Date: Mon, 27 Nov 1995 21:44:55 -0600 (CST)
From: Sarah Busse <busse-AT-cicero.spc.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Bourdieu and class in the US framework




On Mon, 27 Nov 1995, Marc Deneire wrote:

> The concept of class in Bourdieu needs to be complemented with that of 
> status (from a Weberian perspective). While applications of this concept 
> by Bourdieu is, no doubt, culture-specific, I see no great difficulties 
> in applying to other contexts.  The application of the concept to the US 
> and a comparison between its application in the American and French 
> contexts can be found in Michele Lamont's brilliant book "M..., Money, 
> and Manners" (sorry, I don't remember the first word of the title), a 
> book which has just been translated into French .
> 
> 
The book (which I have just been reading myself) is 
Money, Morals and Manners: The culture of the French and the American 
Upper-Middle Class.  U of Chicago Press 1990.  

I concurr: this book seems to be a very good application of Bourdieu to 
an American context.   It demonstrates what I said before on this list, 
that Bourdieu's notion of habitus based on class is good for describing even 
the American context.  

Education translates quite exactly into cultural capital in America, and 
the fact that there are social spaces in America which de-priviledge 
educational attainment and "intellectual airs" only serves to highlight 
the fact that there are other social locations in which education is 
highly priviledged.  But cultural capital is much more than education.  
There is certainly no denying the fact that the educational attainment 
and occupational status of one's parents (particularly father) play a 
large role in determining the social resources one has available, as 
studies on social mobility (or lack thereof) have frequently illustrated.