Egalitarian consecration. The making of egalitarian Norway and historical elite institutions

Pål Csaszni Halvorsen (2024)

PhD thesis. Oslo: Nord University.

Abstract. What are historical elite institutions, and how is it to be a part of them in an allegedly egalitarian culture? In contrast to earlier studies of elites in Norway, this book takes a qualitative approach and focus on cultural aspects and everyday experiences that are a part of historical elite institutions. The two empirical institutions are elite high schools and literary criticism, being historical elite institutions because they have cultural connotations of “eliteness” tied to them. The study finds different ways in which actors manoeuvre how they are a part of the historical elite institutions, for example it does not entail an interest in elite culture or striving to achieve an elite position on a personal level. More accurately, both students and critics struggle with these cultural aspects and instead connect themselves to a broader tradition of egalitarianism in Norway. In that regard the book argues that egalitarian traditions are not a veil to hide elite membership, but that perceptions of what elite is in Norway are strongly coloured by the egalitarian tradition.”

Extract: “3.4 Repertoire theory
Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thevenot’s theoretical framework from On Justification is one of the strands, along with Michele Lamont’s sociology of symbolic boundaries, in the new cultural sociology, and can be called a repertoire theory (Larsen, 2013). In On Justification, Boltanski and Thevenot aim to theorise critical moments in debates, epreuves, or tests, where actors mobilise arguments, values, and things in order to respond. Further, they aim to turn a historical account of such responses into a theoretical framework, in order to understand how actors make sense of their critical competencies. The result of this theorising is a framework of different orders of worth that actors draw on to appeal to the common good, thereby legitimising their arguments. The orders of worth then become different repertoires.” (p. 54)

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OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
GdL (21 septembre 2024). Egalitarian consecration. The making of egalitarian Norway and historical elite institutions. Économie des conventions. Consulté le 9 février 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/12c2k