Changing dimensions of cultural consumption? : The space of lifestyles in Switzerland from 1976 to 2013

Abstract

In the present study we trace transformations of the Swiss space of lifestyles during the past four decades. The sociological discussion suggests that lifestyle practices were once structured by a highbrow-lowbrow distinction, whereas today cultural omnivorism, eclecticism, broad engagement, or cosmopolitanism should be prevalent. Furthermore, Bourdieu’s homology thesis claims that cultural consumption is closely linked with class structures, which is contested by recent individualisation arguments. So, we ask two questions here: First, what are the main axes of the Swiss space of lifestyles and how do they develop over time? Second, how does the association between the space of lifestyles and the space of social positions evolve over time? We find that cultural practices in Switzerland are primarily structured by a dimension differentiating between engagement in a wide range of activities and disengagement, followed, secondly, by a highbrow-popular distinction. Accordingly, we identify an “inactive”, an “intense highbrow” and a “moderate eclectic” consumption pattern. Although this configuration is quite stable over time, structural correlates of lifestyles are changing. Most importantly, indicators of vertical social position like education or occupational status are correlated with broad cultural engagement today, whereas they have been correlated with highbrow activities in the 1970s. Instead, age emerged as the main structuring factor of highbrow-popular disparities.