Forms of Capital and Social Structure in Cultural Fields: Examining Bourdieu's Social Topography

Local contexts as activation mechanisms of market development: contemporary art in emerging markets

“…Future research could either study activation mechanisms in a more systematic, quantitative way, for instance by using measurements of different forms of capital of previous Bourdieusian studies of cultural fields (see e.g. Anheier, Gerhards, and Romo 1995;Dumais 2002), or, by delving into the mechanisms with even more richness and depth by taking a biographical approach of the actors involved. A final limitation is related to our focus on existing cultural intermediaries, which could be seen as an instance of sampling on the dependent variable; by interviewing only those who did decide to become dealers, we know little of those who considered opening a gallery but in the end decided not to, or of those who failed to be affected by existing operating activation mechanisms.…”

When Does Medici Hurt Da Vinci? Mitigating the Signaling Effect of Extraneous Stakeholder Relationships in the Field of Cultural Production

“…Cultural organizations such as museums, orchestras and theaters require both symbolic capital, derived from the legitimation processes of their field, and of economic capital, material resources which enable them to ensure discretion and autonomy in their actions (Anheier, et al 1995). As a result, cultural organizations often find themselves torn between two imperatives: on the one hand, an expectation to produce aesthetically authentic output free from pragmatic financial considerations, as defined by the field in which they operate; and on the other hand, a necessity to build and manage their relationships with corporate donors (Townley, 2002;Glynn & Lounsbury, 2005).…”

“…In fact, understanding the influences of various stakeholders on the organization requires looking at the respective positions of these stakeholders in the social space of an organization (Rowley, 1997). One way to take into account this aspect is to make a distinction between stakeholders outside and inside the organizational field, as they control access to different forms of capital that might be more or less crucial to cultural organizations (Anheier, et al 1995). DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) concept of "organizational field" is based on Bourdieu's (1977; 1993) notion of field: an organizational field relies on a common value system and unites organizations sharing in the same activity.…”

“…This "economic disinterestedness" constitutes the normative essence of cultural field's core logic and marks the frontier that separates "art" from "entertainment" in the eyes of its professionals (Anheier, Gerhards & Romo, 1995). Bourdieu (1993) insists that "authenticity" as a marker of artistic value in the field of cultural production is strongly associated with the actor's endorsement of its peculiar normative orientation, most vividly manifested in its conspicuous indifference to economic imperatives (what Bourdieu calls the "disavowal of the economy").…”

Social marketing and social influences: Using social ecology as a theoretical framework

“…These social effects may be explained by Bourdieu"s Field-Capital theories. Bourdieu (1984) defined a Field as an arena within which a social group competes; while Capital represents the assets used to compete (Anheier, Gerhards, & Romo, 1995). Here, stories about reckless or aggressive driving may form part of the cultural capital attached to an individual, with notoriety gained from extreme behaviour.…”