The extended concept of capital, which was largely developed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu dates back to an entanglement of the perspectives of Marx and Weber. In particular, he draws on the concept of capital by Marx, whilst picking up the theory of Weber where capital is a product of the accumulation of collective labour. But Bourdieu further generalizes the theory in order to develop a concept of capital in all its forms. Thereby, he dissociates his perspective sharply from a merely economist perspective and criticizes such concepts as only related to the exchange of goods, in a market driven and profit oriented processes. With this view, according to Bourdieu, all other process of exchange and calculation (social, cultural, symbolic, religious) implicitly (or explicit) are perceived as relations without interest and thus are left out of accounts as study objects. (Bourdieu, 1983; Fuchs-Heinritz & König, 2005)
Bourdieu therewith opposes a concept of capital that is limited to the logic of market and property, since it is insufficient to understand the practice of social actors. In his economy of social practice, cultural and social processes of exchange and accumulation are just as important. The foil for the extended capital theory is largely based on findings attained during Bourdieu’s studies of the Kabyle society in Algeria. Based on the fact that the gift exchange among the Kabyles serves as economic purposes but is socially staged as a non-calculative moment of a noble relationship, he concludes that even those actions are economically driven, that are posing/attest itself as disinterested and merely symbolically driven (Fuchs-Heinritz & König 2005). For Bourdieu, this means that the theory of real economic-a...
... middle of paper ...
...ili et al., 2012).
Works Cited
Bourdieu, P. (1987) Sozialer Sinn. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp.
Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital, in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (Ed. J. Richardson). New York, Greenwood, 241-258. The article appears here for the first time in English. Translated by Richard Nice. Originally in:
Bourdieu P., (1983) Ökonomisches Kapital, kulturelles Kapital, soziales Kapital, in Kreckel, R. (ed.), Soziale Ungleichheiten. (Soziale Welt, Sonderband 2.) Göttingen: Schwartz, 183–198.
Bourdieu, P. (1979) The Disenchantment of the World; The Sense of Honour; The Kabyl House or the World Reversed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1976) Entwurf einer Theorie der Praxis auf der ethnologischen Grundlage der kabylischen Gesellschaft (French orig.: Genf 1972). Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp.
One of Bourdieu’s central arguments is that what we refer to as “capital” is actually the collective product of four sub-types of capital: economic, social, symbolic, and cultural. Although these different types of capital are distinct categories, they intersect to create the more mainstream idea of capital. Similarly, Hill Collins and Bilge break down the broad idea of power into smaller components in order to examine how power operates, and how its tied to
The theories of Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Pierre Bourdieu, Basil Bernstein and Shirley Brice Heath represent the deterministic end of the social reproduction perspective. These theories mainly involve school, the ideas of cultural capital, habitus, and linguistic cultural capital and can help explain more in depth how the reproduction of classes continue through generations, and how this reproduction is accepted.
Capitalism, is among one of the most important concepts and mainframe of this application paper. According to the 2009 film “Capitalism a Love Story,” capitalism is considered as taking and giving, but mostly taking. Capitalism can also be defined as a mode of production that produces profit for the owners (Dillon, 72). It is based on, and ultimately measured by the inequality and competition between the capitalist owners and the wage workers. A major facet of capitalism is constantly making and designing new things then selling afterwards (Dillon, 34).Capitalism has emerged as far back as the middle ages but had fully flowered around the time o...
The Forms of Capital (1986) written by Bourdieu address the concepts of cultural and social capital. From his point of view, he believes that cultural capital is something that is equipped by oneself and, as a result, reproduces economic capital. The two capitals are directly proportion to each
Biernacki, Richard, and Ellen Meiksins Wood. “The Origin of Capitalism.” Contemporary Sociology 2000 : 638. Print.
