,

The social world is and

if it is not to be reduced to a
series of instantaneous mechanical cqUl.hbna
between agents who 3TC treated .as inter-
changeable particles, must
into it the notion of capital and. It, accu-
Illulation and all its effects.
lared labor (in its materialized or t.O;;
'incorpornt.cd,' embodied whe."
appropriated on a private, I.C., exclUSIve, basIs
by agents or groups of age.nts, enables
appropriate social energy In the form.of
or li vi ng labor. It vis.insita, a
in objective or sublcctl.vc It IS
also a lex insita, the prmt-1plc u',lderlymg
immanent regularities of the world. It IS
what makes the games of least,
the economic game-somethmg other than
si mple games at
moment the poSSibility of a miracle.
which holds out the opporrunity of a
lot of money in a short space of and
therefore of changing on.c's s?Clal
quasi-instamaneously,:md III which the wm-
ning of the previous Spill of be
staked and lost at every new spm, a fairly
accurate image of this imaginary umve.rse of
perfect competition e.qual!ty of
opportunity, a world wuhout I.nerna,
accumulat ion, without heredity or aC9U1red
properties, in which cvery IS per-
fectly independent oCthe onc, every
soldier has a marshal's baton I!"I his k.napsack,
and every prize can be attamed, mstanta-
neously, by everyone, so at mOfll:cnt
anyone can become anythmg:. Capital, which,
in its objectified or forms, tak.es
time to accumulate and whi ch, as a potential
2
The Forms of Capital
Pierre Bourdieu
capacit y to produce profits and to
itselfin idemical or expanded f?rm, a
to persist in its IS a force
inscribed in the objectiv!ty or thmlf:' so
everything is not equally posslbl.e
ble.! And the structure of the dlstTlbu.t1on of
the differem types and subtypes of capI.tal at a
given moment in time !he Imma-
nent structure ofthe SOCial world, I.e., set
of constraints, inscribed in the very rc.abty of
that world, which govern its r uncl10mng m a
durable way, determining the chances of suc-
cess for practices.
It is in fact impossible to accoun.t for the
structure and functioning o.f th.c socI.al world
unless one reintroduces capital m forms
and not solely in the one forn:'- rccogmzcd by
et."onomic theory. Econ?mlc has
allowed to be foisted upon.lt a of!he
economy of practices which IS the
invention of capitalism; and by the
universe of exchanges to
which is objcctively and onentcd
toward the maximization of profit, .l.e.,
nomical1y) sell'lnteresud, it has Imphcltly
defined the olher fonns of. exchange as
noneconomic, and dmnuresud. In
particular, it defines .as dlstnterested those
forms of exchange which ensure transub-
stantiation whereby the most of
capital- those which are economIc m
restricted sense-----cl n present themscl.ves III
the immaterial form of cultural capI!al or
social capital and vit-'C III the
restricted sense it is givcn m economic
cannot be produced without producmg It'>
negative counterpart, -:r
he
class of practices whose explicil purpose IS to
IUltximize monetary profit cannot be defined
IN such wil hout producing the purposeless
Iinnlil Y of cultural or artistic practices and
theiT products; the world of bourgeois man,
with his double..-entry accounting, cannot be
Invented without producing the pure, perfcct
universe of the artist and the intellectual and
the gratuitous activities of art-for-art's sake
and pure theory. In other words, the constitu-
tion of a science of mercantile relationships
.. hi ch, inasmuch :is it takes for granted the
very foundations of the order it claims to ana-
IY7.c-private property, profit, wage labor,
IIc.- is not even a science of the field of ec0-
nomic production, has prevented the consti-
tulion of a general science of the economy of
practices, which would treat mercantile
Ilchange as a particular case of exchange in all
ItII forms.
II is remarkable that the practices and assets
.us salvaged from the 'icy water of egotistical
IIkulation' (and from science) arc the virtual
IIIonopoly of the dominant class-as if
IOOnomism had been able to reduce every-
tlUng to economics only because the reduction
on which that discipline is based protects from
.:rilegious reduction everything which
MCds to be protected. If economics deals only
"hh practices that have narrowly economic
Il1erest as their principle and only with goods
dllt are directly and immediately convertible
Inlo money (which makes them quantifiable),
Ihc:n the universe of bourgeois production and
.. change becomes an exception and can sec
hIclf and present itself as a realm of disi nter-
. ,edness. As everyone knows, priceless
lhings have their price, and the extreme diffi-
tully of converting certain practices and cer-
.un objects into money is only due to the fact
dill this conversion is refused in the very
Intention that produces them, which is noth-
lilt other than the denial (Venleinung) of the
.momy. A general science of the t-'COnomy of
.-ctices, capable of reappropriating the
lltali ty of the practices which, although
abjectively economic, are not and cannot be
lO(.;ally recognized as economic, and which
be performed only at the cost of a whole
IIbor of dissimulation or, more precisely,
tl4phemiza/ioll, must endeavor to grasp capital
111(\ profit in all their forms and to t-'Stablish the
IMws whereby [he difTerentt ypes of capital (or
f}owcr, which :lIllOUI1I S 10 Ihe same thing)
ch:lllge ill 10 olle :11101 her. j
f)cpellding 011 Ihe licl l l in which it func
The Forms ofCapftal 47
(ions, and at the cost of the more or less expen-
sive transformations which are the precondi-
tion for its efficacy in the field in question,
capilal can present itselfin three fundamental
guises: as ewnomic capital, which is immedi-
ately and directl y convertible into money and
may be institutionalized in the form of prop--
erty rights; as cultural capi/al, which is con-
vertible, on certain conditions, into economic
capital and may be institutionalized in the
form of educational qualifications; and as
social capital, made up of social obligations
('conm:ctions'), which is convertible, in cer-
tain conditions, into economic capital and
may be institutionalized in the form of a tideof
nobility.)
Cuttural Capital
Cultural capi tal can exist in three forms: in the
embodied state, i.e., in the form oflong-lasting
dispositions of the mind and body; in the
objecrijieJ state, in the form of cultural goods
(pictures, books, dictionaries, instruments,
machines, etc.), which are the trace or realiza-
tion of theories or critiques of these theories,
problematics, etc.; and in the Institutionaliud
state, a form of objectification which must be
set apart because, as will be seen in the case of
cducational qualifications, it confcrs entirely
original properties on the cultural capital
which it is presumed to guarantee.
