“You hunger for approval”: distinzione mediatizzata e visibilità nel campo gastronomico globale

The article investigates the transformation of distinction in contemporary societies through the lens of the gastronomic field, questioning the capacity of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory to account for processes of legitimation in mediatized contexts. Through the analysis of audiovisual products such as Hunger, Chef’s Table, and Culinary Class War, it shows how taste continues to operate as a principle of social differentiation, but within conditions reshaped by mediatization and the global circulation of content. From this perspective, the concept of mediatized distinction is introduced, understood as a regime in which social differentiation is grounded not only in the incorporation of dispositions (habitus), but also in their visibility, circulation, and public recognizability. Distinction does not disappear; rather, it is reorganized through regimes of visibility that make recognition increasingly dependent on medial exposure. The comparative analysis highlights how established models of legitimation – such as the Michelin Guide – continue to function as symbolic reference points, while losing their exclusivity in favor of hybrid configurations in which cultural, economic, and media capital are intertwined. In this context, the emergence of new actors – such as mukbang creators – signals a pluralization of forms of symbolic authority linked to platform-specific logics of visibility and engagement. The article argues that studying media with Bourdieu today requires reworking his categories, showing how the relationship between field, capital, and habitus must be reconsidered in a communicative ecosystem where distinction becomes a public, performative, and globally distributed practice.