Bodies, Objects, and Institutions: Revisiting and Extending Bourdieu’s “Forms of Capital”

• In Event: 30462 - Theory Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2. Classical Theorists

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu’s most resilient contribution to the theoretical armory of sociology is his revision and extension of the concept of capital (and in particular the notion of cultural capital). Bourdieu's “The Forms of Capital” (TFOC) represents the most didactic elaboration of the elements of cultural capital, alongside its sibling concepts of economic capital and social capital. Bourdieu further elaborates on his conception of cultural capital by identifying three subtypes: embodied (internalized skills/capabilities), objectified (as a physical object whose appreciation requires particular evaluative competencies), and institutionalized (e.g., educational credentials). Oddly enough, he did not assert parallel subtypes for economic or social capital. Here, I argue that we can (and indeed ought) to extend the notions of embodied, objectified, and institutionalized capitals to economic, social, and symbolic capital. From there, capital again becomes a flexible rubric for comparing and contrasting the effects of various social forces across multiple fields, as any worthwhile concept ought to do.

Author

• Shadrick Andrew Small, University of California-Berkeley