Internet Exercises

Exercise 1

Pierre Bourdieu thought that consumer culture is stratified on the basis of social class. One significant marker for status is the kind of automobile that someone drives. Go to the Web site of automobiles.com (http://www.automobiles.com) and select "Research, Price & Compare."

a. Select "Price" and choose a price range. What do the cars in this price range have in common? What do you think they "say" about the people who drive these types of cars?

b. Select "Vehicle Class" and choose a class of vehicles. What do the cars in this class have in common? What do you think they "say" about the people who drive them?

c. Based on what you know about Bourdieu's theory and what you know about mass society theory, which do you think better explains how people choose cars?

d. Automobiles are stratified by price and are also differentiated by function. How do you think functional differentiation could fit into Bourdieu's theory of distinction?

Exercise 2

Go to http://www3.oup.co.uk/ijclaw/hdb/Volume_01/Issue_01/010002.sgm.abs.html. Read Jurgen Habermas's recent article on "Intolerance and Discrimination" and answer the following questions:

a. According to Habermas, what are the historical origins of tolerance?

b. Why is tolerance essential in liberal democracies?

c. Is religion compatible with tolerance? If not, can it be?

d. What are the political and legal ramifications of the debate over multiculturalism?