Updating cultural capital theory: A discussion based on studies in Denmark and in Britain

Abstract

This paper considers how the analysis of cultural engagement can be elaborated through a reworking of the concept of cultural capital, as originally derived from Bourdieu's (1984) Distinction. Drawing on detailed studies of the UK and Aalborg, Denmark, we show that despite the weakening of ''highbrow'' culture, cultural oppositions can nonetheless readily be detected. We point to nine oppositions, mostly shared between the nations. Three tensions between (a) participation and non-participation in cultural activities; (b) knowledge and ignorance in cultural issues (such as for music, literature, and art); and (c) an international and a local or national orientation stand out as the most important. We discuss whether these oppositions can usefully be conceptualised as cultural capital. We argue that such a conceptualisation demands, first, that cultural capital is understood in relative rather than absolute terms, and that a field analytic perspective provides the means of understanding cultural capital as such a relative entity. Second, the move from the empirical observation of oppositions to the conceptualisation of cultural capital also demands that the functioning of features such as participation, knowledge and an international orientation in class domination should be demonstrated, as it cannot just be assumed.

English as a medium of instruction and internationalization at Danish universities: Status, perspectives, and implications for higher education executives

“…4 includes cultural, sociological and psychological considerations: a person's self-esteem is often rooted in possessing the characteristics that a society considers desirable ("symbolic capital", Bourdieu, 2005). As Prieur and Savage (2011) demonstrate for the case of Denmark, an "international orientation" is associated with cultural privileges, a higher level of education, and social recognition. Consequently, the ability to prove such international orientation by an EMI education may not only contribute to better job market chances in an international, but also in a domestic perspective (Prieur & Savage, 2011: 567), and the resulting recognition and self-consciousness may make way for social upscaling.…”

Diskusjonar omDistinksjonen,og distinksjonar i diskusjonen

“…dominerande gruppene. Her er fleire studiar som utfordrar kor vidt arbeidarklassa oppvurderer rådande kulturelle verdiar og definerer seg sjølv i lys av dei dominerande sine blikk (Prieur & Savage 2011;Jonvik 2015). Prieur og Savage finn frå England at arbeidarklassa ikkje uttrykk aerefrykt eller age overfor legitim kultur, ei heller finn verdi i danning.…”

A new model of social class: findings from the BBC's Great British Class Survey Experiment

“…Many of the questions were similar to those used on the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion survey (Bennett et al, 2008), the most sophisticated study of cultural capital ever conducted in Britain, which has influenced numerous other studies across Europe (e.g. Prieur and Savage, 2011). The questions on social capital mainly take the form of 'position generator' developed by the American sociologist Nan Lin (2001) to measure the range of people's social ties.…”

“…The analysis of cultural capital is complex, and we do not have the scope in this article to enter the now extensive debate on its definition and measurement (though see Bennett et al, 2008;Prieur and Savage, 2011). Bourdieu (1984) differentiates between 'high' culture, associated with the arts, and 'popular' culture, but the clarity of this distinction has been questioned in much recent research (e.g.…”

“…Bourdieu (1984) differentiates between 'high' culture, associated with the arts, and 'popular' culture, but the clarity of this distinction has been questioned in much recent research (e.g. Bennett et al, 2008;Prieur and Savage, 2011;Warde and Gayo-Cal, 2009). In particular, it has been argued that elite culture has become more liberal and tolerant as the middle and upper classes have become more 'omnivorous', keen to partake of both highbrow and popular cultural forms.…”