Sociology - Research Paper Example

Sociology How ‘habitus’ and theories of ‘capital’ are applied in understanding inequalities in contemporary society with reference to Bourdieu Introduction The inequalities that occur in contemporary society can be explained by Pierre Bourdieu’s ‘habitus’ and theories on ‘capital’. Capital is mainly associated with economic or monetary exchange for profit, but cultural capital as postulated by Bourdieu expands the meaning of capital to include the knowledge, education, skills and advantages that provide certain groups higher status in the society (Grenfell & James 2003). Bourdieu is of the opinion that cultural capital has certain similarities with economic capital and parents will transmit attitudes and knowledge that is critical in succeeding in educational systems (Thomson 2004). From the theoretical analysis, dispositions and habits are perceived as a resource that is capable of generating ‘profits’ and are subject to monopolisation by the dominant groups in the society. However, the economic capital differs from cultural capital since legitimisation of cultural capital in the society occurs in a different manner. 1.0 Everyday situation From personal experience, the contemporary British society is characterised by social inequalities that are evident in access to education, housing, income and employment opportunities due to uneven distribution of cultural capital in the society. The educational inequality in Britain is evidenced by the differences in college admission rates, completion rates, the drop-out rates across cultures, the test scores and future attainments of the students across cultures (Crompton 2008). I believe that British patterns of dominant cultures and minority cultures have impact on the existing inequalities in the education system since the student’s background affects the education prospects. In this case, students who display higher attainment usually have more educated parents and are mainly from the dominant cultures. According to Lauder (2012), the reason could be that home-experiences support future learning in schools since students from the high class have access to more books and meaningful social conversations that will facilitate learning. It is regrettable that lack of supportive cultural background compels the students from working class or minority cultures to enter school at older age due to their poor development of vocabulary and memory skills that are essential in learning (Crompton 2008). Actually, the family structure perpetuates inequalities since marital conflicts and divorces affects the proper socialisation of children especially those from minority cultures. In this case, such children display behavioural problems, criminal-related activities and health problems due to their poor social skills development and psychological trauma associated with social exclusion in the education system. Furthermore, the inequalities in the education system have been reinforced by the existing stereotypes on minority cultures such as the Blacks and Latinos who are perceived as inferior. At the peer level, students from minority groups are expected to embrace dominant British culture thus experiencing difficulties in socialisation and participation of leisure activities (Crompton 2008). Accordingly, students from minority groups are perceived to have non-standard English and experience difficulties in learning British English that is predominantly the main mode of communication in the schools. Therefore, some students perceive discrimination and use the language barrier as an excuse to dropout of school thus widening the already existing inequalities in the school completion rates across cultures. The social class perpetuates inequalities since Indians and African Asians underperform in school because they come mainly from the working class. 2.0 Bourdieu’s sociological explanation of the situation using ‘habitus’ and theories of ‘capital’ are applicable in understanding inequalities in contemporary society Bourdieu distinguishes different forms of capital in his the forms of capital (1986) and include the economic capital, social, cultural and finally the symbolic capital. Edgerton (2004) asserts that Bourdieu’s theoretical framework is based on the prior exclusionary processes advanced by Weber and Durkheim’s theories of social classification. Thomson (2004) explains that Bourdieu is concerned with how class determines the social privilege and individual attainments in the society. Bourdieu went further to offer three types of cultural capital that include the objectified, embodied and institutionalised cultural capital (Bennett 2005). The embodied cultural capital is mainly consists of the inherited one’s self through generational transmission and conscious acquisition through family socialisation. The embodied cultural capital is transmitted through mastery of language that enables individuals from different classes in the society to acquire differing communication skills and self-representation attitudes. Another objectified cultural capital is evidenced by the owning of symbolic things such as works of art that convey certain meanings. The other subtype of cultural capital is the institutionalised cultural capital that is mainly reflected in the educational systems through recognition of the dominant classes thus allowing future conversation of the cultural capital in to economic capital that facilitates societal inequalities (Bennett 2005). From his analysis, cultural capital is institutionalised, and comprise the high status elements such as attitudes, behaviours, formal knowledge and goods that are ultimately used for social exclusion of the working class groups. Silva (2005a ) points out that the forms of capital are not universally available or evenly distributed since holders of the capital invest it and maintain its control in order to acquire other resources (p 89). It then follows that capital perpetuates social and cultural exclusion of certain individuals thus contributing to inequalities in the contemporary society. Bennett (2005) explains that the elite class holds much of the social and cultural capital and individuals from working class or those with minimal resources