The reader should not be misled by the
somewhat peremptory air which the effort atl
axiomization may give to my The
notion of cultural capital initially presented
itself to me, in the course of research, as a the-
oretical hypothesis which made it possible to
explain the unequal scholastic achievement of
children originating from the different social
classes by relating academic success, i.e., the
specific profits which children from the dif-
ferent classes and class fractions can obtain in
the academic market, to the distribution of
cultural capital between the classes and class
fractions. This starting point implies a break
with the presuppositions inherent both in the
commonsense view, which seesacademicsuc-
cess or failure as an effect of namral aptitudes,
<lnd in human capital theories. Economists
mighl st-"Cm to deserve credit for expl icitly
rai sing Ihe qUI..'Stion of the relationship
hct\\ cell Ihl! rat es of pmfit Oil ctluc:lIinnal
_ t The Fonns of CaiMtal
./
investment and on economic investment (and
its evolution). But their measurement of the
yield from scholastic investment takes
account only of mOllelary investments and
profits, or those directl y conve.rtible into
money, such as the costs ofschoohng and the
cash equivalent of time dc\'oted to smdy; they
are unable to explain t he different proportions
of their resources which difTercnt agents or
difTerent social classes allocatc 10 economic
in vestment and cult ural investment because
they fail 10 take systematic account of the
structure of the differential chanct."S of profit
which the various markets ofTer these agents
or classes as a function of the volume and the
composition of their assets (see c.<;p. I3ceker
1964b). FunhemlOre, because they neglect to
relate scholastic investment stT:llegit."S to the
whole set of edul';lt ional strategi c. .. and 1"0 the
system of reproduction strategies, they
inevitably, by a nccessary paradox, let slip thc
bt."St hidden and sociall y most determinant
educational investment, namely, thc domestic
transmission of cuhur.ll capital. Their studies
of the relationship between academic ability
and academic investment show that they arc
unaware that ability or talent is itsclfthe prod-
uct of an invcstment of timc and cultural cap-
ital (Becker 196411: 63-6). Not surprisingly,
when endeavoring to evaluatc the profits of
scholastic inVc. ...tnlent, they can only consider
the profitability of educational expenditure
for society as a whole, the 'social rate of
return,' or the 'social gai n of education as mea-
sured by its effects on nat ional productivity'
(Beckcr 19Mb: 121, 155). This typically func-
tionalist definition of the functions of educa-
tion ignorcs the contribution which the
educational system makes to the reproduction
of the social structure by sanctioning the
hercditary transmission of cultural capital.
From the vcry beginning, a defi nition of
human capital, despite its humanistic con!",o-
tations, docs not move beyond economlsm
and ignores, inter alia, the fact lhal the
\$holastic yield, from educational action
depends on the cultural capital previously
invested by the family. Moreovcr, the t.'CO-
nomic and social yield of the educational qual-
ification depends on the social capit.al, again
inhcrited, which can be used to back It up.
THE EMBODIED STATE
Most of the properties of cultural capital can
be deduced from thc fact that, in its funda-
mental state, it is linked to the body and pre-
supposes embodiment. The accumulation of
cultural capital in the embodied state, i.e., in
the form of what is called culture, cultivation,
Bildung, presupposes a process of embodi-
ment, incorporation, which, insofar as it
implies a laborofinculcation and assimilation,
costs time, time which must be invested per-
S()fially by the investor. Like the acquisition of
a muscular physique or a suntan, it cannot be
donc at second hand (so that all effects of del -
egation are ruled out).
The work of acquisition is work on oneself
(self-improvement), an efTort that presup-
poses a personal cost (on pait de sa pers()nnt, as
we say in French), an investment, above all of
time, but also of that socially constituted fonn
of libido, libido sciendi, with all the privation,
renunciation, and sacrifice that it may entail.
It follows tnat the least inexact of all the mea-
surements of cultural capital are those which
take as their standard the length of acquisi-
tion-so long, of course, as this is not reduced
to lengt h of schooli ng and allowance is made
for early domcsticeducation by giving it a pos-
itive value (a gain in timc, a head start) or a
negati ve value (wastcd time, and doubly so
because more time must be spent correcting
its effects), according to its di stance from the
demands oftnc scholastic market. $
This embodied capital, external wealth
converted into an intcgral part of the person,
into a habitus, cannot be transmitted instanta-
neously (unlike money, property rights, or
even titles of nobility) by gift or bequest, pur-
chasc or exchange. It follows that the use or
exploitation of cultural capital presents .par-
ticular problems for the holders of economic
or political capital, whether they be pri\'ate
patrons or, at the other extreme, entrepre-
neurs employing executives endowed with a
specific cultural competence (not to mention
the new state patrons). How can this capital,
so closely linked to the person, be bought
without buying the person and so losing the
very effect oflegitimation which presupposes
thc dissimulation of dependence? How can
this capital be concentrated-as some under-
takings demand-without concentrating the
possessors of the capital, which can have all
sorts of unwanted consequens?
Cultural capital can be acquired, to a vary-
ing extent, depending on the period, the soci-
ety, and the social class, in the absencc of any
deliberate inculcation, and lhcrefore quit e
It always remains marked by
It_ 4'lIdie ...t conditions of acquisition which,
Ihnllllolh Ihe more or less visible marks they
I.vt (lluch as t he pronunciations characteris-
U"lll d.lss or region), help to determine its
tllllljlh.; tive value. It cannot be accumulated
""'1II1l1 the appropriating capacities of an
tltdl\IdU31 agent; it declines and dies with its
.... rtr(with his biological capacity, his mem-
en. t iC.). Because it is thus linked in numer-
.. to the person in his biological
"lllTit y and is subject toa hereditary trans-
"'011 which is always hcavily disgui sed, or
e
1I1visible, it defies the old, deep-rooted
lnuion the Greek jurists made between
IIted properties (ta patroa) and acquired
tfgprrt ics (tpiA-ltta), i.e. , those which an indi-
...... 111 to his heritage. It thus manages to
_blue Ihe prestige of innate property with
.. Illerits of acquisition. Because the social
.... "ltiol1s of its transmission and acquisition
.... nlllre disguised than those of economic
.'111, it is predisposed to function as sym-
Wklllpital, i.e., to be unrecognized as capital
MIl rccognil'..cd as legitimate competence, as
IIIIhHrity exerting an effect of (mis)rccogni-
Nlln. c.g., in the matrimonial market and in all
lhe markets in which economic capital is not
Alii\" recognized, whether in matters of cul-
with the great art collections or great cul-
... lluundations,or in social welfare, with the
.-n1)lllY of generosity and the gift. Further-
"c, the specificall y symbolic logic of dis-
....... lIn additionally secures material and
trmholic profits for the possessors of a large
lIi1l11'I11 capital: any given cultural compe-
"'III.' (c. g., bcingable to rcad in a world ofillit-
Wlte ...) derives a scarcity value from its
I*uion in the distribution of cultural capital
.... 1 ) ields profits of distinction for its owner.
