Bordieu Theory Of Social Class

Social class is “a division of a society based on social and economic status” (Oxforddictionaries.com). Social class is a multi-dimensional concept, although it is usually categorised by economic wellbeing, there are many more factors that aid the classification of social class. For example, education and upbringing and earning abilities. A class position signifies the access towards privilege and thus determines an individual’s opportunities and choices.
Karl Marx, a famous sociologist discusses how society emerged from a primitive state, as class marked a change between feudal and modern systems and more specifically that class has sprouted from the ruins of a feudal society. He suggested that social class is a direct result of the antagonism caused by the movement of capitalism. He based his conflict theory on the fact that there are only two classes of people the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The

Bordieu refers to these spheres as fields in his work. He talks about how individuals can capitalize their wealth and resources in certain fields to attain power or other valuable resources such as educational qualifications. Bordieu’s theory contains four types of capital; economic, cultural, symbolic and social. All of these are important in determining an individual’s ‘taste’ which can establish a person’s social class. Opportunities and privileges open up to individuals within a field depending on how much capital they have, it depends which field they choose to invest in because certain can provide educational advantages. Certain groups of people tend so secure their status within a social hierarchy by investing in culture capital by paying to send their children to private school, which gives an educational advantage. This is to maintain their status and economic position from generation to