Evidence of the contemporary British elite nicely demonstrates that elements of high culture have a place within a form of omnivorousness.
In-depth interviews in 2004 with a small number of individuals occupy- ing prestigious positions in British business, politics and administration, under the auspices of the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion proj- ect (Bennett et al. 2009 ), showed that the administrative elite exhibits a signifi cant degree of homogeneity of cultural attachment and invests heavily in participation in many cultural activities. Intensive and selective cultural consumption is routine and culture is embedded in social life through social connections.
Elite portfolios exhibit some strong shared commitments to particular cultural forms, some additional engagements in practices which are locally specifi c rather than generally symbolically signifi cant, and some predictable common absences (Warde and Bennett 2008 ). Visiting art
14 Although it is diffi cult to imagine why the state would subsidise or sponsor cultural activities which were other than precious, this may still be an instance of the state apparatus operating in the interests of the dominant class.
galleries, following ‘authoritative’ sources of news, reading, and listening to classical music were almost universal. Relatively frequently mentioned optional but unremarkable items included having played sport during youth, listening to Classic FM and Radio 4. Also, everyone watched some TV, with documentaries and television dramas featuring alongside news programmes as favourite genres. Other optional items performed a diff erentiating function, tempered seemingly towards personal incli- nations and local social circles; so a rural landowner mentioned shoot- ing, several individuals disclosed membership of a local church, and one couple engaged in performance (of singing and acting).
All bar one interviewee expressed a liking for some forms of popular culture. Sport was prominent, as was popular music for almost everyone at some time in their past. Gardening, soap operas, Hollywood classics and blockbuster fi lms each got a mention, but only jazz and rock music were mentioned several times. Occasionally, specifi c strong expressions of dislike were directed towards popular items including country and western music, Harry Potter books, soap operas, chat shows and reality TV. Yet overt hostility was infrequent and rejection involved more the quiet and tacit avoidance of a range of available cultural options: popular working-class pursuits like playing bingo, watching a boxing match or Formula 1 motor racing were never referred to, nor was listening to rap music or playing video games.
Th e elite’s pattern of cultural consumption can be described in terms of three principles—profi ciency, plenitude and capability (Warde 2011b ).
Interviewees were generally very confi dent and socially skilled but their occasional hesitations, excuses and apologies 15 served to reveal an ideal of cultivation, an acknowledgement that a certain kind of cultural com- petence or profi ciency , is expected of a person in an elevated position.
A second key feature of their cultural practice was their busyness. Th ey combine activities into a distinctive way of life, one with many com- mon features, none of which individually is denied to the rest of the population, but where distinctiveness lies partly in the breadth and intensity of forms of cultural participation. Particularly signifi cant is
15 In relation to particular topics or items they felt forced, reluctantly, to admit to lack of knowledge or competence.
the commitment to attending live performances of the fi ne arts. Th ey visited galleries, concert halls and theatres, even when it might be pos- sible to have media access to the same events. Th e elite are distinctive in their widespread and voracious engagement, in the company of clients, contacts and peers, in visits to public events—theatre, opera, sport and restaurants. Th us the elite conform to a principle of plenitude , involving fi lling their personal and collective cultural universes with valued activi- ties and experiences. A third striking feature of this group is the extent to which social connections generate cultural capital and cultural prac- tices sustain social networks. Th eir extensive social contact presents many more than average opportunities for cultural learning; in Amartya Sen’s sense, they have greater capabilities . As a stratum, they are likely to have many more opportunities to learn than most of the rest of the popula- tion. Career progression and life-course experience ensure constant expo- sure to relevant cultural forms, and thereby the opportunity to adopt and refi ne their cultural repertoires and aptitudes. To a woman, they end up highly endowed with economic, cultural and social capital.
Cultural participation is an insignia of belonging for this generation of elite personnel for whom it would be diffi cult to live an acceptable life bereft of connections with art, classical music, theatre and reading. Born between the mid-1930s and mid-1950s, they have lived in a context where high culture was mostly venerated, and where major institutions operated to emphasise the fact. Th ey grew up in a context of a patrician BBC, very selective state sponsorship of culture, and an educational cur- riculum which selected some types of literature and music and not others for transmission for educational purposes. Th eir behaviour is oriented towards a set of consecrated cultural activities with which they, and oth- ers like them in the highest social positions, have familiarised themselves.
But that rarely precluded other tastes for more popular genres.
Th e value of considering this group is that they constitute a benchmark against which to review recent change; they are ‘proof ’ of the connection in the late twentieth century between high social status and an orientation of omnivorousness (by composition, i.e. appreciation and appropriation of a range of both legitimate and popular cultural forms). Th eir cultural profi les have many similar features to the larger professional-executive class beyond the elite. Nevertheless, despite many similarities across the
whole group, some diff erences exist between the oldest and the youngest within this elite sample. Moreover, the elite have some tastes which are not shared by the young professionals and managers from whom their successors will be drawn. One question therefore is whether the heavy smattering of high culture items in the current elite portfolio will be fur- ther depleted in the successor generation. Th is might be anticipated were
‘emerging cultural capital’ to take root and become decisive.