Pierre Bourdieu was born on 1 August 1930 in Denguin, France. He attained a degree in philosophy and was also the gold medalist of the National Centre for Scientific Research. Throughout his life, he contributed to various areas of discussions and involvements that include art and culture, education, language and methodology (Grenfell 2012:12-14). Bourdieu was also influenced by Karl Marx and adapted his theories to elaborate further on capital in regards to class divisions. Similar to Marx, Bourdieu mentioned that there is a correlation between capital and one’s social position. However, Bourdieu was on the view that the formation of class requires other forms of capital besides the economic capital. The focus of this paper will be on the
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Cultural capital refers to the set of accumulated familiarity that an individual acquired to be a part of the society. This includes mannerisms, skills, preferences, interaction styles and knowledge. Bourdieu then went on explaining about the three types of cultural capital: objectified (material possessions), institutionalized (credentials) and embodied (habitus). Further, Bourdieu talked more about how the habitus of an individual helps him to integrate to his social environments and develop taste for cultural commodities (art, food and dressing) that are culturally instilled in him (Allan 2013:182). Habitus refers to the dispositions and values that people may own unconsciously through their daily life experiences such as our habits, body postures, dressing and lifestyle. So how does one’s cultural capital and habitus affect one’s life? To answer that question, we will look onto three main aspects of human life: education, family and …show more content…
Bourdieu claimed that the family is the basic unit of the society whereby it carries out a pivotal role in the maintenance of social order (Silva 2005:88). Parents are our first teachers in life and they expose us to many cultural practices. From there, people are introduced and familiarized to their parents’ cultural capital through family socialization whereby certain values and dispositions are transmitted into them. Again, every family has different habitus based on their class which creates social inequalities. For example, higher-class families expose their children to certain cultural activites such as reading and attending enrichment programs to equip and prepare their children before entering school. With the acquired cultural capital, their children are well prepared to pass through the education system. Unlike lower-class families, higher-class families have access to cultural commodities due to their financial position whereby they can afford those cultural activities (Tzanakis 2011:77). From the example just now, we can see that there is an unequal distribution based on social class, on knowledge and acquisition of “high-class”
Cultural capital refers to the set of accumulated familiarity that an individual acquired to be a part of the society. This includes mannerisms, skills, preferences, interaction styles and knowledge. Bourdieu then went on explaining about the three types of cultural capital: objectified (material possessions), institutionalized (credentials) and embodied (habitus). Further, Bourdieu talked more about how the habitus of an individual helps him to integrate to his social environments and develop taste for cultural commodities (art, food and dressing) that are culturally instilled in him (Allan 2013:182). Habitus refers to the dispositions and values that people may own unconsciously through their daily life experiences such as our habits, body postures, dressing and lifestyle. So how does one’s cultural capital and habitus affect one’s life? To answer that question, we will look onto three main aspects of human life: education, family and …show more content…
Bourdieu claimed that the family is the basic unit of the society whereby it carries out a pivotal role in the maintenance of social order (Silva 2005:88). Parents are our first teachers in life and they expose us to many cultural practices. From there, people are introduced and familiarized to their parents’ cultural capital through family socialization whereby certain values and dispositions are transmitted into them. Again, every family has different habitus based on their class which creates social inequalities. For example, higher-class families expose their children to certain cultural activites such as reading and attending enrichment programs to equip and prepare their children before entering school. With the acquired cultural capital, their children are well prepared to pass through the education system. Unlike lower-class families, higher-class families have access to cultural commodities due to their financial position whereby they can afford those cultural activities (Tzanakis 2011:77). From the example just now, we can see that there is an unequal distribution based on social class, on knowledge and acquisition of “high-class”