Three Types of Cultural Capital and One Strategic Testing Ground

• In Event: 471 - Regular Session. Sociology of Education: Family-School Linkages

Abstract

Bourdieu’s “cultural capital” is a popular theory of socioeconomic disparities in education. However, it has been faulted for being conceptually ambiguous, insensitive towards many important trends, and sometimes contradictory. We aim to renew cultural capital theory by developing an integrative and counterfactual approach. Our paper has three main sections. First, we identify 3 promising streams of empirical research on cultural capital - DiMaggio’s cultural resources, Lareau’s family routines and Collins’ ritual interactions - arguing that each captures different elements in the emergence of educational inequality. Second, we argue that summer learning offers a strategic vantage point to observe each kind of cultural capital. Third, using quantitative and qualitative data from Ontario, we find that i) DiMaggio’s framework can explain how learning disparities slowly emerge over longer terms, ii) Lareau’s framework highlights middle class parents’ ability to exploit discretionary spaces in schooling, and iii) Collins’ framework might explain the generation of disparities over briefer time spans. We end by discussing way to build theory by integrating different versions of cultural capital.

Authors

• Scott Davies, McMaster University

• Jessica Rizk, McMaster University