Distinctions in the making: A theoretical discussion of youth and cultural capital

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to address the dynamics of contemporary cultural capital by interrogating what counts for young people as valuable cultural resources. Considerable support is given in later scholarship for Bourdieu's model of the social space, as the overall volume of economic and cultural capital combined is regularly found to be the most important axis of opposition, just as in Bourdieu's work Distinction. Yet, while Bourdieu found the second axis to be structured by an opposition between those with cultural rather than economic capital, and vice versa, many later studies instead find oppositions between the young and the old to structure the second axis. Up till now, this finding has not been adequately addressed. In this paper, we hold that considering age-related inequalities offers a powerful way of interpreting recent developments in order to understand the changing stakes of cultural capital, and also their interaction with the intensification of inequalities in economic capital. After a theoretical clarification of the relationship between cultural capital and youth, we will synthesise research on young people and explore the significance of youthful cultural consumption. We will pragmatically focus on the 15-30 years old and put a particular accent on Norwegian studies in our review, as they are the most sophisticated in this genre. Four areas are explored: the restricted role of classical culture; the appeal of popular

First-generation scholar in Indonesian indigenous family tribe: economic, social, and cultural capital

“…Bounding social is emotional support and resources while bridging social capital is in the form of information that can support the educational process [78]. Therefore, the low social and cultural capital in family is related to the parent's education level [79] and family economic capital [80]. Students whose parents are highly educated will have more information about lectures, lecture materials, and other things that support academic achievement.…”

A Theoretical Discussion of Changes in Youth Cultural Consumption

“…The theory of cultural capital has been developed in the history canon. Bourdieu asserts that the notion of cultural capital necessitates the continual revision and redefinition of its constituents to ensure its continued efficacy despite instances of 'misrecognition' [8]. It is argued that the existence of cultural capital is always associated with a field [15] in which agents compete relationally for strategic advantage and position.…”

“…Although economics serves primarily as a foil in Bourdieu's work, he has consistently argued that cultural capital must be understood in relation to economic capital [8]. Savage [21] also suggests that we need to understand better how shifting economic capital dynamics affect the organization of cultural capital.…”

“…However, some researches have put this aspect into consideration recently. Notably, Prieur and others [8] argued that Bourdieu's model of social space, which is the secondary antagonism he identified between individuals primarily possessing cultural capital and those primarily possessing economic capital (referred to as 'capital composition') is frequently complicated by age. Empirical evidence could be found in the studies of Bennett and his colleagues [9], or by Savage and his colleagues.…”

Legitimating taste in cultural fields: Generational classifications and symbolic struggles in representations of ‘natural’ wine

“…However, in studies on cultural capital and taste, generational dynamics have been largely ignored (cf. Prieur et al, 2023). This particularly goes for research on the field of wine.…”