The Social Closure of the Cultural Elite : The Case of Artists in Sweden, 1945–2004

This chapter identifies and analyses elites in a social domain where formal positions of power are few and far between – using the fine arts as an example – by combining Weberian closure theory with Pierre Bourdieu's concept of ‘fields’. Based on a database of more than 14,000 artists, active during the period of 1945–2008, an elite group of 627 is identified. When their social origins are analysed, a first main result of the inquiry is that this aesthetic elite is strikingly similar to other elites who are defined through formal positions of power: the elite are disproportionally drawn from the upper tiers of society. A second main result is that the recruitment to leading – informal – positions in the Swedish field of art displays a process of social closure. Over time, the elite are increasingly populated by individuals with origins in the ‘intellectual’ or ‘cultural’ fractions of the middle and upper classes.Konsten att lyckas som konstnär. Socialt ursprung, utbildning och karriär 1945-200