Beyond Distinction: Private Art Museums and Their Versatile Role for Elites' (Self)Legitimization Discourses

The 2000s have witnessed a significant, worldwide boom in new art museums founded by private, wealthy collectors. While the arts have long been a key arena for the remaking of elite distinction and the reproduction of inequalities, this surge in private museums has sparked much controversy. In this paper, we demonstrate how wealthy elites deploy this form of cultural philanthropy for (self)legitimation. Based on topic modelling analysis, we examine the online mission statements and 'about us' sections of 399 private museums across 59 countries to understand what forms of legitimation discourses they construct. We find that, beyond discourses of intra-elite distinction, the mission statements additionally mobilize discursive legitimation strategies that highlight private museums and their founders as reliable, institutionalized agents in the artworld and valuable philanthropic actors in society more broadly. Overall, our analysis demonstrates how the arts function as a particularly versatile and powerful tool for symbolic elite legitimation struggles, allowing wealthy elites from different backgrounds to coalesce globally around private art museums. In light of escalating wealth concentration and widening economic disparities around the world, our paper adds to sociology's critical imperative to scrutinize the formation and reproduction of contemporary elites.