Bourdieu and aesthetics

[Heer, Jeet (National Post)]

I'm reading a book entitled READING IN: ALICE MUNRO'S ARCHIEVES by JoAnn
McCaig. Making heavy use of Pierre Bourdieu's theories of cultural
production, McCaig looks at how cultural middlemen (agents and editors)
shaped the career of Canadian writer Alice Munro. I've been struck by the
fact that McCaig carefully avoids making any aethetic judgements, about
either the merits of Munro's work compared to other writers or her
development as a writer. (For example, McCaig says the terms "early" and
"mature" stories only have chronological significance, and she does not
endorse the common critical consensus that Munro's more recent books are
better than her early ones.) The reason I'm bringing all this up  is that I
want to know if McCaig's anti-aesthetics derives from Bordieu or if it is
her own peculiarity. From my own readings, I don't get a sense that Bourdieu
was unwilling to make judgements about whether art is good or not but I
perhaps I've misread him. Can you be a cultural materialist and still have
value judgements on aesthetics?