The British Sociological Association

Nathalie Heinich: From the Sociology of Art to the Sociology of Evaluation

A BSA Sociology of the Arts Study Group Event

5 December 2024 (15:00 - 16:30 GMT)
Online

About the Event

The Sociology of Arts Study Group is honoured to host an online event featuring a compelling keynote by eminent French sociologist, Nathalie Heinich. This lecture will delve into Heinich's fascinating progression from the sociology of art to her groundbreaking work in the sociology of evaluation—a shift that expands the understanding of how values, artists, and artistic works are perceived, critiqued, and valued in society.

Heinich’s career is marked by a unique interdisciplinary approach that has shaped both the sociology of art and the broader field of valuation studies. Perhaps best known to the anglophone audience for her pioneering analysis of the reception of van Gogh, Heinich’s work invites us to consider how societal values are projected onto objects, individuals, and ideas. Her talk will explore this journey through key studies, including public reactions to contemporary art exhibitions, assessments of cultural heritage sites, and the iconic reception of Van Gogh’s work. She will illustrate how these varied instances of evaluation and critique reveal a consistent methodology, informed by the theories of Goffman and Boltanski & Thévenot, and ultimately converge into a cohesive model of “pragmatic sociology.”

This event offers a rare opportunity to engage with one of sociology’s foremost voices on topics spanning aesthetic judgment, cultural value, heritage, and social events. Heinich will discuss the conceptual bridge between her early work—such as her analysis of bullfighting perceptions and Christo’s monumental Pont-Neuf installation—and her latest insights into the 2019 Notre-Dame Cathedral fire.

After the lecture, the floor will open for questions, allowing attendees to engage directly with Heinich’s ideas.

Programme

Abstract:  Beginning with a PhD on the history of artists’ status (see Du peintre à l’artiste), my sociological research has evolved to focus on values—or, more precisely, on valuation processes. However, a continuity exists between these topics, which I aim to illuminate in this talk. I will illustrate the connection between an early 1982 paper on public opinions regarding bullfighting and the sociology of aesthetic reception, drawing on several studies: surveys of exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou, responses to Christo’s 1985 wrapping of the Pont-Neuf (see Le Pont-neuf de Christo), and a 1990s investigation into rejections of contemporary art in both France and the United States (see L’Art contemporain exposé aux rejets, Guerres culturelles et art contemporain). This analysis will use conceptual frameworks from Goffman’s Frame Analysis and Boltanski and Thévenot’s On Justification. We will then move from contemporary art to national heritage through another study on the evaluative judgments made by experts regarding historical monuments (see La Fabrique du patrimoine). Aesthetic valuation is not limited to objects, however, as it closely relates to the valuation of persons, such as the fame of artists like Van Gogh (La Gloire de Van Gogh) or the influence of literary prizes on recipients (L’Epreuve de la grandeur). Expanding the scope of valuation to include persons, actions, and abstract entities necessitates a comprehensive theoretical model of value from a sociological perspective (Des valeurs), with particular application to the valuation of individuals (La Valeur des personnes). A collective workshop on valuation enabled our team to dedicate a book to the case of the Notre-Dame de Paris fire (Notre-Dame des valeurs), demonstrating the heuristic power of a pragmatic sociology of values, especially within the realm of art.

About the Speaker:  Nathalie Heinich is an emeritus researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris). She is a prolific author, with over forty influential books and numerous journal articles, covering a wide array of topics from artist status (La Gloire de Van Gogh, 1991 [The Glory of Van Gogh, Princeton University Press 1996] ; Du peintre à l’artiste, 1993, L’Élite artiste, 2005 ; De l’artification, with Roberta Shapiro, 2012 ; De la visibilité, 2012), the notion of author (L’Épreuve de la grandeur, 1999 ; Etre écrivain, 2000), contemporary art (Le Triple jeu de l’art contemporain, 1998 ; L’Art contemporain exposé aux rejets, 1998 ; Le Paradigme de l’art contemporain, 2014); identity (États de femme, 1996 ; Mères-filles, une relation à trois, with Caroline Eliacheff, 2002 ; Les Ambivalences de l’émancipation féminine, 2003 ; Ce que n’est pas l’identité, 2018), the history and epistemology of sociology (La Sociologie de Norbert Elias, 1997 ; Ce que l’art fait à la sociologie, 1998 ; La Sociologie de l’art, 2001 ; Pourquoi Bourdieu, 2007 ; Le Bêtisier du sociologue, 2009 ; Ce que le militantisme fait à la recherche, 2021), the sociology of valuation (La Fabrique du patrimoine, 2009 ; Des valeurs, 2017 ; La Valeur des personnes, 2022 ; Notre-Dame des valeurs, 2024). She is also committed to universalism (Oser l’universalisme, 2021) and critiques workism from a progressive perspective (Le Wokisme serait-il un totalitarisme?, 2023). She lectured in many countries inside and outside Europe, including North and South America, North Africa, and Asia. Her books have been translated into fifteen languages.

Hosted by: Dr Lisa McCormick, member of the Sociology of Arts Study Group’s steering committee, who will introduce our speaker and host the discussion.

Registration

This event is free to attend but registration is required.