Contemporary Sociological Theory Flashcards
Who was considered the most influential theorist
Pierre bourdieu
What was Pierre ontological assumptions
A theory that structure, culture, and individual agency interact to reproduce social institutions that foster systematic social inequality
What classical thinkers work influenced Bourdieu’s work
Marx and Durkheim
What was Bourdieu’s basic concept that reproduces systems of inequality
Habitus, capital and field all lead to social reproduction
What was capital and where did Bourdieu come up with it from
Capital was a word Bourdieu got from Marx work
It was what the owning class invested into production to increase and control the production
What is habitus?
A social actors way of being in the world, an individuals way of being and existence in this world
What is field as explained by Bourdieu
The analysis of social reality with a kind of framework, but under such frame works there are different ways that cuktural narratives are expressed.
The context in which a cultural narrative is expressed differs
Arena of a social activity
Presentation and subject experience are concepts related to what
Habitus
How does presentation and subjective experience explain an individuals being in the world
For presentation, the way a persons comports their body, their physical appearance, their style of speaking and type of vocabulary they use affects who they are and their sense of being
For subjective experience, the judgements made spontaneously, their tase in music, literature, food, their way of assessing what is important over other things and their evaluation of a situation to make a decision all illustrates an individuals way of being
All of these are responsible for the reproduction of social institutions and inequality
How does habitus relate to Winthrop Kellogg’s study of chimps socialization with his son
The habitus of acting and behaving like a human is not based on an inherent ability but by the experience of implicit socialization. Winthrop’s son began to emulate the habitus of a chimp because of the implicit socialization, as he learnt and copied the mannerism of his sister chimp
The Habitus is not develop through our own personal views and choices we make, for example our music taste and mannerism are not from us but based on our experiences of reality
So habitus is learnt implicitly through socialization
What’s the relationship between habitus and class
How does the habitus expressed by the working class and the professional class differ form Marx illustaration of class differnce
According the Marx class differnce is solely seen through the existence of capital, the class that owns the means of production and the class that doesn’t
But for Bourdieu understanding class goes beyond what capital is and dives into very way an individuals habitus might differentiate him others
The habitus of the professional class is dignified, reserved and controlled, there outward appearance is so controlled that you can hardly tell what’s goin on inside
While the habitus of the working class is outwardly, fun, straightforward and open, what they portray is how they feel, don’t feel the need to control or act in a certain way
How is habitus learnt?
By implicit socialization in early childhood
Habitus begins in the very early childhood, humans ability to soak in behavior experienced and seen, implicit initializing the body compartment, style of speech, of their parents and the people surrounding them which are all in the same class background as a child leads to the development of habitus
Who studied class and parenting style differnce
Annette Lareau
How does working class parenting differ from the middle class parenting
In a working class parenting with NATURAL GROWTH, the children are usually free to make their own decisions on how they explore learning and play games.The only time a parent gets involved are in situation of bath time, feeding time, time for bed, do homework, that involves giving orders but other times, children are left to chooses and do what ever they want to do
While in CONCERTED CULTIVATION there is a systematic organization of the child time and activity, there is a lot of opportunity to practice leaning through instruction, that means from very young ages, that are already acting and behaving in based in instruction explicitly given to them, for example piano lessons, instruction on playing
Also they are given the chance to participate in family decision making not just to listen to what ever authority was given
Natural growth and concerted cultivation is a parting style common on which of the classes
Natural growth- working class
‘Middle class parenting- concerted cultivation
What was Bourdieus take on the importance of parenting style and class, did it differ from Annette’s view
According to Boudreau, the parenting style doesn’t matter, its the effect that has on the child add they mature and grow old and the way society understands or cultural narrative understands it as
For example a child whose parents gave them the chance to make decisions about what is to be had for dinner, that may manifest later in life as someone freely able to talk during presentations and board meetings. The implicit learning instilled by their parents earlier in life leads to a behavior that is evident in adulthood. So a form of social reproduction of class and habitus learnt as a child
But the way the society reads and understands that habitus also matters, to others in the office they might regard him as a extroverted, authoritative, wont listen to no one, has strong opinions and not afraid to share them kind of person, but to that person that was just a natural or almost second nature behavior they exhibit because that is what they have been exposed to
The arena of social activity is considered
The field
What are the 3 fields discussed by Bourdieu
Economy
Field of cultural production
The education system
When Bourdiue says every field has its own unspoken logic of what is acceptable or not
“The rules of the game“
What does that mean?