I, I)t her words, the share in profits which
.n:c cult ural capital secures in c1ass-divided
.let ies is based, in the last analysis, on the
"'1 that all agents do not have the economic
-' cultural means for prolonging their chil-
*,n 's cduc.1tion beyond the minimum neces-
.y lor the reproduction of the labor-power
.... t \,alori"..cd at a given
rhus the C"Jpital, in the sense of the means
IIf the product of accumulated
lah()r in Ihe objecrifit.'tl state which is held bY:l
depends for its real efficacy nn the
rllrm of 1 rihllt ion of the me:lIlS nfappl"O
]llmtin)\: the :U;Clllllltl:lIetl 1111(1 nhicctivcl y
I,,"ililhle :lIld the ,cI:lti,,,,.; hlll III
The Fonns of Capttal \.J
appropri ation between an agent and the
resources objectively available, and hence the
profits they produce, is mediated by the rela-
tionship of( objective and/or subj ective) com-
petition between himself and the othcr
possessors of capital competing for the same
goods, in which scarcity-and through it
social value-is generated. The Structure of
the field, i.e., the unequal distribution of cap-
ital, is the source of the specific effects of cap-
ital, i.e., t.he appropriation of profits and the
power to impose the laws offunctioningofthe
field most favourable [Q capital and its repro-
duction.
But the most powcrful principle of the
symbolic efficacy of cultural capital no doubt
lies in the logic of its transmission. On the one
hand, the process of appropriating objectified
cultural capital and the time necessary for it to
take place mainly depend on the cultural cap-
ital embodied in the whole family- through
(among other things) the generalized Arrow
effect and all forms of implicit transmission.'
On the other hand, the initial accumul ation of
cultural capital, the precondition for the fast,
easy aecumulation of every kind of useful cul-
tural capital, starts at the outset, without
delay, without wasted time, only for the off-
spring of families endowed with strong cul-
tural capital; in this case, the accumulation
period covers the whole period of socializa-
tion. It follows that the transmission of cul-
tural capital is no doubt the best hidden form
of hereditary transmission of capital, and it
thercfore recei\'es proportionately grcate)
weight in the systcm of reproduction strate
gies, as the dirt.oct, visible forms of transmis-
sion tend to be more strongly censored and
controll ed.
It can immediately be seen that thc link
between economic and cultural capi tal is
establi shed through the mediation of the time
needed for acquisition. Differences in the cul-
turalcapital possessed by the family implydif-
ferences first in the age at which the work of
transmission and accumulation begins-the
limiting case being full use of the time biolog-
icall y available, with the maximum free time
being harnessed to maximum cultural capi-
tal- and then in the capacity, thus defined, to
satisfy the specifically cultural demands of a
prolonged process of acquisition. Further-
more, and in correlation with this, the length
of" time t()r which a givcn individual can pro-
hi s aC(luisition proct.ss depends on the
The Forms of Capital ( so
1..../
lcnb
rth
of time for y can provide
him with the frt:c tIme, I.C., tlme free
economic ncct:ssiI Y, whi.ch is
for thcinitial accumulation (tIme whIch can be
eval uated as a handi cap to be made up).
TIIEOUJt:crWII:.DSTATE .
Cuhural capital, in thc objectifIed statc, has a
number of properties which are yn.ly
in the relationship with cull ural c:'Pl tal
embodied form. Thc cultural obJecti-
fied in mderial objl.:clS and ml.:dla, s.uch as
writings, paintings, .
ment:s, etc., is transml5.<;lblc In Its matcna!tty.
period of embodiment needed to acquire
means of appropriating it), so the
strength of the holders of cultural capItal
would tend to increase-if the of. the
dominant type of capital (economIc C:lpltal)
were not able to set the holders of cultural
capital in competition with one
(They arc moreover, inclined to competition
by the conditions in which they
selected and trained, in particular by logiC
of scholastic and recruitment competluons.)
Culmral capital in its objectified Slate pre-
sents itself with all the of. an
autonomous, coherent . WhiCh,
although the product of hi s ton cal action, .has
its own laws, transcending individual Wills,
and which, as the of well
illustratl.'S, therefore remallls irreducible to
that which each agent, oreven the aggregate of
the agents, can appropriate (i. e., to the cu.l-
tural capital embodied in each agent or
the aggregate of the It
should not be forgouell that It eXists. as
bolically and materially ac!ive,.effecuve capI-
tal onl y insofar as it is appropriated hy agents
and implemented and invl,'iltc:d as a wt;apon
and a stake in the struggles whIch so. 0':1 III the
fields of cultural production (the artistIc
the scientific field, etc.) and, beyond them,
the field of the social c1asscs-struggles
which the agenlS wield strengths and obt;;1I1.n
profits proportionatc to their mastery of thIS
objectified capital, and therefore to the extent
oftheir embodied capita!.'
A collL-ction of paintings, for be
transmitted as well as economIc capItal (If
bl.:tter, because the capital IS diS-
guised). Out what is Iransnllsslblc. IS legal
ownership and not (ur nOI nl.:cessanl y)
constitutes the prcr.:ondition specific
appropriat ion, namci y, the of the
means of 'consuming' a palntmg or uSing a
machine which, being nothing other than
embodied capital, are suhject lO the samc laws
oftransmission.