must work had to bridge the cultural gap since are more prone to receive low returns in fields such as education. Grenfell & James (2003) is of the idea that economic capital is acquired through control of material resources like wealth while social capital entails informal and formal networks that such as relationships, acquaintances and recognition in the society. Bourdieu highlights cultural capital that includes the knowledge, education, and skills that provide the dominant classes in the society with a higher status thus creating inequalities in the society (Bennett 2005). In this case, Bourdieu is of the idea that cultural capital is maintained and transmitted from one generation to another through knowledge and attitudes that are taught through the education system in the society. The higher status will finally create symbolic capital that is demonstrated through prestige and recognition of the dominant classes due to the resources that class of people in the society. Edgerton 2004) agrees with Bourdieu’s theory that cultural capital transcends through generations unlike economic capital accumulation that can be transferred to the working class in the society (p 197). Grenfell & James (2003) stresses that habitus influences inequality since socially constituted dispositions that are acquired at the family at early age reflect the class status of the family and subsequently determines the individual’s orientation to the world. The habitus is reflected the values and lifestyles of particular social groups and particular habitus develop from the past experiences of the different social groups. Jarvela (2011) adds that habitus entails the ideas of perceptions, thought and expressions and actions that are influenced by the socially and historically situated conditions such as class, education and taste. From this point of view, Bourdie succeeds in demonstrating that children from the rich families show much interest in reading novels and newspapers that children from poor upbringing thus are likely to have well develop language and communication skills. Furthermore, the class divisions have differing legitimate taste, and education system attaches more value to tastes associated with high-class society and thus children from those families will find it easier to succeed in their education. Edgerton (2004) supports Bourdieu theory by claiming that the society perpetuates and reproduces structured social inequalities due to transmission of the family-based endowments to the offspring (p 200). Edgerton (2004) goes further to assert that dispositions, aesthetic codes and practices that are transmitted to offspring through socialisation since the children who are exposed to the elite culture at their early age will be advantaged in their schools. According to theories of ‘capital’, the social order is progressively inscribed in the people perceptions through cultural products of the society such as judgements, values, systems of education and language that aims at disadvantaging certain groups in the society. The ‘cultural products’ like the systems of education lead to unconscious acceptance of the social hierarchies and social differences that are evident in the society (Grenfell & James 2003). According to Bourdieu, capital entails power and the capacity to control an individual’s future thus differential distribution of power within the society lead to social inequalities. The accumulation of capital will determine the individual’s future opportunities and success in life. The ‘capital, field and habitus’ work together and habitus is manifested in the judgments and social classifications that enable those with symbolic capital to determine what is legitimate in the particular field (Bennett 2005). Previous academic researchers by Annette Lareau have shown a positive parent-school relationship since the educational attainments of the parents facilitate the development of social skills and cultural capital among the students. 3.0Reflection I agree the theory offers a good explanation of how modern societies perpetuate social inequalities in education through monopolising the cultural capital since children from different class status in the education system acquire different learning experiences. I conquer with Bennett (2005) that the educational culture of many schools especially reflects the culture of the dominant classes in the society since pedagogy and syllabi is taught in a form that is familiar to the children from the dominant classes in the society. The educational institutions such as colleges fail to provide a cultural environment that reflects the cultural aspects and economic capital that is familiar to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this case, students from peasant or poor economic and cultural backgrounds face challenges in adapting to the dominant cultural aspects of the dominant classes thus leading to poor academic performance and possible dropouts (Jarvela 2011). Although the government has undertaken measures in increasing the access to education through free learning opportunities, it is evident that children from the disadvantaged backgrounds will face hurdles in adapting to the teaching methods such as language and the cultural environment thus limiting their future economic success. In my opinion, Bourdieu theories of capital clearly outlines the horizontal and vertical ranking of economic and cultural capital since vertical rankings will determined by the amount of capital held by each class in the society. I agree that the cultural volume held by different classes in the society differ since the working class has smaller volumes of capital in comparison to the higher class in the society. Furthermore, Bourdieu theories explains how horizontal rankings occur due to the composition of the capital or the value attached to each form of capital since business world and education may be valued differently across the rankings. In this case scenario, the elite class or dominant groups in British society attach high value to education since it is appreciated and perceived as the backbone of the economy and future individual success in other fields such as employment and business (Grenfell & James 2003). Bourdieu’s