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BOURDIEU AND FORMS OF CAPITAL

Prof David MarshInstitute for Governance and Policy Analysis

University of Canberra

AUG 2015

• It is in fact impossible to account for the structure and functioning of the social world unless one reintroduces capital in all its forms and not solely in the one form recognized by economic theory.

• 3 forms: economic; social and cultural.

CAPITAL FOR BOURDIEU

• Economic: Money, Property, Shares etc, which are immediately and directly convertible into money

• Social: Social obligations and ‘connections’, think ‘old boys networks’), which is convertible, in certain conditions, into economic capital

• Cultural: Education, Culture, Habits - which is convertible, on certain conditions, into economic capital

Forms of Capital

• Similar to how it is used in mainstream analysis.

• Money and things easily converted to money – Property, shares etc.

• In a crucial way, this is the dominant form and a crucial question is how other forms are converted into it.

Economic Capital

• “a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition”.

• Crucial are size, depth and utility of social networks

Social Capital

• 3 Forms:• Embodied – long-lasting dispositions of mind

and body• Objectified - Goods – eg, pictures, books,

instruments• Institutionalised - eg educational

qualifications

Cultural Capital

• Mainstream approach – rooted in employment location

• Bourdieusian turn but different takes on it• Crucial for Bourdieu is that class is a relational

concept – not a categorical one• Access to forms of capital is the basis of one’s class

location• Class position is in part ‘field’-related

Class as an Example

• Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, discussed earlier, can be utilised to better conceptualise 3rd face, because it acts in a pre-conscious realm.

• Habitus relates to class and, thus, reflects access to forms of capital

Faces of Power Revisited