3
.
Thus cultural goods can be appropnated
both matcriall y-whi ch
nomi c l.-apital-and symbolicall y-whIch
presupposes cultural capital. It foll?ws that
t he owncr of the means of production must
find a way of :lppropri:lting embod-
ied capiul which is the of spe-
cific appropriation or thc services of the
holders of this C:l pital . To the
machines, he only needs capItal; to
appropriate them and usc them In accordance
with their SI)CCific purpose hy the
cultlLrnl capital , of scientific or techOical type,
incorpor.lI'ed in them),. he access to
embodied cultural capital, eIther In p.erson or
by proxy. This is no doubt the of the
ambiguous status of cad.rcs (executives and
engineers). Ifit that they
the possessors (In the stnctly economiC scnsc)
of the ml.'alls of production they usc,
and that Ihey derillc profit from their cul-
lural capital only by selling services and
products which it makes poSSlhle, they
will be classified among the
groups' ifit iscmphasizcd that they draw theIr
profiL<; from the useof a particular form of cap-
ital, then they will be among the
domin:lnt groups. Everythmg that
as the cultural capi!'al incorporate<! the
nleansof product iOIl inereaSl.'il(:II111 With It t he
THt: INSTITUTIONAUZED STAn: .'
The objl.'Ctification <;apltal III the
form of academic quai1fiC:ltlons 0':1c war of
eutralizing some of the propertlcs It denves
from the fact that, being embodied, has.the
same biologi(.-allimitsas ils bearer.
tification is what makes the.
between the capital of whIch
may be called into question at lime,. or
even the cultural capital of the courtIer, whIch
can yicJd only ill-defined profits, ?f
ing value, in the market of .hlgh-soclet.y
exchanges, and the cultural eapllal
cally sanctioned by legall y guaranteed qualifi-
cations, formallyindependcnt J?Crso!" of
their bearer. With the academIC
a certificate of cultural competence whIch
confers on its holder a conventional, constant,
legall y guaranteed value with respect to
culture, social alchemy producl.'S a form of
capitlll which Ims a rclati,c autullomy
,I. A vi" ils bearer and even vis Ihe cul-
hn.1 upilal he effectively 1)()5S(.'Sl'CS at a given
""'",,:l1t in time. h instilUtes cultural capital
hy magic, just as, according 10
M.rleau-Ponty, the living institute their dead
Ihnlllgh Ihe ritual of mourning. One has only
hllhmk of the COI/Cours (competitive rccruit-
.... nl examination) which, out of lhe contin-
uum of infinitesimal differences between
.. rlnr1llances, produces sharp, absolute, laSI-
.... lhffcrences, such as Ihat which separates
lhe last successful candidate from the first
",.uccessful one, and institutes an essential
,*".:rence between the officially recognized,
""lInteed competence and simple cultural
1Ip1l1l1, which is constantly required to prove
, ... 11. In this case, one sees clearly the perfor-
m.II\'c magic of the power of instituting, the
,lClltcr 10 show forth and secure belief or, in :1
.lIrd, 10 impose recognition.
lIy (;onferring institul'ional recogni tion 011
!I,,;, cultural capital possessed by any given
'Kenl, the academic qualification also makes it
to compare qualification holders and
nen to exchange them (by substituting one
1m another in succession). f'urthennore, it
m .. kcs it possible to establish conversion ratcs
het"'cen cultural capital and economic capital
hy guaranteeing Ihe monetary value of a given
'l'ademic capital.
'o
This product of the con-
of economic capital into cultural capi-
1.1l.'Stablishes the value, in tenns of cultural
upital, of the holder of a given qualification
relative to other qualification holders and, by
Ihtsame token, the monetary value for which
II be exchanged on the labor market (al.-a-
dcmic inveslment has no meaning unless a
minimum degree of reversibility of the con-
"ersion it implies is objectively guaranteed).
Ikcause the material and symbolic profits
which the academic qualification guarJntces
*> depend on its scarcity, the investments
rllde (in time and effort) may turn oul to be
Ills profitable than was anticipated when they
were madc (there having been a de faciO
ch:lnge in the conversion rate between acade-
mic capital and economic capital). T he slrate-
tics for converting economic capital into
cullural capital, which are among the short-
lerm factors of the schooling explosion
.nd the inflation of qualifications, are gov-
erned by changcs in the structure of the
chanccsof profit ofTen.xi hy thediffercn[ types
ofl.':lpital.
Social Capttal
Social capital is the aggregate of the actual or
potential resources which are linked to pos-
session of a durable network of more or less
instit utionalized reluionships of mutual
acquaintance and recognition-()r in other
words, to membership in a group" - which
provides each of its members with the backing
of lhe collcctivity-()wned capital, a 'creden-
tial' which entitles them to credit, in the vari-
ous senses of the word. These relationships
may exist only in the practical state, in mater-
ial and/or symbolic exchanges which help to
maintain them. They may also be socially
instituted and guarantced by the application
ofa common name (the name ofa family, a
class, or a tribe or of a school, a party, etc.) and
by a whole set of instituting acts designed
simultaneously to form and inform those who
undergo them; in Ihis case, they arc more or
less reall y enacted and so maintained and rein-
forced, in exchanges. Being based on indissol-
ubl y material and symbolic exchanges, the
establishment and maintenance of which pre-
suppose reacknowledgment of proximity,
they arc also partially irreducihle to objcctive
relations of proximity in physical (geographi-
cal) space or even in economic and social
space.
ll
The volume of the social capital possessed
bya given agent thusdependson the sizeofthe
network of conncctions he can effectively
mobil ize and on t he \'olume ofthe capital (ec0-
nomic, cultural or symbolic) possessed in his
own right by each ofthosc to whom he is con-
nected.
u
This means that, although it is rela-
tively irreducible to the economic and cultural
capital possessed by a given agent, or even by
the whole set of agents 10 whom he is con-
nected, social capital is never complctdy
independent of it because the exchanges insti-
tuling mutual acknowledgment presuppose
the rcacknowledgmenl of a minimum of
objective homogeneity, and oc>(;a use it exerts a
multiplier effect on the capital he possesses in
hi s own right.
