Bourdieu Forms of Capital
Bourdieu, a very interesting, knowledgeable and smart social theorist,
caught my attention right away just after reading about some of his works. The
one work that stood out to me the most was Bourdieu’s knowledge on “Forms of
Capital”. The reason that it stood out to me the most was because of how this
generation has become and how his information on “Forms of Capital” relates a
lot to our society today. In“Forms of Capital” Bourdieu defines Capital as
“accumulated labor (in its materialized form or its ‘incorporated’ embodied form
(which, when appropriated on private, i.e., exclusive, basis by agents or groups
of agents, enabled them to appropriate social energy in the form of reified or
living labor” (Bourdieu, 241).The 3 forms of capital that Bourdieu talks about
are Economic Capital, Cultural Capital and Social Capital. The
one Capital that I was most interested in and can relate it the most to our
society today is Social Capital, which is why I will be focusing on Social
Capital.
First off, what is Social Capital? From the word “Social” itself, you get
an idea that it has to do
with some type of socialization or network, at least that’s what I thought right
away. Bourdieu defines Social
Capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked
to possession of a durable network of more or less instituanlized relationships
of mutual acquaintance or recognition”(Bourdieu, 248). The first thing that came
to my mind was “Facebook” and“twitter”. Yes, networking and socializing through
networks like Facebook and twitter has become a huge part in people’s lives in
this day and age, which is why I can relate Bourdieu’s intake on Social Capital
to it.
Let me start off with talking about
Facebook. Facebook has become one of the biggest network sites worldwide in the
last 5-7 years. When it first came out, people were going crazy over it. I
remember when I first got my account; I was the most excited 17 year old
teenager. What is really interesting and mind blogging about Facebook is the
people you connect with on it, the friends that you haven’t seen for years but
end up knowing their whole life just by hitting the“add” or “accept” button on
Facebook, the family members that live far away and never met but end up
connecting and knowing everything about them just because of this network site.
Bourdieu talks about how “Social
capital must be consecrated…recognized as a true form of capital…which is done
through the symbolic constitution produced by social institution (formalized
nobility title or title of relationship—think marriage)…which encourages and
presupposes and produces mutual knowledge and recognition” (Zopf Notes, 2). I
feel strongly about this because of the “title of relationship” button that
Facebook offers. For example, I found out that one of my friends, that I was
close with years back, was engaged through Facebook. I woke up a Saturday
morning and seen that she changed her relationship status from “single” to
“engaged”. This is only one example because we find out the title of peoples
relationships daily whether they are married, engaged or single just through
this network site called “Facebook”.
Another network connection that has become one of the most popular
network sites in the last couple years is“Twitter”. I believe it is the most
popular, worldwide and phenomenal network site today. Twitter is very popular
because it is a network site where you can connect with people, voice your
opinion, post pictures/videos, and read about the news and what is going on in
the world all at once. A site like this is popular because you follow and
connect with people whether they are your family members, friends and
celebrities. However, twitter is
more popular because you can follow and connect with people that you either
never met, will never meet or live thousands of miles away. However, even if you
never met or will never meet the person you follow, you still have that twitter
connection with them and follow what they do daily. It’s a network site that
connects you with millions of people daily, knowing that you may never meet
them, but still have that twitter connection with them and feel like you know
them very well.
As I said before, Bourdieu’s knowledge and intake on “Forms of Capital”
and his knowledge on “Social Capital” stood out to me because of the two things
that came to my mind right away, “Facebook” and “Twitter”. When you think about
it deeply, it’s crazy how networking has become lately.
Bourdieu, a very interesting, knowledgeable and smart social theorist,
caught my attention right away just after reading about some of his works. The
one work that stood out to me the most was Bourdieu’s knowledge on “Forms of
Capital”. The reason that it stood out to me the most was because of how this
generation has become and how his information on “Forms of Capital” relates a
lot to our society today. In“Forms of Capital” Bourdieu defines Capital as
“accumulated labor (in its materialized form or its ‘incorporated’ embodied form
(which, when appropriated on private, i.e., exclusive, basis by agents or groups
of agents, enabled them to appropriate social energy in the form of reified or
living labor” (Bourdieu, 241).The 3 forms of capital that Bourdieu talks about
are Economic Capital, Cultural Capital and Social Capital. The
one Capital that I was most interested in and can relate it the most to our
society today is Social Capital, which is why I will be focusing on Social
Capital.
First off, what is Social Capital? From the word “Social” itself, you get
an idea that it has to do
with some type of socialization or network, at least that’s what I thought right
away. Bourdieu defines Social
Capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked
to possession of a durable network of more or less instituanlized relationships
of mutual acquaintance or recognition”(Bourdieu, 248). The first thing that came
to my mind was “Facebook” and“twitter”. Yes, networking and socializing through
networks like Facebook and twitter has become a huge part in people’s lives in
this day and age, which is why I can relate Bourdieu’s intake on Social Capital
to it.
Let me start off with talking about
Facebook. Facebook has become one of the biggest network sites worldwide in the
last 5-7 years. When it first came out, people were going crazy over it. I
remember when I first got my account; I was the most excited 17 year old
teenager. What is really interesting and mind blogging about Facebook is the
people you connect with on it, the friends that you haven’t seen for years but
end up knowing their whole life just by hitting the“add” or “accept” button on
Facebook, the family members that live far away and never met but end up
connecting and knowing everything about them just because of this network site.
Bourdieu talks about how “Social
capital must be consecrated…recognized as a true form of capital…which is done
through the symbolic constitution produced by social institution (formalized
nobility title or title of relationship—think marriage)…which encourages and
presupposes and produces mutual knowledge and recognition” (Zopf Notes, 2). I
feel strongly about this because of the “title of relationship” button that
Facebook offers. For example, I found out that one of my friends, that I was
close with years back, was engaged through Facebook. I woke up a Saturday
morning and seen that she changed her relationship status from “single” to
“engaged”. This is only one example because we find out the title of peoples
relationships daily whether they are married, engaged or single just through
this network site called “Facebook”.
Another network connection that has become one of the most popular
network sites in the last couple years is“Twitter”. I believe it is the most
popular, worldwide and phenomenal network site today. Twitter is very popular
because it is a network site where you can connect with people, voice your
opinion, post pictures/videos, and read about the news and what is going on in
the world all at once. A site like this is popular because you follow and
connect with people whether they are your family members, friends and
celebrities. However, twitter is
more popular because you can follow and connect with people that you either
never met, will never meet or live thousands of miles away. However, even if you
never met or will never meet the person you follow, you still have that twitter
connection with them and follow what they do daily. It’s a network site that
connects you with millions of people daily, knowing that you may never meet
them, but still have that twitter connection with them and feel like you know
them very well.
As I said before, Bourdieu’s knowledge and intake on “Forms of Capital”
and his knowledge on “Social Capital” stood out to me because of the two things
that came to my mind right away, “Facebook” and “Twitter”. When you think about
it deeply, it’s crazy how networking has become lately.