Identity capital: an application from a longitudinal ethnographic study of self-construction during the years of school

Abstract

This article contributes to ongoing discussion of the Bourdieusian concept of cultural capital and current attempts to elaborate this concept and its derivatives. The paper identifies 'identity capital', the capacity to create a narrative of social and self-awareness by constructing a flexible sense of self. This concept explains findings from a longitudinal ethnography with nine children and young people over a 13-year period from pre-school to the age of 17. Analysis of the data shows that this particular capacity is developed through certain kinds of privileged discourses and the opportunities provided within socially advantaged schools and families. Two case studies are selected to reveal how identity capital interacts with other identifiable forms of capital that compound and entrench each other. The paper concludes by arguing that deficiencies in identity capital could be addressed within schooling in order to support the creation of this important resource. IntroductionIdentity capital is the advantage gained through the reflexive capacity to articulate a narrative of self. This paper will demonstrate how this form of capital is developed through certain kinds of privileged discourses and through the opportunities provided within socially advantaged families and schools. It presents a further development of recent theoretical and empirically based research that has aimed to elaborate Bourdieusian theories of capital and ground them in real-world applications. In particular, the paper shows how identity capital operates in tandem with other forms of capital to entrench multiple social advantages during the course of childhood and adolescence. It also reveals the corollary of this social process: a compounding of multiple social disadvantages.

4. Understandings of the Natural World from a Generational Perspective

“…(This is notwithstanding the fact that all choice is adaptive to the extent that contextual framing is a given, as discussed well in the context of widening participation by , for instance.) It is also based on a number of suppositions about identity and narrativity, particularly work around the notion of identity capital and articulating a narrative of the self (Warin, 2015).…”

“…Finally, increased access to diverse narratives of educational progression may also function as a means through which young pupils may be able to develop identity capital (Warin, 2015). Warin demonstrates how particular kinds of discourses and the opportunities made available in privileged families foster the construction of a personal sense of self.…”

Resilience Programmes and their Place in Education, a Critical Review with Reference to Interventions in Wolverhampton

“…To some extent, it could be argued that this particular intervention enabled some participants to develop "identity capital" Cote (1996), Warin (2013). Where this is seen as the ability of individual's to reflect on who they are.…”

“…Where this is seen as the ability of individual's to reflect on who they are. Warin (2013)notes that developing the capacity to self reflect is fundamental to accessing social capital in intellectually privileged arenas. She contrasts two subjects in particular in her study: a relatively privileged individual from a middle class background, Martin and Liam, an individual from a poor, white, working class background contrasting their access to forms of capital and relationships.…”

“…Looking at the Wolverhampton interventions in the light of capability theory should give insights into whether they are capability enhancing (does increasing resilient behaviours lead to the conversion of capability into functioning) or at least, do no harm in this regard. A further second lens for appraisal is the construct of identity capital after Cote (1996) which is the idea that alongside actual capital assets in a child's life, the social capital, (family, friends and community which Ungar outlines as essential for resilience) there is identity capital which is about the construction of self; important according to Warin (2013) for the successful negotiation of schooling towards a positive outcome. She argues that those from less deprived more advantaged backgrounds will have more successful outcomes due to an articulated narrative of self that sets out a life course or aspirational set of values that drives positive engagement with school.…”