The profit.<; which accrue from member-
shi p in a group are the basis of the solidarity
which makes them possible. Ii This does nOI
mean that they are consciously pursued as
such, even in the case of groups like select
clubs, which are deliberatel y organized in
order to concentrate social capital and so to
deri vc full benefit from the multiplier effecl
The Forms of Capital
implied in concentration and to S(.'Cure the
profits of membership-material profits,
such as all the types of services accruing from
useful relationships, and symbolic profits,
such as those derived from association with a
rare, prcstigious group.
The existence of a network of conn(.'Ctions
is nOI a nalural given, or even a social given,
constiwted once and for all by an ini tial act of
instillllion, represented, in the case of the
famil y group, by the gcncalogiL"ai defini tion of
kinship rcl :lI ions, which is the characteristic of
a social formation. It is the product of an cnd-
It:ss effort at instirution, of ..... hi ch institUlion
rilcs---oftcn wrongly described as ril'cs of pas-
sage--mark the essential moments and which
is ncces. .. ary in order to produce and repro-
duce lasting, useful relationships t hat can
S(."Cure material or symbolic profits (sec Bour-
dieu 1982). In ot hcr words, t.hc network of
relationshi ps is the product of investmcnt
strategics, indi vidual or eolk"Ct ive, con-
sciousl yor unconsciousl y aimcd at establish-
ing or rcproducing social relationships that
arc din .. "Ctl y usable in the short or long term,
i.c., at transfonni ng !"'Ontingent relations,
such as thoscof nei ghborhood, the workplace,
or even kinship, into relationships that are at
once nc..."Ccss.1ry and elective, implying durable
obligarions subjc..."Ctively felt (fc..."Clings of grati-
tude, respc..."Ct, friendship, etc.) or institution-
all y guar:Ultccd (rights). This is done through
thc alehcmyof consuratioll, the symbolic con-
stitut'ion produced by social instituti on (insti-
Illtion as a relative-brother, sister, cousin,
elc.-oras a knight, an heir, an e1dcr, ctc.) and
endlessly reproduced in and through the
exchangc (of gifts, words, women, etc.) which
it encourngesand which presupposcsand pro-
duces mutual knowledge and recognition.
Exchange lrnnsfonns the things exchanged
into signs of recognition and, through t he
mutual recognition and the recognition of
group membership which it implies, re-
produces the group. By the same token, it
reaffirms thc limits of the group, i.c., the lim-
its beyond which the const itutive exchange-
trnde, commensality, or marriagc--cannol
take place. Each member of the group is thus
instituted as a custodian of the limits of the
group: because the definition of the criteria of
entry is at stake in each new entry, he can mod-
ify the group by modifying the limits oflegit-
imate exchange through some fonn of
misalliance. II is quite IOb';c...-al that, in most
societies, the preparation and conclusion of
marriages should be the busi ness of the whole
group, and not of the agents directly con-
cerned. Through the introduction of new
members into a family, a clan, or a club, the
whole definition of the group, i.e., its fines, its
boundaries, and its identity, is put at stake,
exposed to redefinition, alteration, adulter-
ation. When, as in modern societies, families
lose the monopoly of the establishment of
exchanges which can lead to lasting relation-
ships, whether sociall y sanctioned (like mar-
riage) or not, they may continue to control
t hese exchanges, whi le remaining wit hin the
logic of laissez-faire, t hrough all the institu-
tions which arc designed to favor legitimate
exchanb'CS and exclude illegitimate ones by
producing occasions (rnllies, cruises, hunts,
parties, receptions, elc.),-places (smart neigh-
borhoods, scit."Ct schools, clubs, etc.), or prac-
tices (smart sports, parlor games, cultur;11
ceremonies, etc.) which bring together, in a
seemingly fortuitous way, individuals as
homogcnc...'Ous as possible in all the pertinent
respects in terms of the existence and persis-
tence of the group.
The reproduction of social capital presup-
poses an unceasing effort of sociability, a con-
tinuous series of exchanges in which
recognition is endlessly affirmed and reaf-
firmed . This work, whi ch implies expendi-
ture of time and energy and so, directly or
indirectly, of economic capital, is not prof-
itable or even concd vable unless one in vests in
it a specific competence (knowledge of
genealogical rel ationships and of real connec-
tions and skill at usi ng t hem, etc.) and an
acquired disposition to acquire and maintain
t his competence, which are themselves inte-
gral parts of this capital. ' s This is one of the
factors which explain why the profitability of
this labor of accumulating and maintaining
social capital rises in proportion to t he size of
the capital. Because the social capital aecruing
from a relationship is that much greater to the
extent that the person who is the objt."Ct of it is
richly endowed with capital (mainly social,
but also cultural and even economic capital),
the possessors of an inherited social capital,
symbolized by a great name, are able to trans-
fonn all circumstantial relationships into last-
ing connections. They arc sought after for
their social capital and, because they are well
known, arc worthy of being knowll (' I know
him well'); Ihey do nol tu ' IIHlke t he
oful lt hcir'acquaintanccs'; they
... luII)\I. n 10 more pt.'Ople Ihanlhe), know, and
tl\.u of socill bil ity, when it is exerted, is
lM,hl) productive.
. H,'r), grou I' h as it s more or less institurion-
"',rd forms of dclegarion which enable it to
.",'t!I1Ir.IIC thc tot:Llity of the social capital,
.hkh is the basis of the existence ofthcgroup
f. I.mil y or a nation, of course, but also an
or a party), in the hands of a single
IJmI or a small group of agents and to man-
"Ie Ihis plenipotentiary, charged with pltn(J
E
""S agtndi tI loqutndi, I. to represent the
p, 10 spcakand act in its name and so, with
,Id of this collectively owned capital, to
.. " I\C a power incommensurate with the
5
"!! personal contribution. Thus, at the
elemcntary degree of institutionaliza-
,the head of the fami ly, thepattr jami/i(Js,
rldesl, most senior member, is taci tly rec-
",dted as the only person entitled to speak on
"".11 of the family group in all official cir-
But whereas in this case, diffuse
ion requires the great to step forward
IRd Ilcfcnd the collective honor when the
hUllliT uf the weakest members is threatened,
1M mstiturionali7..cd delegation, which
",Iurt!i> the concentration of social capital,
..... hits I he effect oflimiting the consequences
'" ltulividual lapses by explicitly delimiting
and authorizing the recog-
Wind spokesmen to shield the group as a
. IIlIle from discredit by expelling or excom-
Inllnk111ing the embarrnssing individuals.
