A Primer in Social and Sociological Theory by Kenneth Allan

Author:Kenneth Allan [Allan, Kenneth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781412988384
Google: DPTKmQEACAAJ
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2010-05-13T04:37:17+00:00

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Given the way in which habitus works, how can a person or group become upwardly mobile? Bourdieu’s theory is more concerned about how class is patterned, but he does give us some hints about how it can change. First, understanding the complexity of the four capitals, what they are and how they work, may enable a person to intentionally work at improving them. The configuration certainly lets us know that there is more than one path to economic success. We’ve known something of this for some time with the idea of nouveau riche: ”a person of newly acquired wealth but limited education or culture” (Merriam-Webster, 2002). What the concept of nouveau riche didn’t tell us was that there is something other than cultural capital involved, and that the capitals are linked and can mutually affect one another.

For example, a person from a lower economic class or a disenfranchised group can use education to get ahead. The key in this approach is to see that getting a degree isn’t sufficient. Earning a degree is obviously part of institutionalized cultural capital, but that isn’t what gets played out in linguistic markets. Rather, a college or university education must impact the person. A person must become educated—his or her habitus must change. The ways of seeing and understanding the world, the vocabulary and linguistic styles, and the aesthetic tastes of the educated elite must be embodied. Opportunities to accrue social capital must be exploited, and likewise with understanding and properly using symbolic capital. Furthermore, understanding the way symbolic violence within linguistic markets works can be employed by intentionally seeking out, rather than avoiding, situations of differing cultural capitals and strategically using the capital that is available to obtain more.

This kind of symbolic struggle can bring some incremental, individual change. Yet there are also hints about how more dynamic change can occur. Bourdieu allows that there are two ways symbolic struggle may be carried out: objectively and subjectively. In both cases, symbolic disruption is the key. Objectively, individuals or groups may act in such a way as to display certain counter-realities. Bourdieu’s example of this method is group demonstrations held to manifest the size, strength, and cohesiveness of political groups; the peace marches of the 1960s and the February 15, 2003 global demonstrations against the U.S. invasion of Iraq are good illustrations. This type of symbolic action disrupts the taken-for-grantedness that all systems of oppression must work within—it offers an objective case that things are not what they seem.

Subjectively, individuals or groups may work to transform the categories constructed by symbolic capital through which the social world is perceived. On the individual level, this may be accomplished through insults, rumors, questions, and the like. A good example of this approach is found in bell hooks’ book Talking Back (1989): “It is that act of speech, of ’talking back,’ that is no mere gesture of empty words, that is the expression of moving from object to subject—the liberated voice” (p. 9). Groups may also operate in this way by employing more political strategies.

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