Locating the DJ: Black Popular Music, Location and Fields of Cultural Production

Abstract

Extending Bourdieu’s work, this paper introduces the concept of location as a supplement to the concepts of position and disposition in understanding how strategies are enacted in cultural fields. To illustrate my argument, this paper is organized into four sections. First, the applicability and extension of Bourdieu’s theory of cultural production is discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on illustrating how the concept of location adopts an intersubjective understanding of reflexivity in order to address some of the limitations of Bourdieu’s concepts of position, disposition and strategy. Second, two different strategies of legitimation (crowd pleasing and crowd commanding) adopted by DJs within the field are outlined. Third, the importance of location in the use of these strategies in the field of black popular music-making is illustrated. Finally, this paper concludes by summarizing the key dimensions of the concept of location and suggesting how the concept has broader applicability in other cultural fields.

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