II the internal competition for the monop-
11,111 legitimate representation of t he group is
IM""1 thrcaten the conservation and accumu-
..... 111 IIf the capital which is the basis of the
C
IUII, the members of the group must regu-
It t hc conditions of access to the right to
"'I.re oneself a member of the group and,
"'me all, to set oneself up as a representative
plenipotentiary, spokesman, etc.)
II the whole group, thereby committing the
_ 1.1 c:lpital of the whole group. The title of
.,1Ii,y is the form par t:t:cdltnct of the insti-
"I)IIalizcd social c.1pital which guarantees a
Jlrllcular form of social relationship in a last-
III way. One of the parndoxes of delegation is
.... tt he Illandat t.-d agent can exert on (and. up
... IH)int, ag-Jinsl) Ihe group Ihepowerwhich
,hi' )CrUll]) enahles him loconcentrate. (This is
!"'Special ly IrlLe in the c...-ascs in
"hid. the rnll!ld:Lteli llKent cre:lI c. .. the !(rolLp
",Iudl crellte" him hUI whi ch tlnl y ni"u
The Fonn. of C.pIt., 53
./
through him.) The mechanisms of delegation
and representation (in both the theatTical and
the legal senses) which fall into place-that
much more strongly, no doubt, when the
group is large and its members wcak-as one
of the conditions for the concentration of
social capital (arnongother reasons, because it
enabl es numerous, varied, scattered agents to
act as one man and toovereome the limitations
of space and time) also contain the seeds of an
embezzlement or misappropriation of the
capital which they assemble.
This embC"alement is latent in the fact that
a group as a whole can be representcd, in the
various meanings of the word, by a subgroup,
clearl y delimited and perfectly visible to all,
known to all , and recognized by all, that of the
nobilu, the 'people who arc known' , the para-
digm ofwhorn is the nobility, and who may
speak on behalf of the whole grou p, represent
the whole group, and exereise authority
in the name of the whole group. The noble is
the group personified. He bears the name of
the group to which he gi"es his name (the
metonymy which links the nobl e to his group
is clearly seen when Shakespcarecalls Cleopa-
tra 'Egypt' or the King ofF rance' France,' just
as Racine calls Pyrrhus 'Epirus'). It is by him,
his name, the difference it proclaims, thai the
members of hi s group, the liegernen, and also
the land and castles, are known and recog-
ni ... ..cd. Similarly, phenomena such as the 'per-
sonality cult' or lhe identification of parties,
trnde unions, or movements with thcir leader
arc latent in the very logic of representation.
Everything combines to cause the signifier to
take t he place oCthe sib'llified, the spokesmen
that of the group he issupposed toexprcss, not
least because his dist inction, his 'outstanding-
ness,' his visibility constitute t he essential
part, if not t he essence, of this power, which,
being entirel y set within t he logic of knowl-
edge and acknowledgment, is fundamcntall y a
symboli c power; but also bccause the repre-
sentative, the sign, the emblem, may be, and
create, the whole reality of groups which
receive effective social existence only in and
through representation.
l1
Conversions
The dillerent types of capital can be derived
fmlll ('((!1/O",i( (apital, but only at the COSt of a
llIun: or grc:I I error! of trnnsformation,
54 The Forms of Capital
which is nceded to produce the type of power
effective in the field in question. For example,
there are some goods and services to which
economic apital gives immediate access,
without secondary costs; others an be
obtained only by virtue of a social apital of
relationshi ps (or social obligations) which
annot act instantaneously, at the appropriate
moment, unless they have been established
and maintained for a long time, as iffor their
own sake, and therefore outside their period of
usc, i,e" at the cost of an investment in socia-
bility which is nt:eessarily long-term because
the time lag is one of the factors of the trans-
mutation of a pure and simple debt into
that recognition of nonspecific indebtedness
which is called gratitude, " In contrast to the
cynical but also economical transparency of
I.'collomie exchange, in which equivalents
change hands in the same instant, the essential
ambiguity of social exchange, which presup-
poses mi srecognition, in other words, a form
of faith and of bad faith (in the sense of self-
deception), presupposes a much more subtle
eeonomyoftime.
So it has to be posited simultaneously that
cconomic capital is at the root of all the other
types of capiml and that these transformed,
disguised foons of t.'COnomie a pital, never
entirel y rl,'f.Iucible to that definition, produce
their most specific effccts only to rhe extent
that they conceal (not least from their p0sses-
sors) the fact that (..'COnomie capi tal is at their
root, in other words-but only in the last
analysis-at the root of their effects, The real
logic of the functioning of capital, the conver-
sions from one type to another, and the law of
conservation which governs them cannot be
understood unl ess two opposing but equally
partial views arc superseded: on the one hand,
eeonomism, which, on the grounds that every
type of capital is reducible in the last analysis
to economic capital, ignores what makes the
specific efficacy of the other types of capital,
and on the other hand, semiologism (nowa-
days represcntcd by structuralism, symbolic
interactionism, or ethnomethodology), which
reduce.. .. social exchanges to phenomena of
t.:ommunication and ignores Ihe brutal fact of
universal reducibility toeconomies,I9
In accordance with a principle which is the
equivalent of the principle ofthe conservation
of energy, profits in one area are necessarily
p;lid for by coslS in another (so that a concept
1.1,.. , WUJ. laICC nl, mC;l1ling in a gcneral st:i-
ence of the economy of practices). The uni-
versal equivalent, Ihe measure of all equiva-
lences, is nothing other than labor- rime(in the
widest sense); and the conservation of social
energy through all its conversions is \'erified
if, in each case, one takes into account both the
labor-time accumulated in the fonn of capital
and the labor-time needed to transfoon it
from one t)'pe into another.
