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Capital: Economic Cultural and Social

Paul M. De GraafSubjectSociology » Sociological and Social Theory, Stratification and Inequality 

PeopleBourdieu, Pierre 

DOI:10.1111/b.9781405124331.2007.x

Sections

  Capital: Economic Cultural and Social 

  REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS 

The distinction between economic, cultural, and social capital has proven to be useful

to explain the way in which parents pass their status on to their children, and to

explain why there is individual variation in the status attainment process. One of thecore questions in the sociology of social stratification is how status is attained within a

given society, and how the determinants of status attainment vary over historical

periods and over societies. An important part of the status attainment model, as

developed by Blau and Duncan (1967), consists of the effects the family of origin have

on offspring status. The key notion of the working of the different types of capital is

that educational attainment, occupational achievement, and income attainment are

affected by the resources an individual has at his or her disposal. Note that many

sociologists in the field of social stratification do not use the word capital , but refer to

economic, cultural, and social resources . Whereas the distinction between economic,

cultural, and social resources has been developed to explain the effects of the family of

origin on educational and occupational attainment, it has proven to be fruitful in other

realms of the status attainment process as well.

Economic resources refer to an individual's income and wealth. In the status attainment

process an individual can take advantage of the economic resources of his or her

parents. An individual's financial or material position is important both with respect to

intergenerational transfers and with respect to career advancement. In the first place,

economic resources play an important role in the process of educational attainment,

especially when the cost of education is high. Second, the intergenerational

transmission of occupational status can be directly governed by a family's economicresources, especially by the transmission of the ownership of a business and by

financial support. Third, intragenerational (career) mobility can be facilitated by the

economic resources to which an individual has access.

The term cultural capital comes from Bourdieu (1973). Cultural capital, or cultural

resources, refers to cultural distinctions between status groups, which are based on

differences in education, occupation, and wealth. Children of the higher-status groups

have access to cultural capital, which consists of appropriate manners, good taste,

proper use of language, and respect for formal culture. Through family socialization

the values of the formal culture and receptivity to the beaux arts (classical music,

theater, painting, sculpture, and literature) are inculcated. This receptivity is taken forgranted in the higher forms of secondary education and in tertiary education

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(DiMaggio 1982). Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction was formulated to explain

the relationship between parents’ social position and their offspring's educational

attainment. The theory of cultural reproduction argues that pupils who are familiar

with formal culture are favored and profit more from education than other children. It

is possible to elaborate on the value of cultural capital by arguing that it does not only

affect educational careers, but is also productive in the labor market, especially to be

selected in high-prestige professions.

Social capital refers to the resources one has access to through one's network: family

members, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, and colleagues (Lin 1982). It is important

to note that the size of the network itself is not decisive. Social capital is dependent on

(1) the amount of resources available in the network, and (2) the willingness of the

network member to share these resources. In other words, social capital is a

combination of the number of people who can be expected to provide support and the

resources those people have at their disposal. The resources available through the

network consist of the members’ economic, cultural, and social resources. Themechanism behind the impact of social capital is in the fact that an individual's social

network can lead to direct support and access to information. Social capital has proven

to be a major predictor in educational and (especially) occupational careers. Social

capital can be received from one's parents, but most of it is built up during one's

career and by the association with other people, such as in voluntary organizations or

in one's neighborhood, or via friends and acquaintances.

The value of economic, cultural, and social capital may vary between societies and over

historical periods. Bourdieu's main hypothesis is that cultural capital has replaced

economic capital as the main type of parental resource which explains the

intergenerational transmission of educational opportunities (Bourdieu 1973; de Graaf

1986). There are several reasons why parental financial resources do not matter much

in modern society. First, the direct costs of education have decreased considerably,

especially in the European welfare states. Compulsory education is almost free of cost,

and tertiary education is inexpensive. Second, the indirect (opportunity) costs of

education, like forgone income and extended financial dependency on parents, have

decreased as well, especially because the rising returns of education have made the

investment worthwhile. Third, due the great increase in affluence during the second

half of the twentieth century, the costs of education have become much easier to bear.

Fourth, decreasing fertility adds to the declining importance of financial resources in

the parental home. Functionalist approaches to social inequality argue that talent has

become the main determinant of educational attainment, and that a system of

meritocracy has become prevalent. Since talent (intelligence) is partly hereditary, some

reproduction of inequality from one generation to the next is unavoidable. However,

conflict sociology (Collins 1971; Bourdieu 1973) argues that privileged parents have

found a new way to secure their offspring's social position by using their cultural

capital. The basic mechanism behind this is that the children of parents with high

levels of cultural capital do not object to extending their educational careers, whereas

children of lower classes prefer to leave education at younger ages. It is important to

note however that this strategy has not been overall a successful one, given thatempirical evidence has shown that the association between social origins and

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educational attainment has decreased in western society. Apparently, the total impact

of all parental resources combined has decreased.

SEE ALSO: Bourdieu, Pierre; Creative Destruction; Cultural Capital; Cultural Capital in

Schools; Distinction; Educational and Occupational Attainment; Life Chance and

Resources; Stratification, Distinction and; Stratification: Functional and Conflict

Theories 

Blau, P. M. & Duncan, O. D. (1967) The American Occupational Structure . Wiley, New

York.

Bourdieu, P. (1973) Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction. In: Brown, R.

(Ed.), Knowledge, Education and Cultural Changes . Tavistock, London, pp. 71–112.

Collins, R. (1971) Functional and Conflict Theories of Educational

Stratification. American Sociological Review  (36) : 1002–19.

De Graaf, P. M. (1986) The Impact of Financial and Cultural Resources on EducationalAttainment in the Netherlands. Sociology of Education  (59) : 237–46.

DiMaggio, P. (1982) Cultural Capital and School Success: The Impact of Status Culture

Participation on the Grades of US High School Students. American Sociological

Review  (47) : 189–201.

Lin, N. (1982) Social Resources and Instrumental Action. In: Marsden, P. V. & Lin, N.

(Eds.), Social Structure and Network Analysis . Sage, Beverly Hills, pp. 131–45.