Social Milieus

The term milieu refers to the environment in which living beings exist, be it physical, biological, or social. Sociologists therefore usually refer to social milieus to make clear that it is about the social environment in which humans live, think, and act. Milieus can be located at very different levels of social life, from transnational milieus as subcultures (e.g., heavy metal or hip-hop) to religious communities, climate change sceptics, anti-vaxxers, or terrorist groups; large national groups in the sense of social classes or class fractions; up to local spatial concentrations such as neighborhoods and migrant communities. Following the French tradition of Durkheim and Bourdieu, three milieu theories in particular have developed in German sociology, which will be presented in detail: Gerhard Schulze’s experiential milieus, Michael Vester’s milieus in social structural transformation, and Gunnar Otte’s typology of life conduct. This chapter connects these three theories to international cultural class analysis and identifies perspectives for future research.