The theoretical model of The Distinction is a basic reference in the sociology of lifestyles (Bourdieu, 1979). This model is fundamentally structured by two concepts, structural homology and habitus. Habitus are cultural structures that exist in people’s bodies and minds and shape a wide variety of their behaviours, beliefs and thoughts. Structural homology is the assumption that social class structure is linked to the structure of aesthetic preferences through a one-to-one correspondence, an isomorphic relation. People’s tastes are seen as channelled by their position within the class structure, which is defined by their volume of capital and its “composition” and are organised in line with a “highbrow/lowbrow” opposition. Here, we will focus on the structural homology aspect and limit ourselves to analysing to what extent it is possible to univocally relate kinds of activities the French do with their social positions. We shall empirically examine the principles of organisation of the activities, just as they were described throughout a survey on cultural and sports practices of the French, and then evaluate to what extent a structural homology between practices and social positions is still observable.

We analyze equality of opportunity for earnings acquisition in France between 1973 and 1993 conditional on the father earnings in the earnings distribution using two waves of the French data set FQP. First, using stochastic dominance tools, we find that inequality of opportunity has remained stable when conditioning on the earnings level of the father, while it has diminished when conditioning on his rank in the earnings distribution. The former result is explained by the stable intergenerational earnings elasticity. The latter by the decreasing wage inequality in the previous generation. Then, we decompose the evolution of inequality of opportunity using the mean logarithmic deviation and the results of regressions of descendants’’earnings on their parents earnings. It is shown that the main reason beneath the reduction of inequality of opportunity lies in the decrease of earnings inequality taking place in the eighties.