Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste

In this episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida presents “Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste” by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu — one of the most influential works in the social sciences.

Starting from the question of why people so often express taste through contempt, Dida sets out Bourdieu's central thesis: taste is not inborn, it is learned, and it works as a mechanism that reproduces social hierarchy. Through the key concepts — the forms of capital (economic, cultural, social, symbolic), the field and the habitus — and examples drawn from art, music, sport and everyday life, the presentation shows how social structure, rather than merit alone, shapes our preferences, our opportunities and the positions we hold.

Some of the points covered: 📌 Why we hate Dan Brown — taste as a mark of status 📌 The photograph experiment: taste is learned, we are not born with it 📌 The four forms of capital, and how they convert into one another 📌 Habitus: how our surroundings shape every like and dislike 📌 The three classes and their differences in art, sport and food 📌 How elites survive a change of system — and the case of Kosovo

📍 Prishtina Book Talks