It has been seen, for example, that the trans-
formation of economic capital into social cap-
ital presupposes a specific labor, i.e" an
apparently gratuitous expenditure of time,
attention, care, concern, which, as is seen in
the endeavor to personalizc a gift, has the
effect of transfiguring the purely monetary
import of the exchange and, by the same
token, the very meaning of the exchange,
From a narrowly ecoriomic standpoi nt, this
effort is bound to be seen as pure wastage, but
in the terms of the logic of social exchanges, it
is a solid inv(.."Stmcnt, the profits of which will
appear, in the long run, in monetary or other
form, Similarly, if the best measureof cultural
capital is undoubtedly the amount of time
devoted to acquiring ii , this is because the
transformation of economic capi tal into cul-
tural capital presupposes an expenditure of
time that is made possible by possession of
economicapilal, More pr("'C1seiy, it is because
the cultural capital that iseffl.'Ctivelytransmit-
ted within the family itself depends not onl )
on the quantity of cultural capiul, itself accu-
mulated by spending time, that the domesrit'
group possess, but also on the usable tim:
(particularl y in the form of the mother's frCt'
time) available to it (by virtue of its economic
capital, which enables it 10 purchase the time
of others) to ensure the transmission of thi \
capital and todclay entry into the labor marhl
through prolonged schooling, a credit whicll
pays off, if at all, only in the very long term , 21'
The convertibility of the different types "I
capital is the basis of the strategies aimed ;11
ensuring the reproduction of capital (and the
position occupied in social space) by means "I
the conversions least costl y in leons of COli
version work and of the losses inherent in tI l(
conversion itself(in a given state of the SOC!;I'
power relations), The different types of capl
tal an be distinguished according to thl'lI
reproducibil ity or, more precisely,
to how easil y they are transmitted, i.e., wit ll
more or less loss and with more or less ("'WI
CC'J lmcnt; the rate of lu<;s :md tltc deb'T(",(; ,J
"'_tt IClid 10 '
The Form, Of C.pIt.,
55
... " tlllllll' which hcl,; .. U? 1Il.'t'cr.se .-:tl;o,
fNlttUI IC d ' (l.o;glH:;e the ceo-
,... {fwlicul:lrly Ihe n:;k of
r.,.J I hII'; Ihe (a) !!,cIICr:ltlOnal trJns_
Nt III the diffcren: 1II("'OllllncllsurabJ!_
hl.h dcgree of ypcs of capllal IOtroduces
....... hCIW(",(;1l IOtO all tnnsae-
""," Ihe dc.."Clared refusal ,(relt Sim_
It,U'r'lIntccs which cha 0 <;a culatlon and
of Iral1smisslo .
tunc of succession ' n:-:-parrlcularly at the
power--e\'ery moment for aU
same tIme a Iegn' u.ctlon strategy is at the
consecrating both ::;:.111011 S,trategy aimed at
and. Its reprodUction
Cnllque which . en the subvcrslve
'
alms to wcake , d '
c ass through th .n lIe ommant
dllll!' to produce a exchanges
II.pital of obligation th capnaltn the form
!lr less long term (e
s
hat arc usable in the
,\ etc) anges of grfts, ser-
by brlOging to
entItlements t..... ar Itranness of the
. , .. nsmltrt.'U and r h '
Illude; the entails of
"lIranteed debts wh h at of
lu !lroduce 51 I suc exchanges
mISSIon (such as th ,,0 t elr trans_
Enltghtenment ph /, e hCntlque which the
name of nature I MOp (s dlre:ted, 10 the
birth) is incor' ag;Ulls,t .the arbitrariness of
h
. poratc( m lot (
II too, the, high
,,1 c:.I pital has the d ' t de trnnSlTll,SSlOn of
II) its inherent ,,,sa vantage (In addl_

s of los,S) that the

d lurm is nClther t w lIIStitullon_
IIllhllity) nor tttle
"'1 More r ' e t e stocb alld
.hl/.
c
diffuse p cultural capital
1
, , COntmuous , ' '
.'1111 the famil ransmlSSton
""'Iwl that t'; observation and
h
e e uC;)tlOnal system seems
onors SOlely ( "
, . 0 natura qualIties)
mcreasmgly tendinglo attain full
bon the labor market only
. y the system
IOto a of qualifications'
more but more risky
CCl?nom,'c C;)pital. As the
Invested wilh Ihe
. becomes the con-
system tends increas
. the group of
transmISSIOn of pOwer and
,1 ,other things, of Ihe
_ ( heIrs from among chil_
, " ,sex and birth rank,ll And
capita Itself POses ' d'
of trans " qUtte IfTcrent
form it depending on the
the ,to,
mec an Isms (r .. s IIullonallzed
lOr example I .
tance)almedatco tr 1/ ' ' aws of IOherl _
transmiSSion of n 0 IIlg the official, direct
holders of capital rwer and priVIleges, the
rn rcsortrngto re r::Jc an ever greater mteresl
of ensunng bcire _xctlon strategIes C;)pable
bUI at the cost of r Isgulscd transmission
exploit mg the of capi tal, by
capl/al Thu" th ert, I Ity of the typt.:s of
.. e more the ffi ' ,
SlOn of capital is rev 0 a ,a transmis-
or. hindered, the
of capital in th Ii landestme CIrculation
bcconle of cultural capllaJ
the SOCIal Structure 10 the of
reproduction ca As of
function, rhe of Its Own
tends to IOCrease e educatIOnal system
increase is the together with this
social of .the m,arket in
occupy rare positio gIVes rIghts to
""
Notes
ThiS Iner/la enta Icd h
whIch . . merCia
f: .,.Vt."S Immed,ale economic
avors also makes it
I an landed projlerty (0'
. and docs 1101 r. ,
oflollg_"",,'ng ,
. ", (yn;lsll(.."S.
