Hostile to Hierarchy? Individuality, Equality and Moral Boundaries in Dutch Class Talk

Abstract

Cultural class analysts point to the hidden and morally loaded nature of class in explaining people’s ambivalence towards class and their position in the class hierarchy. This article examines the way in which Dutch respondents draw on cultural repertoires about equality and individuality to deny or flatten class hierarchy and individualize class differences. The equality ideal reverberates in the uncoupling of socio-economic differences from moral boundaries. The study shows that higher-educated respondents in particular construct a class hierarchy based on education. Interpreting cultural boundaries in terms of education is conducive to moral evaluations and hierarchalization. Drawing cultural boundaries in terms of taste is not conducive to hierarchalization. The study shows that notions of individuality, through individualizing class positions, work to both deny and conceal class differences in relation to cultural resources. In addition, the study shows the relevance of cultural class analysis for Dutch sociology and society.