In recent years, social scientists have increasingly focused on the production of cultural value as a prime example of the structure-content duality. Building on Ronald Breiger’s seminal work (1974), this presentation offers a socio-semantic network analysis of the contemporary art market, exploring the underlying mechanisms that shape its organizing principles. The research contributes to the existing literature by adopting a relational perspective to address core questions previously overlooked by economic and cultural analyses. Specifically, it examines the roles of organizational cultures and aesthetic topics in structuring the market for symbolic goods, the significance of various connections for competitiveness in the art scene, and the impact of social networks on access to social and symbolic resources in the art world. Methodologically this work combines Multilevel Exponential Random Graphs (MERGMs) and Structural Topic Models (STMs).

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Duality@50: Making Progress and Looking Forward

Presenters: Roberto Velázquez-Quiroz & Alejandro Espinosa-Rada

Location: Ascona, Switzerland