Magne Flemmen

Professor
Department of Sociology and Human Geography
University of Oslo
magne.flemmen@sosgeo.uio.no

I am professor in sociology at the University of Oslo. My main research interests are in class theory and class analysis, with special attention to the political and cultural dimensions of class divisions. My research has been on lifestyle and political differences in social space, as well as using the social space as a tool to deal with intra-class heterogeneity. I have also been interested in dilemmas in class theory, not least how a “Bourdieusian” approach may be combined with more classical accounts, and hope to do more work on this in the future. My current research focuses on class-cultural divisions in political attitudes, engagement or disengagement, and in voting.

Select publications

Flemmen, Magne; Jarness, Vegard & Rosenlund, Lennart (2018). Class and status: on the misconstrual of the conceptual distinction and a neo-Bourdieusian alternative. British Journal of Sociology.  ISSN 0007-1315.  0(0), s 1- 51 . doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12508

Flemmen, Magne; Toft, Maren; Andersen, Patrick Lie; Hansen, Marianne Nordli & Ljunggren, Jørn (2017). Forms of Capital and Modes of Closure in Upper Class Reproduction. Sociology.  ISSN 0038-0385.  51(6), s 1277- 1298 . doi: 10.1177/0038038517706325

Flemmen, Magne (2014). The Politics of the Service Class: The homology of positions and position-takings. European Societies: The Official Journal of the European Sociological Association.  ISSN 1461-6696.  16(4), s 543- 569 . doi: 10.1080/14616696.2013.817597


Maren Toft
Maren Toft

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Sociology and Human Geography
University of Oslo
marento@sosgeo.uio.no

I am a class sociologist with a particular interest in upper-class formation. In my PhD dissertation Biographies of privilege, I analysed class biographies in context of both class origins and class careers as well as the reproduction of spatial inequalities over time. In my current work (in collaboration with Marianne Nordli Hansen), I am interested in more historical dimensions to upper-class formation by studying marriage records that date back almost 300 years. We are also studying the growing presence of an economic bourgeoisie over time and the specific modes of transmitting class privilege that seem to dominate wealthy families at present.

 Select publications

Toft, M. (2019) ‘Mobility closure in the upper class: assessing time and forms of capital’ British Journal of Sociology 70(1):109-137

Toft, M. (2018) ‘Enduring contexts: Segregation by affluence throughout the life course’ The Sociological Review 66(3):645-664

Toft, M. (2018) ‘Upper-class trajectories: Capital-specific pathways to power’ Socio-Economic Review 16(2): 341-364


Jørn Ljunggren

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Sociology and Human Geography
University of Oslo
jorn.ljunggren@sosgeo.uio.no

I am sociologist with a strong interest in social inequality and stratification. I have previously worked on intersections of cultural and economic capital, with a particular focus on cultural elites and urban inequality. I am currently involved in a mixed methods project, seeking to ‘unpack the modern working class’. In this project I seek to combine ethnographic field work with qualitative interviews as well as analysis of survey and registry data in order to approach questions of class divisions, masculinity, trust, recognition and the embodiment of skills.

Select publications:

Ljunggren, J. (2017) ´Elitist Egalitarianism: Negotiating identity in the Norwegian cultural elite´ Sociology 51(3): 559-573

Ljunggren, J. (2016) Économic rewards in the cultural upper class: The impact of social origin on income within the Norwegian cultural field´ Poetics 57: 14-26

Ljunggren, J. & Andersen, P.L. (2015) ´Vertical and horizontal segregation: Spatial class divisions in Oslo 1970-2003´International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 39(2): 305-322


Vegard Jarness

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Sociology
Oslo Metropoliton University
vegardja@oslomet.no

I am a Norwegian sociologist currently working as a Researcher at Oslo Metropolitan University. My research interests revolve around questions of how class and status divisions are created and reproduced through cultural processes. My PhD dissertation from 2013 (entitled Class, Status, Closure: The Petropolis and Cultural Life), focused mainly on connections between and class and cultural taste. My more recent work has centred on how class divisions are manifested in the political sphere. I am currently involved in a research project about the historical development of class divisions in Norway, focusing among other things on social closure by way of marital homogamy.

 Select publications:

Jarness, V., Flemmen, M.P., and Rosenlund, L. (2019) “From Class Politics of Classed Politics”, Sociology, 53(5), pp. 879-899.

Flemmen, M., Jarness, V. and Rosenlund, L. (2018) “Social Space and Cultural Class Divisions: The Forms of Capital and Contemporary Lifestyle Differentiation”, British Journal of Sociology, 69(1), pp. 124-153.

Jarness, V. (2017) “Cultural vs. Economic Capital: Symbolic Boundaries within the Middle Class”, Sociology, 51(2), pp. 357-373.


Jan Frederik Hovden

Professor
Department of Information Science and Media Sciences
University of Bergen

jan.hovden@uib.no

I am a sociologist and a professor at the University of Bergen. My main research interests are in the intersection of studies of class, elites and culture (incl. media), mainly using quantitative methods. I have studied social patterns of cultural tastes and practices of elites (incl. cultural elites, national politicians and state bureaucrats), students, and the general population, and done various studies of journalistic fields and cultural journalism. Current research focuses on the cultural and class-related transformation of the Norwegian higher university system in the last two decades and international comparisons of journalistic fields.

 Select publications:

Hovden, J. F and Rosenlund, L. (2021): “Class and Everyday Media Use. A Case study from Norway”. Nordicom Review. https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/nor-2021-0030

Hovden, J. F. and Knapskog, K. (2014). Tastekeepers. Taste structures, power and aesthetic-political positions in the elites of the Norwegian cultural field. Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift, vol 17/1. https://janfredrikhovden.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/tastemakers.pdf

Gripsrud, J., Hovden, J. F. and Moe, H. (2011). “Changing relations: Class, education and cultural capital”. Poetics vol 39/6. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X11000763