Page 83 - Cultural Change and Ordinary Life

7 Distinguishing and connecting 1:
capitals and the use of time

One of the key arguments of this book is that a full understanding of the
nature of ordinary life requires attention to a range of different types of evi-
dence. In particular I seek to integrate ideas, theories and research from socio-
logy, cultural and media studies. In the previous chapter, I explored the
implications of such an approach for the study and theorization of con-
temporary identities, in particular those around class. This chapter continues
that approach but takes the argument in a different direction. In broad terms,
it is the first of three chapters that can be seen as exploring how people use
their time in contemporary advanced capitalist societies to consider how it is
that belonging, distinguishing and individualizing are performed and audi-
enced. In particular, the focus of this chapter is on some arguments concerning
the use of time and how this relates to different modes of capital. These were
introduced in an earlier chapter, where Bourdieu and Putnam’s arguments
were briefly considered. In different ways, these chapters have a focus on the
way in which time is used, especially in relation to how time and activity
might be described as social capital. Chapter 8 discusses in some detail the
debates on the omnivore thesis, which has been an influential argument about
the way in which the activities that people engage in are changing has
implications for the nature of the bonds between people and how they
distinguish themselves from others. Chapter 9 treats some of the more recent
literature on fandom and celebrity in a similar fashion. It is an important part
of my argument, that research in each of these fields has tended to be relatively
isolated from that in the other two, even though they are often addressing
what are actually quite similar issues. These are to do with how time is spent,
what are its implications for the nature of the relationships between people,
how people see themselves as different from others, and so on.
In this chapter, I explore three themes that I see as offering some light on
the way in which people seek to reproduce forms of advantage through their
activities. First, this will mean exploring some of the more sociological evi-
dence on how people use their time. Therefore, I begin with a fairly brisk
summary of the long-run trends in this. This I suggest provides a context for
the more specific consideration of modes of distinction in the rest of the
chapter. Second, this is followed by consideration of some of the evidence