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Bourdieu four states of social capital
Sociological theory in explaining social capital
Sociological theory in explaining social capital
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Social capital does a lot of good for people. It builds relationships, improves lives and increases development. Social capital should not be focused towards the big or the small guy, but instead the community as a whole. Robert Putnam’s view sides with the community asset over personal asset and that is why I side with Putnam. Robert Putnam’s theory of social capital is widely applied and not focused on prestigious groups or egocentrism like Pierre Bourdieu’s. Civic community, a major contributor to governmental effectiveness, is included in Putnam's study and discussed thoroughly, something that Coleman and Bourdieu failed to do. Bourdieu focused on social capital as a means for the powerful and wealthy to protect their place and to continue to thrive by way of group monopoly. Thus keeping the outsiders out. In a Marxist sense, he is primarily interested in the capital of capitalists. While Bourdieu saw it at one extreme, Coleman saw it at another by placing more focus on the benefits of social capital to the less wealthy. However, Coleman’s view of social capital also has its sho...
Civic engagement, overall, is on the decline according to Putnam (informal activities in particular, however, are ones that Americans, on average engage in more often). This decline applies to cities because of certain urban characteristics. The city, because of our division of labour, increases our tendency to drop out of community affairs because of busyness. Also, the city's neighbourhoods do not promote togetherness or a distinct "we" feeling because of a city's sheer population to the point that we actually come to view it as a city of strangers (too many to bother making friends with), unlike in the country where your next neighbour will likely be someone you will feel closer to because of time spent together and having no alternative option to socialize with many other people. Also, electronic entertainment (especially TV watching) gives us less incentive to socialize with our neighbours. In sum, these are just some ways his arguments apply to a city.
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835. His father, Will, was a weaver and a follower of Chartism, a popular movement of the British working class that called for the masses to vote and to run for Parliament in order to help improve conditions for workers. The exposure to such political beliefs and his family's poverty made a lasting impression on young Andrew and played a significant role in his life after his family immigrated to the United States in 1848. Andrew Carnegie amassed wealth in the steel industry after immigrating from Scotland as a boy. He came from a poor family and had little formal education.
The Forms of Capital (1986) written by Bourdieu address the concepts of cultural and social capital. From his point of view, he believes that cultural capital is something that is equipped by oneself and, as a result, reproduces economic capital. The two capitals are directly proportion to each
Written in 1889, Gospel of Wealth, is an article by Andrew Carnegie which discusses the responsibility of philanthropy by those with surplus wealth. Carnegie strongly disapproves of the phenomenon where wealth is bequeathed. Rather, he argues that the best way in distributing excess money is for public benefits. Carnegie is opposed to any display of extravagance, squandering, or greed because these create wealth inequality. Although Carnegie believes that wealth inequality is inevitable, he thinks that if the wealthy spend their surplus money cautiously, then society would be genuinely enhanced. Three modes of disposing excess wealth arise; families leaving their money to their descendants, spending on public projects, or simply administering during the lives of the wealthy themselves.
One of Bourdieu’s central arguments is that what we refer to as “capital” is actually the collective product of four sub-types of capital: economic, social, symbolic, and cultural. Although these different types of capital are distinct categories, they intersect to create the more mainstream idea of capital. Similarly, Hill Collins and Bilge break down the broad idea of power into smaller components in order to examine how power operates, and how its tied to
Andrew Carnegie believes in a system based on principles and responsibility. The system is Individualism and when everyone strives towards the same goals the system is fair and prosperous. Carnegie’s essay is his attempt to show people a way to reach an accommodation between individualism and fairness. This system can only work if everyone knows and participates in his or her responsibilities. I will discuss Carnegie’s thesis, his arguments and the possible results of his goals.
Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000
To fully understand why social, economic, and cultural capital could lead to success or failure, it is essential to know the difference between the three. Social capital is defined by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development as “the links, shared values, and understandings in society that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and to work together” (OECD, 2015). Social capital can be multiple things including family members, colleagues, and strangers who have the
Putnam, Robert (2000) Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Social Capital, Simon and Schuster, New York.
In “Ill Fares the Land,” Tony Judt argues that “the pursuit of material self-interest” has become the main ingredient in “our sense of collective purpose.” He argues that this materialism is responsible for the “growing disparities of rich and poor,” but Judt’s demonization of individualism continues as he attributes the woes of contemporary life to “materialistic and selfish quality.” Judt is correct in his argument that materialism and by proxy, individualism have undermined the fabric of the community. Although the community’s diminishing bonds are to blame; government inaction is also a contributory factor. Together, the downfall of the community, through the growing disparity of economic classes and runaway individualism, and government dysfunction and gridlock are the main contributing factors that prevent the reconciliation of economic inequality.
Cultural capital has great power through the control and maintenance of traditions, expected and accepted roles and behaviours, notably gender roles, important artefacts, language, institutions and services (Navarro, 2006). Of these, two essential contributors being educational facilities and religious institutions (Navarro, 2006). Finally, economic capital holds power through property and literal financial capital or monetary resources, this empowers individuals to have some degree of agency and autonomy (Navarro, 2006). This gives power to individuals to interact with higher classes, or form part of such, to purchase and interact with goods and services that are valued by the society and in turn receive respect and enhances social status (Navarro,
Social Darwinism and The Gospel of Wealth were two late 19th century ideas that helped shape America’s views on social, economic, and political issues. The former applied the theory of natural selection to sociology and politics while the latter outlined a way for the country’s newly minted rich to redistribute their surplus wealth to the needy. Both concepts offer insight into the 1877-1900 period in American history known as the Gilded Age.
Putnam concluded that the communities with "higher diversity" also experienced "lower social capital" (Jonas,18). Putnam explains that the more diverse a community is the less trusting and involved are its members. This distrust in people is rooted in the concentration on the idea that has been repeated since childhood that focused on what makes people different. Jonas makes the point that in Putnam’s study the seemed to be no connection between distrust
The pivotal second chapter of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, "Of the Principle which gives occasion to the Division of Labour," opens with the oft-cited claim that the foundation of modern political economy is the human "propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another."1 This formulation plays both an analytical and normative role. It offers an anthropological microfoundation for Smith's understanding of how modern commercial societies function as social organizations, which, in turn, provide a venue for the expression and operation of these human proclivities. Together with the equally famous concept of the invisible hand, this sentence defines the central axis of a new science of political economy designed to come to terms with the emergence of a novel object of investigation: economic production and exchange as a distinct, separate, independent sphere of human action. Moreover, it is this domain, the source of wealth, which had become the main organizational principle of modern societies, displacing the once-ascendant positions of theology, morality, and political philosophy.
Often, when we consider equal opportunity we tend to focus on the economic aspect of the problem. We gravitate towards the argument that an equal playing field simply means giving everyone a fair chance at the same things. Lost in this conversation, though, is the fact that most of these back and forths involve some type of allocation of money between the oppressed and the privilege that would seem to lessen the gap between socioeconomic groups. In many cases, an influx of capital can solve as a quick fix to the problem at hand, but many times this fails to account for the real roots of the issues with which we find ourselves face to face with. Pierre Bourdieu proposes that there are actually 3 types of capital that all people are endowed with: economic, cultural, and social. Although they are not as easily recognizable, (or maybe don’t receive the attention that they deserve) cultural and social capitals play major roles in