Architecture, symbolic capital and elite mobilisations: The case of the Royal Bank of Scotland corporate campus

Abstract

In this article, we apply the conceptual framework of Pierre Bourdieu, in particular forms of capital, social fields, field of power and modes of domination, to demonstrate how the study of a symbolically powerful building can provide insights into what are often opaque elite interactions. In order to do this, we focus on the corporate campus headquarters of a powerful financial institution, the Royal Bank of Scotland in the context of Scotland in the period 2000–2009. We pose the following questions: What is the relationship between corporate space and the field of power? What role does a corporate building play in circuits of capital conversion? What does this case tell us about the role of architecture in elite mobilisations? In addressing these questions, we contribute to critical organisation studies by identifying and theorising the role of corporate space in inter-elite dynamics and circuits of capital conversion. This approach, we argue, provides a methodological lever which could be applied to other symbolically important buildings in order to understand the nature and role of inter-field interactions in the conception and realisation of such buildings.

Exclusive Talent Management: Unveiling the Mechanisms of the Construction of an Elite Community

“…Rituals contribute to the elaboration of elite identity through ‘providing cultural knowledge about how to behave and interact’ (Dacin et al ., 2010, p. 1401) and gaining access to powerful networks (Dacin et al ., 2010). Moreover, space plays a role in the domination of elites; for instance, research on corporate architecture shows how corporate buildings have an important role in how elite members interact to make use of material and symbolic resources (Kerr and Robinson, 2016).…”

When the political becomes (painfully) personal: Org-studying the consequences of Brexit

“…Vaara and Faÿ, 2012), management control (e.g. Kamoche et al, 2014), gender and leadership (Elliott and Stead, 2018), language (Śliwa and Johansson, 2015) and architecture, symbolic power and space (Kerr and Robinson, 2016). Such studies have employed the full range of Bourdieusian concepts: field, forms of capital, habitus, symbolic violence and so on.…”

The politics of cultural capital: Social hierarchy and organizational architecture in the multinational corporation

“…Finally, Bourdieu (1986) introduces symbolic capital, commonly understood as prestige and honour accrued as a result of social recognition of the value of cultural, social and/or economic capital. Thus, the notion of symbolic capital captures the ‘ symbolic effects of capital ’ when it is perceived and recognized as legitimate (Bourdieu, 2000: 242 – emphasis in original; see also Kerr and Robinson, 2016).…”