Abstract
Drawing on MacDougall’s notion of social aesthetics, the Introduction explores the sensory dimensions of privilege through a global ethnography of elite schools. Within these elite schools, all of which are based on the British public school model, there is a relationship between their ‘complex sensory and aesthetic environments’ and the construction of privilege within and beyond the school gates. While ethnography has been a popular methodology within education research, the Introduction shows how another qualitative approach is developed by studying the social aesthetics of privilege through the extensive use of images. Understanding the importance of the visual to ethnography, the social aesthetics of these elite schools are captured through the inclusion of a series of visual essays that complement the written accounts of the aesthetics of privilege. The Introduction also discusses the inclusion of a series of vignettes that further examine the sensory dimension of these aesthetics: touch, taste—though metaphorically understood— sight and sound. These varying formats illustrate the aesthetic nature of social relations and the various ways in which class permeates the senses.
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- 1.
When we speak of ‘privilege’ it refers to the special entitlements that are granted to a restricted group, in this case those largely social, economic and political advantages that accrue for the students who attend these elite schools. We talk about the ‘dynamics of privilege’ to acknowledge that privilege is not necessarily a static or constant entity. Rather, there is a constant process of reinvention, adaptation and negotiation in relation to the entitlements granted to these elite schools and their students. One example of ‘entitlement’, which was witnessed across all the schools, is the belief (on behalf of the school administration, the student’s parents and the students themselves) that no matter what these students do they will succeed. Of course, the counterpoint to such a belief is an apparent inability to deal with failure.
- 2.
The contributors to this book are all members of a research team studying Elite Independent Schools in Globalising Circumstances (2010-2015 ARC DP1093778) led by Professor Jane Kenway. The project is a multi-sited global ethnography that is interested in the ways in which elite schools deal with changing social conditions as a result of increasing globalization.
- 3.
These are long-established and exclusive schools in England that charge considerable fees. For example, Winchester traces its history back to 1382, Eton to 1440, Rugby 1567 and Harrow 1572. These are just four of the ‘Clarendon Commission’ schools that are viewed as the prototypical British ‘public schools’. They initially started as charity schools but by the nineteenth century chiefly educated the sons of political, economic and social elites and adopted a disciplined and athletic model of education. This public school ethos (witnessed largely in specific codes of behaviour, speech, and appearance) although inculcated in so few students is thought historically to have had influence over both the British nations and the British Empire. A form of this public school ethos still exists in contemporary times and continues to be linked to a particular sort of influence and social standing.
- 4.
The British did not control the political or administrative mechanisms of the state of Argentina, but did have a considerable social and economic presence because of their role in the state's trade and infrastructure development.
- 5.
In rankings of universities by a number of sources, such as QS World University Rankings; the Times Higher Education World University Rankings; Shanghai Jiaotong University; and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Oxford, Cambridge and the Ivy League universities in the United States invariably are considered elite universities.
- 6.
Our understanding of ‘culture’ throughout is informed by Arjun Appadurai’s suggestion that it has ‘great potential for giving people some understanding of the world they are in, of where they fit, and of where they are going to go’. He also maintains that culture is ‘not something extra outside economy, but crucial to the economy’ (2010 online).
- 7.
Elite schools are not the only places in which social aesthetics can be read. All social situations have their own aesthetics that are sensorily experienced. Yet elite schools are useful sites to highlight this concept because they have clear visual codes that are synonymous with conventions of social privilege.
- 8.
MacDougall has also written extensively about the school and its ‘social aesthetics’.
- 9.
This is a photographic file from the Wikimedia Commons. This file is in the public domain. It has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.).
- 10.
We acknowledge that social aesthetics does have affective and emotive dimensions. While we do not enter into a detailed theoretical engagement with affect and emotion here we do explore these themes in the sensory vignettes throughout the book.
- 11.
Thinking about aesthetics and ethics calls to mind Ranciere’s (2006) work on the relationship between art and politics. He has an aesthetic conceptualization of politics (the notion that aesthetic acts should be thought of as a confluence of sensory experiences that create new forms of political subjectivity) and a political conceptualization of aesthetics (the idea that the political state of society at a particular time determines the political meaning of art) However, while these are both interesting concepts, as his definition of politics—where he distinguishes between ‘politics proper’( le politique) and the police order ( la police)—is a complex one, referring to his work in more depth here would obscure rather than clarify our concerns.
- 12.
It is important to note that by representing the school in this way MacDougall perpetuates the insularity of the school, and that there is a particular ideology (i.e. the durability of exclusivity) at work in the persistence of this ideal. In this respect, what actually becomes ‘self-perpetuating’ is the ideology itself and this virtuous circle necessarily informs the elite status attributed to such schools. In his essay, ‘The Doon School Reconsidered’, MacDougall remarked that ‘the school culture was by no means static’ (p. 129).
- 13.
In this way we seek to avoid essentializing ‘the’ social context as a generalized phenomenon.
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Fahey, J., Prosser, H., Shaw, M. (2015). Introduction: Local Classes, Global Influences—Considerations on the Social Aesthetics of Elite Schools. In: Fahey, J., Prosser, H., Shaw, M. (eds) In the Realm of the Senses. Cultural Studies and Transdisciplinarity in Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-350-7_1
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