Prof. Tony Bennett, ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-cultural Change, Open University

In one of the most influential theories of post-World-War II sociology, Pierre Bourdieu argued that cultural capital plays a key role in the organisation of contemporary forms of social inequality. Defining cultural capital as an asset that the children of middle-class parents derive from their familiarity with officially validated and canonised forms of high culture (the theatre, literature, art, etc), Bourdieu argued that class inequalities are reproduced through a circuit in which cultural advantages acquired in the home are translated into success in the education system, which in turn results in high occupational class position and a disproportionate involvement in high culture. This workshop will summarise the key findings of a major ESRC inquiry – Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion – into the role of cultural capital in organising inequalities in contemporary Britain, and their implications for questions of cultural access.
 

To find out more about the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion project at the Open University, visit http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/cultural-capital-and-social-exclusion/project-summary.php