Cultural Capital

From Metapedia

A term introduced by Pierre Bourdieu to explain the economic, social and political value of certain kinds of class-based knowledge unaccounted for in other models of capital and value. Cultural capital is maintained and circulated by those who own it, and often defines the higher social classes by its access to "high" cultural goods like fine art, museums, theatre, and university education. Cultural capital circulates and is fungible (exchangeable, that is, can be "cashed in" through social connections and specialized cultural knowledge, resulting in higher incomes or returns on knowledge investments) for other forms of capital.

In Bourdieu's model, cultural capital can be viewed as three distinct forms: embodied, objectified and institutionalized. Embodied cultural capital is an individual's wealth and knowledge as formed by the sum of his or her life experience, schooling, upbringing, training, etc. For example, at one point in time, a woman who could cook a good meal was considered to posess important cultural capital. That is, this skill was once an essential factor in the social exchange of finding a husband and subsequently moving up in society. Objectified cultural capital is represented by the tangible "cultural goods" (art, music, books, etc.) that a person owns. This form of cultural capital can be exchanged for economic capital, as well as serve as a symbolic representation of the "culture" a person possesses. Institutionalized cultural capital takes the form of qualifications, titles, etc., which are designated as significant by a particular culture. Titles and qualifications may be exchanged or used to gain economic capital given certain situations. For example, obtaining a title may result in a higher income or access to higher networks of social influence.