A general theory of artistic legitimation: How art worlds are like social movements

In this article I develop a general theory for explaining how cultural products are legitimated as art, whether high or popular art. The theory generalizes from the large body of existing sociological research on art world development while integrating ideas from the sociology of social movements and from social psychology. I argue that there is an analogy between social movement success and recognition as art, so that the major concepts that explain the paths of social movements also apply to art worlds: political opportunity structures, resource mobilization, and framing processes. In addition, I incorporate the social psychological perspective on legitimacy to specify the process by which art worlds achieve artistic legitimation.