Schools are regarded as an equal ground, for example pubic education offers equal footing to everyone regardless of their economic background or class
But Bourdieu claims that the habitus of a child depending on the class they were raised determines the way they able seen and act in the field
Who determines a fields logic
Determined by people who are powerful in that govern fields
In a field of hospitl, education system and in a daycare who determines the field logic
Doctors and nurses over patients
Teachers and lecturers over students
Child care givers over children
What is the relationship between, the education system, class and the habitus of a child in school
For exmaple, when a child from a middle class parenting household gets to class and the teacher, most powerful within that field tells everyone to keep quiet, they can easily do that, why?
Because they are just practicing what they have already learnt implicitly by following and listening to instructions given to them by a higher authority in the field. Just like taking violin lessons and listening to instructions. While a kid from a working class would. Find it harder to do so because they are more accustomed to doing things their own way and only on particular occasion are their parents assertive enough to control them, it’ll be harder to reproduce for them
The problem is that now the cultural narrative is distorted in that the teacher now considers the student as smarter because of their ability to follow instructions. the school system glorifies the ability to follow instructions, which is not true because the middle class children have had more times to practice this and are just displaying what they are used to sine it had already been included into them through their parents while the working class child finds it harder to do since the are not used to it
When Bourdieu refers to the field as having its own unspoken logic, what does that mean?
A specific implicit way of navigating through a situation that is not visually apparent to anyone but can only be learnt by experiencing the actual nuance, subtle situation itself
How does Marx define capital and how does that contrast from Bourdieu’s
Marx defines capital as what that capitalist aims to gain and invest to acquires more means of production
But Bourdieu defines capital as although economical like Marx mentioned but also has a different form cultural capital
How does economical and cultural capital differ according to Bourdieu
Economic capital is one form of capital that is used to purchase means of production, separating people into various social hierarchies
While culturural capital is not just capital itself but your use the capital in the right way or to your advantage.
You can achieve status, intelligence, knowledge
For example, the tuition paid for college could be referred to as the economic capital, but paying for tuition alone doesn’t get you a degree, it is the studying skills, assignments, classes you take that determine the final result and degree you’ll get
Explain the application of habitus and its connection to field and capital and how it reproduces inequality using a real life example
As an international student at the U of M arriving in Canada the feeling of no matter how i dress, talk, behave or act, i still feel i am seen as different. Because the behavior i am trying to reproduce was not what i was used to or cultivated learnt from my home country. So i am not only different from the whites, but different form the blacks and even different form the same people who have the same heritage as me but grew up here
Regardless of how much money I spend on clothes, my aesthetic, manners, no matter what i do would still not make me feel like i belong to this specific class of people
When I experience situations that clearly show how differentiated i am from the group of people, I instinctively feel i am facing inequality.
For example trying to play volleyball, being the only black international student, although i have no experience and am not the only person there thats that bad but having the coach comment about the mistakes i am making, already makes me feel like i am being treated differently
According to Bourdieu, even though it may not be an explicit form of inequality that is blatantly exposed, our habitus makes us feel regardless of the capital or field we find ourselves, if it significantly differs from what we already know, we may feel we stick out like a sore thumb and therefore would not be able to belong to the class we are trying to get into compared to others already raised and reproduce the class normally
What is the interplay between habitus, field and capital
Although field has the explicit rules that states how the scenario should be played out and understood but there are implicit circumstances that determine how we need to learn to best navigate these situations.
The process of learning these nuances is through our habitus where some people already have certain advantages over others because their habitus already helped them know how to get through the field successfully and their cultural capital have already being developed to give them an advantage
So they are able to successfully practice what they have learnt through their habitus in the field
How does the public school system from Bourdieu’s perspective appear to be a field that is fair explicitly but implicitly it already gives advantage to a certain class over another
Although public schools, say everyone has an equal and fair advantage but that’s not completely true, it reproduces in equality and unfairness
The middle class children who habitus has already instilled the ability to listen to instruction and practice it through piano classes, martial arts classes and the knowledge gained and learnt (cultural capital) the tools they need to be successful are already available to them, giving them a better chance to succeed,
they are already at an advantage compared to a child who did not take classes or live in a household that instructions were given, would find it harder to obey and reproduce the instructions of the teacher
How does the interplay between habitus capital and field leads to inequality
For example when a teacher begins to distinguish this child as one being more responsible and smarter than and other student because of their ability to listen to instruction is inequality.
