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Bourdieu, capital and classBourdieu, capital and classBourdieu, capital and classBourdieu, capital and class
Gerry VeenstraGerry VeenstraDept of Anthropology Dept of Anthropology andand Sociology Sociology
University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
Gerry VeenstraGerry VeenstraDept of Anthropology Dept of Anthropology andand Sociology Sociology
University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Classical Marxist thought:- the realm of economic practices (especially relationship to the mode of production) represents the base of society, the place from which all else is conditioned and shaped
- the realm of culture in particular is contained in the superstructure of society, conditioned and shaped by the economic base
Pierre Bourdieu’s framework:
- economic practices and symbolic/cultural practices are on the same level, perhaps equally influential
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Working definition of culture:- “That entire range of institutions, artefacts and practices that make up our symbolic universe. In one or other of its meanings, the tem will thus embrace: art and religion, science and sport, education and leisure. By convention, however, it does not embrace the range of activities normally deemed either ‘economic’ or ‘political’” (Milner and Browitt 2002)
Role of culture: - cultural tastes are socially constructed, and the social space of
tastes and dispositions manifests inequality between the elite and lesser groups/classes
Bourdieu’s theoretical frameworkCapitals:
- capitals are forms of power in social life- economic capital is deemed equal to personal wealth- cultural capital encompasses three dimensions:
(i) personal educational credentials and experiences (educational capital) that facilitate the accumulation of cultural tastes(ii) social background, whereby cultural tastes are
passed down through socialization from parents’ own educational experiences
(iii) the cultural tastes and dispositions themselves- social capital is “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition - or in other words to membership of a group”
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Social space:- focuses on the defining principles of economic capital and educational capital on the one hand and cultural tastes and dispositions on the other (together determining the character of the social space)
- agents are distributed in the overall social space, in the first dimension, according to the overall volume of capital they possess (sum of economic and educational capital); in the second dimension, according to the relative weight of the different species of capital
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Social space:- social space “is constructed in such a way that the closer the agents, groups or institutions which are situated within this space, the more common properties they have; and the more distant, the fewer” (i.e. spatial distances coincide with social distances)
Social classes in social space:- a social class refers to “a group of social agents who share the same social conditions of existence, interests, social experience, and value system, and who tend to define themselves in relation to other groups of agents” (Laberge and Kay 2002)
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Social space and physical space:- with respect to social space, “spatial differences – on paper – coincide with social distances. Such is not the case in real space. It is true that one can observe almost everywhere a tendency toward spatial segregation, people who are close together in social space tending to find themselves, by choice or by necessity, close to one another in geographic space; nevertheless, people who are very distant from each other in social space can encounter one another and interact, if only briefly and intermittently, in physical space.”
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Habitus:
- “It is through the dynamic mediation of habitus, an embodied internalized system of schemes of dispositions, perceptions and appreciation, that positions in the social space are ‘translated’ into practices and preferences .. Habitus, on the one hand, is shaped by living conditions characteristic of a social position and, on the other hand, operates as a ‘matrix’, or generating principle, of classifiable practices and judgements of taste .. Yet habitus is not only an internalization of the social conditions into dispositions; it [is ..] simultaneously a generating principle of practices expressed in ‘taste’ .. Social agents acquire a system of dispositions that leads them to act and react in a manner proper to his/her social group .. The different habitus cannot easily be identified” (Laberge and Kay 2002)
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Habitus:- “systems of durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to operate as structuring structures, that is, as principles which generate and organize practices and representations that can be objectively adapted to their outcomes without presupposing a conscious aiming at ends or an express mastery of the conditions necessary in order to attain them.”
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework
Fields:- “As a ‘working definition’, a field in Bourdieu’s work refers mainly to arenas of production, circulation, and appropriation of goods, services, knowledge, or status centred on a particular issue (e.g., literature, art, educational system, sport), and the network (or configuration) of historical relations of power between positions held by individuals, social groups or institutions” (Laberge and Kay 2002).
