Building on recent research emphasizing how legitimacy depends on consensus among audiences about candidates’ characteristics and activities, we examine the relationship between cultural producers’ (candidates) position in the social structure and the consecration of their creative work by relevant audiences. We argue that the outcome of this process of evaluation in any cultural field, whether in art or science, is a function of (1) candidates’ embeddedness within the field, and (2) the type of audience—that is, peers versus critics—evaluating candidates’ work. Specifically, we hypothesize that peers are more likely to favor candidates who are highly embedded in the field, whereas critics will not show such favoritism. We find support for these hypotheses in the context of the Hollywood motion picture industry.
AllenMichael P.LincolnAnne E.2004. “Critical Discourse and the Cultural Consecration of American Films.”Social Forces82:871–94.
2.
AllenMichael P.ParsonsNicholas L.2006. “The Institutionalization of Fame: Achievement, Recognition, and Cultural Consecration in Baseball.”American Sociological Review71:808–825.
3.
AllisonPaul D.2012. Logistic Regression Using SAS: Theory and Application, 2nd ed.Cary, NC: SAS Institute.
4.
AnandN.WatsonMary R.2004. “Tournament Rituals in the Evolution of Fields: The Case of the Grammy Awards.”Academy of Management Journal47:59–80.
5.
AnheierHelmut K.GerhardsJürgenRomoFrank P.1995. “Forms of Social Capital and Social Structure in Cultural Fields: Examining Bourdieu’s Social Topography.”American Journal of Sociology100:859–903.
6.
BakerWayne E.FaulknerRobert R.1991. “Role as Resource in the Hollywood Film Industry.”American Journal of Sociology97:279–309.
7.
BaumannShyon. 2001. “Intellectualization and Art World Development: Film in the United States.”American Sociological Review66:404–426.
8.
BaumannShyon. 2007. Hollywood Highbrow. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
9.
BeckerHoward S.1982. Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press.
10.
BenjaminBeth A.PodolnyJoel M.1999. “Status, Quality, and Social Order in the California Wine Industry.“Administrative Science Quarterly44:563–89.
11.
BorgattiStephen P.EverettMartin G.1999. “Models of Core/Periphery Structures.”Social Networks21:375–95.
12.
BorgattiStephen P.EverettMartin G.FreemanLin C.2002. Ucinet 6 for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis. Harvard: Analytic Technologies.
13.
BourdieuPierre. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
14.
BourdieuPierre. 1985. “The Social Space and the Genesis of Groups.”Theory and Society14:723–44.
15.
BourdieuPierre. 1993. The Field of Cultural Production. New York: Columbia University Press.
16.
CattaniGinoFerrianiSimone. 2008. “A Core/Periphery Perspective on Individual Creative Performance: Social Networks and Cinematic Achievements in the Hollywood Film Industry.”Organization Science19:824–44.
17.
ClemensElizabethPowellWoody W.McIlwaineKrisOkamotoDina. 1995. “Careers in Print: Books, Journals, and Scholarly Reputations.”American Journal of Sociology101:433–94.
18.
CollinsRandall. 1987. “A Micro-Macro Theory of Intellectual Creativity: The Case of German Idealistic Philosophy.”Sociological Theory5:47–69.
19.
CollinsRandall. 1998. The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
20.
CoserLewis. 1962. “Social Functions of Deviant Behavior and Normative Flexibility.”American Journal of Sociology68:172–81.
21.
DavisAllisonGardnerBurleigh B.GardnerMary R.1941. Deep South. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
22.
DebackereKoenraadClarysseBartWijnbergNachoem M.RappaMichael A.1994. “Science and Industry: A Story of Networks and Paradigms.”Technology Analysis and Strategic Management6:21–37.
23.
De VanyArthurWallsW. David. 1996. “Bose–Einstein Dynamics and Adaptive Contracting in the Motion Picture Industry.”Economic Journal439:1493–1514.
24.
DiMaggioPaul M.2011. “Cultural Networks”. Pp 286–300 in The Sage Handbook of Social Network Analysis, edited by ScottJ.CarringtonP. J.London: Sage Publications.
25.
EdgeDavid O.1977. “The Sociology of Innovation in Modern Astronomy.”Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society18:326–39.
26.
FaulknerRobert R.1983. Music on Demand: Composers and Careers in the Hollywood Film Industry. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
27.
FaulknerRobert R.AndersonAndy B.1987. “Short-Term Projects and Emergent Careers: Evidence from Hollywood.”American Journal of Sociology92:879–909.
28.
FligsteinNeilMcAdamDoug. 2012. A Theory of Fields. New York: Oxford University Press.
GardnerHoward E.1993. Frames of Minds: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
31.
GemserGerdaLeendersMark A. A. M.WijnbergNachoem M.2008. “Why Some Awards Are More Effective Signals of Quality Than Others: A Study of Movie Awards.”Journal of Management34:25–54.
32.
GiuffrèKatherine. 1999. “Sandpiles of Opportunity: Success in the Art World.”Social Forces77:815–32.
33.
GobleAlan. 2003. The Complete Index to World Film. Telscombe Cliffs, East Essex: Valan Publishing.
34.
GrossNeil.2000. “A Review of Randall Collins, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998.”Theory and Society29:854–59.
35.
JanssenSusanne. 1997. “Reviewing as Social Practice: The Effect of Sideline Activities on the Status of Writers.”Poetics24:275–97.
36.
KapsisRobert E.1992. Hitchcock. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
37.
KerstenAnnemarieBielbyDenise D.2012. “Film Discourse on the Praised and Acclaimed: Reviewing Criteria in the United States and United Kingdom.”Popular Communication10:183–200.
38.
