Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Poetics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/poetic Revenge of the nerds: Cultural capital and the politics of lifestyle among adolescent elites Willy Pedersen a, ⁎ , Vegard Jarness b , Magne Flemmen a a Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1096, Blindern, N-0317 Oslo, Norway b NIFU - Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education, Økernveien 9, N-0653 Oslo, Norway ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Class Distinction Elites Emerging cultural capital Omnivore Status Symbolic boundaries ABSTRACT In recent scholarly debates about cultural stratification, some have argued that ‘openness’ and ‘omnivorous’ lifestyles constitute a new form of distinction. Using qualitative interviews, we address this by focusing on adolescents from backgrounds particularly rich in cultural capital, namely students at Schola Osloensis, the most prestigious upper-secondary school in Norway. Our findings reveal that (i) these students value academic merit; although they embrace selected forms of pop culture, and are self-reflexively reluctant to describe themselves as ‘elite’, their lifestyle is characterized by preferences for classical cultural canons. They regard this as neces- sary to understand contemporary avant-garde culture and achieve academic success. They also exhibit (ii) a distinctive fashion style that does not only emphasize aesthetics but also involves moral-political aspects. ‘Hipster’ style is criticized for being too commercial, whereas a ‘nerdy’ position is embraced as compatible with a quest for knowledge and insight. They also adopt (iii) political positions on feminism, antiracism and environmental protection, seamlessly inter- weaving these forms of position-taking in their everyday lives. (iv) Those who break key moral- political and aesthetic norms are negatively sanctioned and there are few signs of truly ‘open’ and ‘omnivorous’ lifestyles. We conclude that an elite education in an egalitarian society such as Norway is associated with a purported non-elitist style, where liberal values such as gender equality and international solidarity are at the centre. Simultaneously, however, through their education at Schola Osloensis, these students acquire high levels of cultural capital, including symbolic mastery and an embodied ability to perform well in demanding social settings. These skills, we argue, will be useful at the top levels of a rapidly changing labour market. In pointing to the persistent salience of ‘old school’ displays of cultural capital, as well as clear instances of symbolic boundary work, our study challenges core assumptions in research about cultural stratification and omnivorousness. 1. Introduction Some sociologists have recently argued that processes of cultural stratification and elite distinction are undergoing profound changes (Bennett et al., 2009; Chan & Goldthorpe, 2010; Friedman, Savage, Hanquinet, & Miles, 2015; Hanquinet, Roose, & Savage, 2014; Johnston & Baumann, 2014; Prieur & Savage, 2013). According to much of this research, there was traditionally a sharp divide between an upper class exclusively enjoying ‘highbrow’ culture and a working class sticking to ‘lowbrow’ forms. Now, it is argued, the upper classes enjoy cultural forms of both high and low pedigree. Some argue that this indicates a shift in the basis for elite distinction https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2018.05.002 Received 5 October 2017; Received in revised form 3 May 2018; Accepted 6 May 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: willy.pedersen@sosgeo.uio.no (W. Pedersen), vegard.jarness@nifu.no (V. Jarness), magne.flemmen@sosgeo.uio.no (M. Flemmen). Poetics xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 0304-422X/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Pedersen, W., Poetics (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2018.05.002