Pierre Bourdieu's (03:27)

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Sociological research can be categorized as being that of qualitative, quantitative, or works of theory; however, Bourdieu's work transcends these categories. Bourdieu examined social suffering and contemporary society. His most innovative concepts include habitus, fields, and capital.

Habitus (01:57)

Habitus refers to structural determinations embodied in the individual through institutional practices. Habitus is the complex of social determinations of character and motivation.

Fields (02:36)

A field is defined as a rule-governed, competitively structured social space. Symbolic interactionism and the academic field are examples of fields as they can be subdivided into subfields.

Linguistic Capital (04:44)

Economic capital is a subset of a wider notion of capital found within various fields of capitalism. Language ability is a matter of socialization and provides a degree of language ability in relations to specific fields.

Cultural Capital and Conversion (04:05)

Primary socialization provides us with various amounts of cultural knowledge, tastes, preferences, and modes of understanding. The process of capital conversion is difficult as capital is specific to the field.

Scientific Capital (01:21)

This form of capital illustrates the transference of capital forms most simply. Scientific capital is readily convertible into economic capital and in itself has an economic dimension.

Return to Cultural Capital (02:11)

Bourdieu examined empirical indicators to correlate aesthetic taste and background. He showed that apart from its other functions, art and artistic taste work to delineate class. Taste becomes a symbolic weapon that creates boundaries between classes.

Symbolic Violence (07:04)

An individual's background influences the cultural aspects they are supposed to enjoy. If lower class individuals enjoyed contemporary art, it would be failing at maintaining class distinctions. Social distinctions of taste can be seen economically.

Credits: Pierre Bourdieu: Habitus, Field, and Capital (00:30)

Credits: Pierre Bourdieu: Habitus, Field, and Capital