KirschbaumCharlesde VasconcelosFlávio Carvalho. 2006. “Jazz: Structural Changes and Identity Creation in Cultural Movements.” Pp 230–56 in Only Connect: Neat Words, Networks and Identities, edited by KornbergerM.GuderganS.Malmo, Sweden: Liber, Copenhagen Business School.
39.
KrempPierre-Antoine. 2010. “Innovation and Selection: Symphony Orchestras and the Construction of the Musical Canon in the United States (1879–1959).”Social Forces88:1051–82.
40.
LamontMichèle. 2009. How Professors Think. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
41.
LamontMichèle. 2012. “Toward a Comparative Sociology of Valuation and Evaluation.”Annual Review of Sociology38:201–221.
42.
LevyEmanuel. 1999. Cinema of Outsiders. New York: New York University Press.
43.
LevyEmanuel. 2003. All about Oscars. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group.
44.
LincolnAnne E.2007. “Cultural Honours and Career Events: Re-conceptualizing Prizes in the Field of Cultural Production.”Cultural Trends16:3–15.
45.
LukesSteven. 1975. “Political Ritual and Social Integration.”Sociology9:289–308.
46.
McFaddenDavid. 1973. “Conditional Logit Analysis of Qualitative Choice Behavior.” Pp 105–142 in Frontiers of Econometrics, edited by ZarembkaP.New York: Academic Press.
47.
MertonRobert K.1968. “The Matthew Effect in Science.”Science159(3810):56–63.
48.
MeziasJohn M.MeziasStephen. 2000. “Resource Partitioning and the Founding of Specialist Firms: The American Feature Film Industry, 1912–1929.”Organization Science11:306–322.
49.
MulkayMichael J.1972. The Social Process of Innovation. London: Macmillan.
50.
NewmanMark E. J.2004. “Who Is the Best Connected Scientist? A Study of Scientific Co-authorship Networks.”Lecture Notes in Physics650:337–370.
51.
NewmanMark E. J.WattsDuncan J.StrogatzSteven H.2002. “Random Graph Models of Social Networks.”Proceedings of the National Academy of Science99:2566–72.
52.
O’NeilTom. 2003. Movie Awards, rev. ed. New York: Perigee Trade.
53.
PardoeIainSimontonDean K.2007. “Applying Discrete Choice Models to Predict Academy Award Winners.”Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society)171:375–94.
54.
PetersonRichard A.1979. “Revitalizing the Culture Concept.”Annual Review of Sociology5:137–66.
55.
PetersonRichard A.AnandN.2004. “The Production of Culture Perspective.”Annual Review of Sociology30:311–34.
56.
PodolnyJoel M.1994. “Market Uncertainty and the Social Character of Economic Exchange.”Administrative Science Quarterly39:458–83.
57.
RavidAbraham S.1999. “Information, Blockbusters, and Stars: A Study of the Film Industry.”Journal of Business72:463–92.
58.
RossmanGabrielEsparzaNicoleBonacichPhillip. 2010. “I’d Like to Thank the Academy, Team Spillovers, and Network Centrality.”American Sociological Review75:31–51.
59.
SalganikMatthew J.DoddsPeter SheridanWattsDuncan J.2006. “Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market.”Science311:854–956.
60.
SgourevStoyan V.2013. “How Paris Gave Rise to Cubism (and Picasso): Ambiguity and Fragmentation in Radical Innovation.” Organization Science24:1601–17.
61.
ShrumWesley. 1991. “Critics and Publics: Cultural Mediation in Highbrow and Popular Performing Arts.”American Journal of Sociology97:347–75.
62.
SimmelGeorg. 1971. On Individuality and Social Forms. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
63.
SimontonDean K.2004. “Film Awards as Indicators of Cinematic Creativity and Achievement: A Quantitative Comparison of the Oscars and Six Alternatives.”Creativity Research Journal16:163–72.
64.
SternbergRobert J.1985. Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
65.
TuchmanGaye. 1989. Edging Women Out: Victorian Novelists, Publishers, and Social Change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
66.
UzziBrianSpiroJarret. 2005. “Collaboration and Creativity: The Small World Problem.”American Journal of Sociology111:447–504.
67.
Van ReesC. J. 1987. “How Reviewers Reach Consensus on the Value of Literary Works.”Poetics16:275–94.
68.
WatsonMary R.AnandN.2006. “Award Ceremony as an Arbiter of Commerce and Canon in the Popular Music Industry.”Popular Music25:41–56.
69.
WijnbergNachoem M.1995. “Selection Processes and Appropriability in Art, Science and Technology.”Journal of Cultural Economics19:221–35.
70.
WijnbergNachoem M.GemserGerda. 2000. “Adding Value to Innovation: Impressionism and the Transformation of the Selection System in Visual Arts.”Organization Science11:323–29.
71.
ZuckerLynne G.1988. “Where Do Institutional Patterns Come From? Organizations as Actors in Social Systems.” Pp 23–52 in Institutional Patterns and Organization: Culture and Environment, edited by ZuckerL. G.Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
72.
ZuckermanEzra W.1999. “The Categorical Imperative: Securities Analysts and the Legitimacy Discount.”American Journal of Sociology104:1398–1438.
73.
ZuckermanEzra W.KimTai-Young. 2003. “The Critical Trade-Off: Identity Assignment and Box-Office Success in the Feature Film Industry.”Industrial and Corporate Change12:27–67.
74.
ZuckermanEzra W.KimTai-YoungUkanwaKalindavon RittmanJames. 2003. “Robust Identities or Nonentities? Typecasting in the Feature-Film Labor Market.”American Journal of Sociology108:1018–74.
75.
ZuckermanHarrietMertonRobert K.1973. The Sociology of Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
