Dieter Vandebroeck

I am a sociologist interested in the everyday production and reproduction of class inequality. My first book, Distinctions in the Flesh (Routledge, 2017), aimed to show how this inequality affects us in one of the most intimate aspects of our self-identity, namely the relationship to our body. It charts new forms of social distinction in the domains of health, diet and fitness and argues that the body and its appearance play an increasing role in the legitimization of class inequality. From this work on embodiment I acquired a lasting interest in processes of ‘class-ification’, namely the way in which we use physical markers to situate others (and ourselves) in a hierarchical social space.

My current research, centred around the projects Socializing Inequality [hyperlink] and Primary Prejudice [hyperlink], focuses on the sociogenesis of our ability to ‘class-ify’ by tracing its development in early childhood. This research is part of a broader interest in processes of ‘primary socialization’ which also forms the topic of my upcoming book Socializing Inequality (co-edited with Annette Lareau & Maaike Jappens, Routledge 2024). At BRISPO, I lead the research unit Childhood, Culture & Cognition which is dedicated to the empirical study of early childhood and primary socialization.

In addition to my work at BRISPO, I am also an associate researcher at the Centre Européen de Sociologie et de Science Politique at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and the current chair of the European Center for the Study of Culture & Inequality (hyperlink: www.eucci.eu), a European network of scholars devoted to better understanding contemporary patterns of inequality across the EU.

Research projects:

Socializing Inequality
Primary Prejudice

Research keywords:

social class, socialization, cognition, social inequality