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Invention and Representation as Cultural Capital
Author(s) -
ULIN ROBERT C.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1995.97.3.02a00100
Subject(s) - aristocracy (class) , reputation , hegemony , capitalism , sociology , economy , politics , social science , political science , economics , law
The paramount reputation of Bordeaux wines is believed to follow from superior techniques of vinification and a climate and soil reputedly ideal for winegrowing. Through a qualification of the invention of tradition theme, this essay argues that Bordeaux's paramount reputation follows from a social history and a hegemonic, invented winegrowing tradition that enabled winegrowing elites to replicate and profit from the cultural capital associated with the aristocracy. The essay concludes that commodity production tends to naturalize the social.