Abstract
The status of an elite neighbourhood is never a given; it is a coveted prize that residents must work individually and collectively to construct and sustain, in fierce competition with other elite and aspiring suburbs. In this chapter, I analyse the discourses, material symbols, values, tastes, norms, and everyday rituals through which residents construct the cultural capital of Toorak, Mosman, and Cottesloe. The chapter examines the benefits that such a status confers as well as its harms, including ‘elite neighbourhood stigma’, which disproportionally affects women and youth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arthurson, K. (2013). Mixed tenure communities and the effects on neighbourhood reputation and stigma: Residents’ experiences from within. Cities, 35, 432–438.
Bourdieu, P. (1979). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. London: Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood Press.
Daloz, J. (2009). The sociology of elite distinction: From theoretical to comparative perspectives. Basingstoke: Springer.
Hastings, A. (2004). Stigma and social housing estates: Beyond pathological explanations. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 19(3), 233–254.
Higley, J., Deacon, D., & Smart, D. (1979). Elites in Australia. London: Routledge.
Holmqvist, M. (2017). Leader communities: The consecration of elites in Djursholm. New York: Columbia University Press.
Honderich, T. (2005). Conservatism: Burke, Nozick, Bush, Blair? London: Pluto.
Kelaher, M., Warr, D. J., Feldman, P., & Tacticos, T. (2010). Living in ‘Birdsville’: Exploring the impact of neighbourhood stigma on health. Health & Place, 16(2), 381–388.
Marchant James, R. (2007). Cottesloe: A town of distinction. Perth: Town of Cottesloe.
McKnight, D. (2005). Beyond right and left: New politics and the culture wars. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
O’Hara, K. (2012). Conservatism. London: Reaktion Books.
Ollivier, M. (2008). Revisiting distinction: Bourdieu without class? Journal of Cultural Economy, 1(3), 263–279.
Paris, C. (2017). The super-rich and transnational housing markets: Asians buying Australian housing. In Cities and the super-rich (pp. 63–83). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pietsch, S. (2004). To have and to hold on to: Wealth, power and the capitalist class. In R. Kuhn (Ed.), Class and struggle in Australia (pp. 39–54). Sydney: Pearson Longman.
Rose-Redwood, R. S. (2008). From number to name: Symbolic capital, places of memory and the politics of street renaming in New York City. Social & Cultural Geography, 9(4), 431–452.
Savage, M., Bagnall, G., & Longhurst, B. J. (2004). Globalization and belonging. London: Sage.
Souter, G. G. (1993). Mosman: A history. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Tunstall, R., Green, A., Lupton, R., Watmough, S., & Bates, K. (2014). Does poor neighbourhood reputation create a neighbourhood effect on employment? The results of a field experiment in the UK. Urban Studies, 51(4), 763–780.
Warr, D. (2006). There goes the neighbourhood: The malign effects of stigma. Social City, 19, 1–11.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wiesel, I. (2019). Prestige. In: Power, Glamour and Angst. The Contemporary City. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1367-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1367-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-1366-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-1367-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)