Towards a Sociology of Attention British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2007 Theoretical Debates Reiner Grundmann Aston University

n  ‘The wealth of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails, presents itself as “an immense accumulation of commodities,” its unit being a single commodity. Our investigation must therefore begin with the analysis of a commodity.’ ¨  Karl Marx [1818-1883],

Capital (1863), opening sentence.

n  ‘In societies dominated by modern conditions of production, life is presented as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation.’ ¨  Guy Debord [1931-1994],

The Society of the Spectacle (1967), opening sentence.

Attention in science n  ‘[Some people] imagine that all scientific articles are

equal and arrayed in lines like soldiers, to be carefully inspected one by one. However, most papers are never read at all.

n  No matter what a paper did to the former literature, if no one else does anything with it, then it is as if it never existed at all. You may have written a paper that settles a fierce controversy once and for all, but if readers ignore it, it cannot be turned into a fact…

n  You may protest against this injustice; you may treasure the certitude of being right in your inner heart; but it will never go further than your inner heart; you will never go further in certitude without the help of others.’ (Latour, Science in Action, p. 40).

Fame and infamy

n  ‘Americans crave celebrity, even if they kill themselves they want to be noticed, they want to go down in flames and yet as a culture we do not make of a distinction between fame and infamy. It is a lot easier to get noticed by doing something bad than by winning the Nobel prize for physics.’ ¨ Lionel Shriver on BBC Newsnight after the shooting in

an Amish school in Pennsylvania in October 2006.

Social Theories n  Class, status, distinction, authority

¨  Marx, Weber, Bourdieu ¨  Unequal distribution of attention; unequal social situation and life

chances ¨  Commanding attention

n  Recognition ¨  Hegel, Honneth ¨  Self-realization impossible without recognition

n  Media attention ¨  Lippman, Downs, Boorstin, Baudrillard

n  Cultural studies ¨  Celebrity culture (Cashmore, Rojek, Graeme Turner)

n  Network Theory ¨  Stars

n  Marketing ¨  Branding; Celebrity industry (Klein; Rein, Kotler and Stoller)

STAR

Celebrity

Terminology A Celebrity is "known for being well-known" - Daniel Boorstin, The Image

Celebrity

n  Name n  Face n  Text (the ‘facts’ anyone knows about celeb.) n  Following

¨ Fans follow the ‘life’ of celebrity ¨ either directly or through media ¨ Media imposes rules of engagement (including being

telegenic, offering prospect of drama)

Celebrity industry (Rein et al., 1997: 42– 58) n  Seven contributing ‘sub-industries’: n  Entertainment industry

¨  incorporating theatre, music halls, dance halls, sports arenas and movie studios.

n  Communications industry ¨  encompasses newspapers, magazines, radio, television and film.

n  Publicity industry ¨  publicists, PR firms, advertising agencies and marketing research firms.

n  Representation industry ¨  agents, personal managers and promoters.

n  Appearance industry ¨  costumers, cosmeticians, hairstylists and other kinds of image

consultants. n  Coaching industry

¨  music, dance, speech and modelling teachers n  Endorsement industry

¨  souvenir manufacturers, clothing manufacturers and games and toys manufacturers among others – and the legal and business services industry, which provides legal, accounting and investment advice

How wide spread? n  Global and regional celebrities

¨  Dominance of western industry (Hollywood, Western media) ¨  Mass markets elsewhere (e.g. India) but less global reach

n  Entertainment, politics, show business n  Arts and culture…

¨  Pop musicians, actors, writers, sportspeople, artists, n  …and beyond

¨  heroes, victims, super-rich, … ¨  Politicians? ¨  Scientists?

n  Social differentiation or de-differentiation?

Politics n  Democratic President John F. Kennedy reached the

White House thanks, in part, to his 1960 debates with Republican candidate Richard Nixon. The first debate offered the greatest contrast: Tanned, telegenic Kennedy made a much better visual impression than pale, makeup free, stubble-chinned Nixon, who was recovering from the flu. Radio listeners had considerably different perceptions of the contest than television viewers. ¨  -National Geographic

n  Reagan, Schwarzengger n  G Turner: US is special, Vietnam Watergate n  Celebrities enjoy greater trust n  Blair, Brown, Miliband

Visibility in Science n  Reputation n  Most publications are cited only once or never n  Attention generating mechanisms

¨  Publish in famous Journals ¨  Publish with famous colleagues

n  Matthew principle (Merton), ‘cumulative advantage’ n  Institutional pressure and incentives

¨  Universities want to be visible and famous ‘for something’ ¨  ‘Esteem factors’, impact factors, peer recognition (financially

measurable) n  Public intellectuals (visibility gives them influence and

sells) n  Celebrity scientists

¨  From Galileo (‘Galileo, Courtier’) to Stephen Hawking ¨  Among the global celebs, few are scientists

* ‘Few scientists who are … motivated, quotable, colourful, credible and accessible to become celebrities’ (Goodell 1987:594)

* Regular media

sources

Occasional newsworthiness

Unknown scientists

Oscars and Nobel prizes

1929 1901

Attention and academia n  Goldhagen debate

¨  Weingart and Pansegrau ¨  Reputation v prominence

n  Chronicle of Higher Education Internet Forum ¨  Debate in March 2007 about academic celebs ¨  No one noted the outcome of UK Prospect poll

n  Edge.org ¨  John Brockman 1991 ‘Third Culture’ ¨  Conscious attempt to launch new academic movement through

celebrity appeal using industry standards (cf. Rein et al) ¨  Daniel C. Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Freeman Dyson, Steve

Jones, Martin Rees, Murray Gell- Mann, Stephen Jay Gould, Stewart Kauffman, Benoit Mandelbrot, Lynn Margulis, Steven Pinker

¨  Reciprocal praise

Conclusion: Celebrity and democracy n  Celebrity status offers new channels of social and

political influence n  Bypassing old class and status barriers

¨  Pop culture: x-factor, pop idol (not only talent counts, the ‘package must be right’)

n  More outsiders can break into traditional domains ¨  Actors and sports personalities in politics ¨  Celebrity converts symbolic capital into economic capital and

into political influence ¨  ‘Celebrities needed for offices’ (e.g. EU president)

n  De-differentiation? ¨  Drive for differentiation may come from outside, i.e. celebrity

industry ¨  Nothing new for science ¨  New generations might demand celebs. ¨  Element of entertainment becoming more important