Somethings Brewing: Beer and Bourdieu in the Age of the Experience Economy

This duo-project (post-doc/PhD) seeks to rethink Pierre Bourdieus cultural sociology, and rework its key concepts for the purpose of analysing the renewed relationships between culture and economy, structured by the emergence of the experience economy. This theoretical reworking will be grounded in two empirical case studies that both focus on the cultural activities of beer brewers and their customers. The post-doc study examines how market leaders Interbrew/Inbev and Heineken International operate in the contemporary cultural arena, while the PhD project focuses on the history of Heineken as an experience provider avant la lettre, thus giving the overall theoretical venture a historical foundation.