.
I will return to this point in more detail later, but it is important to point
out that van Eijck argues that this may only be a part of the situation as not
all cultural taste is to do with these processes. Thus as Mike Savage and I
(Longhurst and Savage 1996) argued as well as seeking to impress others,
cultural taste has as much to do with reassurance of the self – an argument
picked up by van Eijck that I have further developed in this book. More-
over, Warde et al. (2000) argue that omnivorousness, if it is happening as a
generalized process (and they suggest that there is mixed evidence for the UK)
can be seen as much as reinforcing distinction as producing tolerance. In
general, then, van Eijck shows that while Peterson’s argument requires
some degree of refinement, there are omnivorous processes happening in
another society (in this case the Netherlands) and across other forms of culture
(reading as well as music) and that the processes behind this can be further
conceptualized.
Other studies have continued to explore the omnivore idea. Thus, for
example, work on Spain (e.g. Sintas and Álvarez 2002) has found that omni-
vores are present, but does not necessarily show that the patterns of omnivoric
culture are replacing the highbrow form. Like other studies, the omnivore type
culture is related to increased levels of education and (younger) age. In the UK,
Warde et al. (1999) have considered the thesis with respect to eating out. There
is now a developing pattern of research that is exploring the pertinence of the
omnivore thesis. While this has led to refinement of the idea, the basic para-
meters have been found in a number of different societies. It is important to note
that these studies have nearly always worked with quantitative data and are
using quantitative data analysis techniques of increasing sophistication in
examining the patterns of cultural taste and distinction. On a number of levels
this is to be welcomed as it provides important ways of carrying out cross-
national studies and has led to revision and increased sophistication in the
omnivore idea. However, there is a danger that precisely this sophistication
and indeed the ways in which the quantitative papers that discuss the omni-
vore idea are written will lead to lack of attention outside a fairly specialized
group. The implications of this danger are that some of the insights are neg-
lected by those working in different research traditions (such as cultural and
media studies) and with different modes of analysis that are based on more
qualitative analysis and modes of critical speculation. As I have argued, and it
is one of the basic themes behind this book, such gulfs are to be avoided. To
examine this point, I now turn to other ways of thinking the omnivore/
univore idea that show how such connections can be made.