The teacher and school says it is meritocratic (giving advantage to children with more talent and intelligence), is implicitly categorizing the students into groups of being better over another group, failing to recognize that it is selecting for the ways of being that are common to a middle class family than a working class family
Discuss how the short video on YouTube from the series presents the relationship between capital, field and habitus
Explain with an example the circle of habitus-> field-> capital that results in reproduction of existing power relations in the society
For example system of inequality in elementary school kids
The habitus of a child being born into a middle class family, with high economic capital, the parents already begin teaching the children and investing in their future, cultural capital even before school
The parents investment into their children’s education develops their cultural capital, in way that invest in the child’s knowledge, this investment could be in form of piano lessons, learning to read before school, learning about basic maths and science before their introduction to it
This then leads to the development of their cultural capital, the child learns to read and solve mathematical equations early, the child learns to take instruction and reproduce it as they learnt
When these children then go into schools they are already better at reading, maths, taking instructions better than their mates, they therefore get better grades, and are rated seen to be better than their mates
This then leads the teacher, schools, to regard the child ad been smarter, more intelligent than their peers, this established an inter generational field position where the children of a certain class are considered to smarter or more intelligent than other children
However, according to Bourdieu this is what leads to the reproduction of existing power relations, where schools and teachers regard this child as being better than other children, their individual ability and intelligence supersedes the other children and should be considered better than the other children
BUT, this is not true, Bourdieu reaffirms that this inherent ability to be smarter is not from their brain or any special ability, it is form the fact that they already have a heard start, what is being taught to them is a reproduction of what they have already learnt, not some innate ability but they are just seem better because they already have an advantage
With the inequality of certain people already having a head start, or their habitus giving them an advantage over other persons, is social mobility still possible?
Yes, social mobility is still possible. But it would require working twice as hard
According to Bourdieu if it wasn’t possible then, everybody born poor would remain in that class they are born in and the existing social in equality would be an unavoidable obstacle that none can be able to achieve unless your habitus was a middle class origin
What is a meritocratic system
One that is selects for the most talented, smartest and best people out of others
Is social mobility possible with certain people already being at an advantage
Yes, but it would require an individual to work twice as hard in order to correct that habitus and to learn the new ways that others are already are aware of
For example although growing up and learning how to study in my home country was to cram the book and regurgitate it on the exam, pass with good scores, but coming to Canada, the way things are taught and tested are different. It would require that i learn to change the former ways that have been imbedded in me through my habitus to the new ways in order to achieve the upward mobility of getting higher grades
Although it is possible to achieve social mobility how according to Bourdieu is it still unfair
Even though it is possible but the whole system is already biased with un fairness already built in. From the previous example, if i then enter into a microbiology class where the exam and test requires i should already be aware that i need to study and read in a way that i don’t just regurgitate the answers but i apply the content taught in a meaningful way.
That is inequality where i am already expected to know something and if i do not i would fail an exam
What are the other factor of unfairness in upward mobility
Not only would the individual would have to work twice as hard
But also, they would need to correct for their own natural attitude
When Bourdieu says, an individual would have to correct for their own natural attitude,what does that mean?
When the individual then gets into the upward class they desire, they feel alienated, because they have to adapt and change their old habitus in order to fit in a place that is new to them
What is the cost of upward mobility
Unfortunately, no matter how successfully an individual maybe able to achieve this assimilation into a new habitus, it still doesn’t take away the feeling that one might not truly belong, the feeling that you do not belong there and that others may judge you for putting up a front that may not be truly you
The alienating feeling
What are some other content in Sociology 1000 that relates to Bourdieu work?
The cost of social mobility
This cuts back to Du Bois feeling of double consciousness, and black Americans being born with a veil who you are and how others may perceive you to be, you are seen as black before the you is recognized
Social inequality experienced through institutional racism, where even though the other people may not be explicitly trying to be racist but the way the organization is built and arranged, makes racism and prejudice possible
Also cuts back to Mead, to understand and develop a true sense of self we must internalize how the generalized other sees us and we change our behavior based on this
Sociological Imagination, every personal experience of an individual must be understood together with the society- C, S Mills
All these concepts are ontological assumptions made by Bourdieu which he used categories and explained this categories through education ( processes)
Cuts back to implicit socialization innate ability to learn, but what we learn is based off our immediate surrounding from birth
Permeability between class, ability to learn and work to go beyond your initial class