assertion that society appreciates ‘high-class’ or elite cultural arts such as classical music, expensive leisure activities and modern art is true since British society associates with activities with a higher self-esteem. Accordingly, these unconscious preferences for the elite cultural arts are learned at an early age and existing institutions reinforce the importance of higher-level cultural capital. For instance, education institutions require the prospective students to have well developed self-representation skills, social skills and communication skills before the admission. The ‘socially privileged’ students will have experienced better socialisation from their parents and attain higher academic accomplishments since the high cultural capital appreciates education as a pathway to future economic success of the individual (Jarvela 2011). It is evident that cultural reproduction influences the education system since dominant groups have the cultural power to determine the basis of knowledge and pedagogy in the schools through emphasising on the skills and knowledge that has already been internalised by the children from the higher-class cultures (Jarvela 2011). The higher class cultures influence the education system and are better while compared with the working class cultures and this perceived superiority makes the upper class people perceive that students from the lower class or working class cultures are to blame for their poor performance in education. The minority ethnic students are disadvantaged at schools since the dominant ethnic groups are more concerned about the education of their children and often make parental contacts with the school to determine the progress of learning. The working class culture children may be penalised because their language or grammar departs from the dominant culture or for failure to grasp certain aspects of knowledge that are embedded in the accent and tone of the teachers from the high-class cultures (Jarvela 2011). I conquer with Bourdieu that children from dominant class in Britain enter the education system while prepared to succeed since there is a continuity of the culture that exists at the family level and the school. The children from high class families mainly share common modes of grammar, speech, social interactions and aesthetic orientations with their tutors and the pedagogy is similar to what they have experienced at their family-level (Jarvela 2011). Accordingly, I believe that children from poor economic backgrounds and minority ethnic backgrounds have difficulties in speech and grammar and are more likely to feel social isolated due to the hostile cultural environment at school. Lack of the much-needed cultural capital adversely shapes the attitudes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds thus leading to negative dispositions towards academic excellence. To attain academic success, students are expected to use the capital acquired from their upbringing, immediate communities and past experiences thus students lacking this capital will demonstrate lack of confidence and social skills in their interactions with peers and teachers at school. From personal perspective, agree with Bourdieu that dominant groups in British society appropriate and monopolise both economic and cultural resources in order to maintain their dominance over the subordinate classes. The economic resources have property rights that yield future benefits in form of profits. In the same manner, the cultural capital is institutionalised in education system and definitely leads to better returns to the holders who are the dominant classes in the society. The cultural capital is transmitted along successive generations and subsequent institutional control ensures that dominant classes maintain their high positions thus creating inequalities in the society (Jarvela 2011). However, critics of Bourdieu concepts of ‘habitus’ and ‘capital’ in explaining the inequalities in the contemporary society may argue that his work ignores the rational action theory since the theory is based on socially constituted system of dispositions. Conclusion From the above analysis, Bourdieu theory of ‘capital’ and ‘habitus’ is essential in understanding the cause of inequalities in the contemporary British education system since the family background influences the school performance. The cultural capital is acquired at early stage at the family socialisation level and institutionalised at schools since students from elite class have better understanding of grammar and spelling. The inequalities have existed from one generation to the other and can be explained by cultural capital and ‘habitus’ that favors high educational performance of students from the dominant cultures. The social reproduction takes a lengthy duration of time and is irreversible since socially constituted dispositions are acquired at an early age thus determining the individual’s future orientation towards the world. Non-English speaking students especially the minority groups such as Latinos face difficulties in overcoming the language barrier since the English is the sole language of communicating and learning in most schools. . Reference list: Bennett, T. (2005). ‘The historical universal: the role of cultural value in the historical sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, British journal of sociology, Vol 56, No 1, pp 141-164. Crompton, R. (2008). Class and stratification. Cambridge: Malden. Edgerton, L.W. (2004). ‘Cultural capital or habitus, Bourdie and beyond in the explanation of enduring educational inequality’, Journal of theory and research, Vol. 12, No 2, July, pp 193-220. Grenfell, M & James, D. (2003). Bourdieu and education: acts of practical theory. London: Routledge. Jarvela, S. (2011). Social and emotional aspects of learning, Oxford: Elsevier. Lauder, H. (2012). Explaining inequalities in school achievement: a realist analysis. London: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Silva, B. (2005a). ‘Gender, home and family in cultural capital theory’, British journal of sociology, Vol 53 (1), pp 83-104. Thomson, K. (2004). Cultural capital and social exclusion survey, London: National Centre for Social research. Read More