As academia worldwide has been forced to shift to the digital realm, ECCI is following suit. With classroom interaction no longer being tied to physical location, our co-chair Giselinde Kuipers has assembled a cast of international scholars who will feature in a brand-new digital course and podcast series entitled “Culture and Inequality”.  

How does social inequality shape cultural practices and lifestyles? How does it manifest itself in everyday life, from tastes in food and music to concerns over physical appearance and beauty? Is cultural snobbery a thing of the past or is “taste” still used as a tool of social distinction? How have public attitudes over inequality and egalitarianism evolved? How are contemporary patterns of inequality rendered more complex in a globalized world marked by migration streams and increased ethnic diversity? In the “Culture and Inequality” podcast series, cultural sociologists from universities across the world explore these topics in-depth from various perspectives on the basis of series of academic readings. Primarily intended as a course module for advanced students in sociology, the podcasts also offers interesting insights for general audiences interested in the politics of culture in a globalizing world.  

Each podcast features a conversation between two or more acclaimed cultural sociologists. In the episode, they discuss recent studies – often their own work – and classic texts to highlight central themes in the study of class, culture and inequality. Each episode comes with readings (50-70 pages) and assignments that can be done in class, in smaller groups or individually.   

The podcast is curated by our co-chair Giselinde Kuipers (KULeuven). The first episodes feature Jennifer Lena (Columbia University), Dave O’Brien (University of Edinburgh), Phillipa Chong (McMaster University), Laurie Hanquinet (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Dieter Vandebroeck (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Julian Schaap (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Jo Haynes (University of Bristol), Simone Varriale (University of Lincoln) and Luuc Brans (KULeuven). The music for the podcast was composed especially for this podcast by sociologist Timothy Dowd (Emory University), who also made the cover photograph.  

The podcasts, together with readings and assignments, will be made available via the our website soon. In the meantime, all podcasts can be found on Soundcloud, Spotify and iTunes.