...hown to be a fundamental socioeconomic transformation. My paper has shown many aspects of the market society, by using a number of theorists’ concepts. I focused on the characteristics of a market society, as well as why this transformation from traditional society was so significant. I also discussed the changes that have taken place in the workplace and the impact on the workers, which these material conditions became apparent throughout time. Lastly, I explained Weber’s idea of “economic rationality” and the worldview of people in a market society, to show how workers rationalized the work they put into the production and distribution of material goods. Generally, this paper’s purpose was to show how the market society has established itself over time, and how both material and ideological conditions interacted and changed the ways we view market society today.
It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his ‘natural superiors’, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous ‘cash payment’. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom-Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation. The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage-laborers.
Marx’s analysis of social class is that there will always be a divide between the haves and the have not’s. He separates them into two classes the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie signifies the capitalist class, while proletariat signifies the working class. Max Weber’s defines class as “a group of people who have a similar level of economic resources”(p.244). He identifies two main elements of class, material resources, and skill knowledge in the marketplace. In contrast to Marx’s view on class Weber believed that class was not just based solely on ownership of means of production, but could also be based off ownership of other resources and the amount knowledge one has. Pierre Bourdieu’s view on class is that it is based on the concept of cultural capital meaning, “our tastes, knowledge, attitudes, language, and ways of thinking that we exchange in interaction with others”
Cultural capital has great power through the control and maintenance of traditions, expected and accepted roles and behaviours, notably gender roles, important artefacts, language, institutions and services (Navarro, 2006). Of these, two essential contributors being educational facilities and religious institutions (Navarro, 2006). Finally, economic capital holds power through property and literal financial capital or monetary resources, this empowers individuals to have some degree of agency and autonomy (Navarro, 2006). This gives power to individuals to interact with higher classes, or form part of such, to purchase and interact with goods and services that are valued by the society and in turn receive respect and enhances social status (Navarro,
In closing, it is ludicrous to romanticize that the tendency toward capitalism in man is as primal as eating or procreating. On the other hand, the same curiosity hard-wired into humans that compels us toward theism compels us toward advancement, gain and acquirement. Initially, conquering these curiosities, as history has shown us, is through a method of ‘by any means necessary’. Eventually, dare I say- inevitably, it becomes by the most efficient means available; consequently, an accurate description of capitalism. Therefore, it follows that although man faces struggle that require his ingenuity, this in no way undermines the occurrence of inevitable events; it merely reinforces the existence of them.
Swartz, D (1997) Culture and power, the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. London: The University of Chicago Press.
Communism, socialism, and capitalism are the three basic forms of economical systems, each evident in the world. Although Karl Marx is portrayed as the father of communism, Marx is able to provide a substantial amount of information about the capitalistic world. In his work, “Capital (1867)”, Marx discusses the nature of commodities, wages, and the relationship between a worker and the capitalist economic system. As a result, Marx portrays workers as human beings who have been exploited in order to maximize production and profit in a capitalistic society. Although Karl Marx wrote “Capital (1867)” over a century ago, Marx’s arguments concerning the various uses of human labor, commodities, and values, have remained relevant in the United States
When Bourdieu discusses cultural capital he is referring to knowing; for instance, what to talk about in a certain context. Capital means resources, so someone with large cultural capital has a lot of experiences in the world and are perceived as knowledgeable and able to converse about an array of diverse topics. Cultural capital can be learned, which is why education for Bourdieu is the first determent, over and above class origins. People who are not from a higher class, but have been immersed in education, can conduct one’s self in a manner where someone cannot distinguish their economic and social origins. Culture is not individualized; it is all
There were many theories that promotes and explains how the capitalist system works; however, Karl Marx’s Capital is the first one that can explain the imminent relationship between poverty and wealth, inequality and growth under capitalism. ...
Pierre B (1961) Culture Capital Cited, Taylor P ; Richardson Jr John; Yeo, A, (1995), The class structure and educational attainment, Sociology in Focus, pp.297, Ormskirk, Causeway Press.