The US Space of Lifestyles and its Homologies

Will J Atkinson

doi:10.1177/07311214221084690

The US Space of Lifestyles and its Homologies

Will J Atkinson^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

171 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu’s influence on the study of lifestyles in the United States has been profound, yet the vast majority of relevant research operates with methods and assumptions at odds with Bourdieu’s own. His specifically relational or geometric understanding of social structures, and lifestyles, has been overlooked, meaning that no one has yet done for the contemporary United States what Bourdieu did for France, that is, construct a model of the “space of lifestyles” and its homologies. This paper does precisely that, deploying Bourdieu’s own favored technique of multiple correspondence analysis on survey data from 2017 to 2018. It finds a remarkable continuity between 1970s France and the contemporary United States, specifically in the existence of axes relating to economic and cultural capital. The paper also explores the correspondence of sociodemographic factors with the space, and importantly, it unveils associated patterns of symbolic domination.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1060-1080
Number of pages	21
Journal	Sociological Perspectives
Volume	65
Issue number	6
Early online date	6 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214221084690
Publication status	Published - 14 Oct 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research on which this article is based was funded by the European Research Council under its Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 677055).

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

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15 Citations
6 Article (Academic Journal)
2 Authored book

Class, Race and Lifestyles in the US: A Play of Spaces
Atkinson, W., 10 Apr 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ethnic and Racial Studies. 24 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Open Access
Who Feels Looked Down Upon? Sources of Symbolic Violence in the US
Atkinson, W., 1 Feb 2026, In: Sociological Inquiry. 96, 1, p. 87-108 22 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Open Access
The class differentiation of older age: Capitals and lifestyles
Atkinson, W., 2 Sept 2024, In: British Journal of Sociology. 75, 4, p. 554-573 20 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Open Access
6 Citations (Scopus)

5 Downloads (Pure)

CASSPIN: Comparative Analysis of Social Spaces in Post-Industrial Nations
Atkinson, W. (Principal Investigator), Marzec, P. M. (Researcher), Kunz, S. (Researcher) & Saar, M. (Researcher)
1/05/16 → 30/04/21
Project: Research

File

Cite this

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The US Space of Lifestyles and its Homologies

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

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Research output

Class, Race and Lifestyles in the US: A Play of Spaces

Who Feels Looked Down Upon? Sources of Symbolic Violence in the US

The class differentiation of older age: Capitals and lifestyles

Projects

CASSPIN: Comparative Analysis of Social Spaces in Post-Industrial Nations

Cite this