Jean-Pascal Daloz Libri

Through extensive global observation and analysis of over 2,500 multidisciplinary publications, this book offers a comprehensive comparison of social distinction practices throughout history. It delves into how different cultures represent and navigate social hierarchies, drawing insights from previous theoretical works on the subject. The unique approach highlights the diverse ways societies understand and implement social stratification, making it a significant contribution to the study of social dynamics across various contexts.

This major new contribution to the study of consumption examines how dominant groups express and display their sense of superiority through material and aesthetic attributes, demonstrating that differences from one society to another, and across historical periods, challenge current understandings of elite distinction.

The analysis of social distinction cannot indefinitely remain confined to logics of reasoning that are markedly ethnocentric. Rather than just applying the consecrated schemes of Veblen or Bourdieu, Daloz provides new foundations in this book for understanding 21st Century Dubai, China, Russia and settings of the past.