Introduction

In the course of this book it has become apparent that snobbery is not a unified phenomenon. Historically, two main divisions emerge.

• 1. A distinction exists between ‘snobbery of position’ and ‘snobbery of possession’. The former attaches snobbery to a variety of positions within a relatively ordered hierarchical society. In the case of the latter, snobbery is attached to various possessions, using the term to apply not simply to material possessions but to cultural and social capital as well.

• 2. Associated with this is a kind of snobbery that looks up to, aspires to be associated with, those in a higher position. This is contrasted with snobbery in the more familiar sense of looking down on others. The upward-looking snobbery is more likely to be associated with snobberies of position, while the downward version is associated more readily with snobberies of possession.

Speaking very generally, snobbery has varied over the past two centuries or so, with a shift from upward-looking snobberies of position to downward-looking snobberies of possession. Needless to say, this is a broad historical generalisation and we are still likely to find a mixture of different sorts of snobberies, but with an emphasis on snobberies of possession. The other kind seems to belong to the more distant realms of Book of Snobs

The increasing emphasis on the different mixes of economic, cultural and social capitals gives rise to a variety of particular snobberies associated with tastes in music, travel, food and comedy. (The list could, of course, be expanded.) It is tempting, therefore, to argue that in modern times snobbery has been individualised, even democratised. This may be an attractive, but also too premature, conclusion. Many of these individual snobberies do also indicate class distinctions, however we understand that term. And, to make the same point in a different way, the various capitals tend to hold together and reinforce each other.

In the course of this analysis another distinction has emerged. On the one hand, snobbery may be seen at an individual level as a series of practices or experiences. These are the experiences of being snubbed, put down, frozen out, made to feel small, not belonging and so on. Simply to list and document these everyday experiences is to provide a continuing sense as to why snobbery is important.