Bourdieu, capital and class

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Bourdieu, capital and class
Gerry Veenstra Dept of Anthropology and
Sociology University of British Columbia
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Bourdieus 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 Bourdieus framework - economic
practices and symbolic/cultural practices are on
the same level, perhaps equally influential
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Bourdieus 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
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Bourdieus theoretical framework

• Capitals
• - 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

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Bourdieus 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
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Bourdieus 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)
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Bourdieus 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.

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Bourdieus 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)

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Bourdieus 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.

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Bourdieus theoretical framework

• Fields
• - As a working definition, a field in
  Bourdieus 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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Total volume capital
2D social space in British Columbia
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3D social space in British Columbia
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Bourdieu, capital and class
The End
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A visual rendering of social structure
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National wealth and life expectancy
LIFE EXPECTANCY (years)
INCOME PER CAPITA (1991 international dollars)
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National income inequality and life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth (M F combined, 1981)
of total post-tax benefit income received by
the least well-off 70 of families
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Explanations for relationship between income
inequality and health

• A. Reflects income-health relationship
• among individuals

B. Psycho-social ramifications
C. Related ecological processes
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Social capital definitions

• Bourdieus 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.

Colemans 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.
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Social capital definitions

• Lins 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.

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Social capital definitions
Wilkinsons 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.
Lynch Kaplans The stock of investments,
resources and networks that produce social
cohesion, trust and a willingness to engage in
community activities.
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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.

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Compositional effects of social capital on health

• friendship

• social relationships

• social support

• anxiety / angst / stress

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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)

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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)

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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)