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2D social space in British Columbia
What's Bred in the Bone
KamouraskaSunshine Sketches
Handmaid's Tale
Stone Angel
Sophie's Choice
Out of Africa
P ride and P rejudiceFor Whom the Bell Tolls
Wealthy Barber
Economist
Forbes
Harvard Business Review
P enthouse
Reader's Digest
Scientific American
Saturday Night
New Yorker
Helen Frankenthaler
M ichael Snow
J oyce Wieland
Mary P ratt
Harold Town
Georgia O'Keefe
Berthe Morisot
Vin Baker
Todd Martin
Hunter Hurst Helmsley
smoking
jogging
bowling
baseball
tennis weight-training
yoga/tai chi
golfing
aerobics
volunteering
television news
managment
natural and applied sciences
health
social sciences, education, government services, religion
art, culture, recreation, sport
sales, service
trades, transport,equipment operators
primary industry
processing, manufacturing, utilities
economic capital +
capital volume +
capital volume -
educational capital +
Henry MoorebicyclingJim Furyk
Brett FavreJoe Thornton
swimminghiking
DegasDali
soccer
national new spaper
Jennifer CapriatiPelican Brief
David Duvall Patrick Carpentier Group of SevenShae-Lynn BourneDanny McManusSports Illustrated
power walkingMacleans contact government official
TimeCosmopolitan
Roger ClemensAndy Warhol
Bobby Allison
business, finance, administrative
Felix TrinidadPicasso
Robert BatemanEric Lindros
gardening
Oliver Tw ist
Michael Jordanvote in local election'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Emily Carr Chatelaine
Elvis Stoyko
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2
4
6
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Figure 2.
3D social space in British Columbia
Bourdieu, capital and classBourdieu, capital and classBourdieu, capital and classBourdieu, capital and class
TThe Endhe EndTThe Endhe End
A visual rendering of social structure
INCOME PER CAPITA
(1991 international dollars)
LIF
E E
XP
EC
TA
NC
Y
(yea
rs)
National wealth and life expectancy
National income inequality and life expectancy
Life
exp
ect
an
cy a
t b
irth
(M &
F c
ombi
ned,
198
1)
% of total post-tax & benefit income received by the least well-off 70% of families
Explanations for relationship between income inequality and health
A. Reflects income-health relationship among individuals
B. Psycho-social ramifications
C. Related ecological processes
Social capital: definitions
Bourdieu’s: The aggregate of the actual orpotential resources which are linked to possessionof a durable network of more or lessinstitutionalized relationships of mutualacquaintance and recognition - or in other words tomembership of a group.
Coleman’s: Social capital is defined by its function. It is not a single entity but a variety of different entities, with two elements in common: they all consist of some aspect of social structures, and they facilitate certain actions of actors - whether persons or corporate actors - within the structure.
Social capital: definitions
Lin’s: Social capital can be defined as resources embedded in social structure which are accessed and mobilized in purposive actions. The notion of social capital contains three ingredients: resources embedded in a social structure; accessibility to such resources by individuals; and use or mobilization of such resources by individuals in purposive actions.
Wilkinson’s: The social nature of public life, dominated by peoples involvement in the social, ethical and human life of the society, rather than being abandoned to market values and transactions. People come together to pursue and contribute to broader, shared social purposes.
Social capital: definitions
Lynch & Kaplan’s: The stock of investments, resources and networks that produce social cohesion, trust and a willingness to engage in community activities.
Description of a social capital?
a) the social structure of interest;
b) the attributes of said social structure that can serve as a certain kind of resource;
c) the individuals or groups who can access the resource;
d) the individuals or groups who do access the resource;
e) the actions enacted via utilization of the resource;
f) and the ends facilitated.
Compositional effects of social capital on health:
• friendship
• social relationships
• social support
• anxiety / angst / stress
Evidence for compositional effects:
• Participation in the public space and mental health status in Australia (Baum et al)
• No relationship between participation in a voluntary association and self-rated health status in Scotland (Ellaway and Macintyre) and in Saskatchewan (Veenstra)
• Lavis and Stoddart found that trust was related to self-rated health status in Canada; not so in Saskatchewan, however (Veenstra)
Contextual effects of social capital on health:
• Performance of political institutions• Character of welfare-state• Economic development and growth• Schisms in deep structure (e.g. class, race,
ethnicity, gender, religion)• Health related behaviors, social control• Violent crime• Psycho-social attributes (e.g. trust)
Evidence for contextual effects:
• Social capital (trust, participation in clubs) and mortality among US states (Kawachi et al., Putnam)
• Social capital (trust, participation in clubs) and self-rated health status among the US states (Kawachi et al) and among postcode sectors in Scotland (Ellaway and Macintyre)
• Social capital (density of clubs, participation in clubs, voting) and mortality among health districts in Saskatchewan (Veenstra)
• Social capital (volunteering) and binge drinking among US colleges (Weitzman and Kawachi)
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