... , lhe"ueslllIilOr." " ., ' ,
.... 'T/lJln;llio
ll
arises
Str:Uctures of caPI:al to the tendency of the
In Ins,nu,ions orin d produce thcmsclves
siructures or wh h adaptcd 10 the
course, arc {hc product, is, of
actIon of CJJncertei speqficaJ/y politIcal
dcmoblllzatlon an CJJnserVatlon, I e, of
latter lends {o kee d h depohtrcl:r.arron The
the State of a prac:c:., e agcllls III
'he orchCSltatlon of gf?UP, unncd only by
condemned {o fu {heir dISPOSitions and
repeatedly as aggregale
acts (SUch as COnsum g d;screre, IndiVidual
2, ThIS 1$ trueo( all e ectoral chOices)
of dIfferent fractr gcs bet"een members
Possessing the domimnt class,
from !;:;II f l) pes of capItal. These
1
cs 0 ex ........ iea
'" rcr scrviu:s h' 1-'-""", or
" IlI!)SI III the
h
' w leh rake Ih Ii '
elC an,l "inn'( 1 Corm of gift
' y r I<:nl,-clvcs wilh the
56 ) The Forms of CapUal
most decorous names that can be found (hon-
uraria, emolumcnts, elc.) to matrimonial
exchangl..'S, the prime example of a transaction
that can only take place insofar as it is not per-
ceived ur defined as such by the contracting
parties. II is remarkahle that the apparent
extcnsions of I..-wnomic theory beyond the
limits constituting the discipline have left
intact the asylum of the sacrcd, apart from a
few sacrilegiuus incursions. Gary S. Becker,
for examplc, who was une of the first to take
explicit account of the types of capital that are
usually ignorl.."ti, never cunsiders anything
other than munetary costs and profits, forget-
ting the nonmonetary inl'cstments (in/a alia,
the affective ones) and the material and sym-
bolic profits that education provides in a
deferred, indirect way, such as the addt.."ti value
which the dispositions produced or reinforced
bysehooling(bodily or verbal manners, tastes,
etc.) ur the relationships estahl ished with
fellow studcnts can yield in the matrimonial
rnarket(B ..."cier 1964a).
3. '<:iymbohc mpital, that is to say, capital- in
whatever form- insofar as it is represented,
i.e., apprehended symbolically, in a relation-
ship ofknowlcdgc or, more precisely, of mis-
n-wgnition :md rt.. cognition, prcsuppuSl..'S the
intervention of the hahitus, as a socially con-
stitut ed ("'ognitive capadty.
4. When talking a!.lout concepts for their own
sake, as I do hcre, rather than using them in
research, onc always runs the risk of bci ng !.loth
schem:lIic and formal, i.e., tht..'Oretical in the
most usual and most usually approved sense of
the word.
5. This proposition implies no recognition of the
value of scholastic verdicts; it merely registers
the relationship which in rClility between
a certain cultural capital and the laws of the
educational markct. Dispositions that are
given :1 neb<;\tive value in the educational
market may TI.."Ceive very high value in other
markets--not least, of course, in the relation-
shi ps internalw the class.
o. In a relatively undifferentiated society, in
which access to the means of appropriating the
cultural heritage is very equally distributed,
embodied cu hure docs not fundion as cultural
capital, i.e., as a means of acquiring exclusive
advantages.
7. What I call the generalized Arrow cffect, i.c.,
the fact that all cultural gouds--paintings,
monuments, machin(..""S, and any objeds
shaped by man, particularly all those which
belong to the chi ldhood environment--excrt
an educative effect by their mere existence, is
no doubt one of the structural factors behind
the 'schooling explosion,' in the sense that a
growth in the quantity of cultural capital accu-
mulated in the objectified state increases the
educative effect automat ically by Ihe
environment. If one adds tu this the Iilct that
cmbodied cultural capital is eunstantly
increasing, it can be seen that, in each genera-
tion, the educational system can take more for
granted. The fact that the same educational
investment is increasingly productive is one of
the structural factors of the inflation of quali-
fications (together wilh cyclical factors linked
to effects of capital conversion).
8. The cultural object, as a living social institu-
tion, is, simultaneously, a socially instituted
material object and a particular class of habi -
tus, to which it is addressed. The material
ohject- for example, a work of art in irs mate-
riality- may be separated by space (e.g., a
Dogon statue) or by time (c.g., a Simone Mar-
tini painting) from the habitus for which il was
intended. This leads to one of the most funda-
mental hiascs of art history. Undcrstanding
the effect (not to be confused with the func-
tion) which the work tended to produce-for
example, the form of belief it tended to
inductr-and which is the true basis of the
conscious or unconscious choice of the means
used (technique, colors, etc.), and therefore of
the form itself, is possible only if onc at least
T"JiSl..'S the question of the hahitus on which it
'operated.'
9. The dialectical relationship betwecn object-
ified cultural capital-of which the form par
excellence is writing-and embodied cultural
capital has generall y 1:)(:en reduced to an exalted
dc'SCription of the degradation of the spiril by
the lettcr, the li ving by the inert, creation by
routine, grace by heaviness.
10. This is particularly true in France, where in
many occupations (particularly the civil ser-
vice) there is a very strict relationship between
qualification, rank, and remuneration (trans-
lator's note).
II. Here, too, the notion of coltural capital did not
spring from pure thcoretical work, STill less
from an analogical extension of economic con-
cepts. It arose from the need to identify tbe
principle of social effects which, although they
can be seen dearly at the Icvel of singular
agent!i-where statiSfical inquiry inevitably
uperates--cannot be reduced to the sct of
properties individually possessed by a given
agent. These effects, in which spontaneous
sociology readily perceives the work of 'con-
are particularly visible in all cases in
which different individuals obtain very
unequal profits from virtuall y equivalent
(economic or cultural) capital, depending on
the extent to which thcy can mobilize by proxy
I.hecapitalofa group(a family, the alumni of an
elite school, a select dub, the aristocracy, etc.)
that is more or less constituted as such and
more Of less rich in capital.
II NtIMhlml"ll""d ul ,lOW.",
rtHlIc nil tlcntcilt ury IlInn ul IIlKtilliliulIoli
1,,,11011, ill (he Bc:tl"ll or IhQ IIIIMI\I\:
1,""luII where lIei lfhbul"li , 1i}IIS /irj/j wunl
",11i,h, in uld lexts, tS :Ipplied 10 the legi timal e
of the vi llage, tht rightful mCIII-
oft he y), are explicit 1 y dt.'!;ignated,
III with fairly codified ruk'S, and
.tl' functions which are diffcrcn-
11.11.'11 iltx:urding to their rank (there is a 'first
ndllhhur,' a 'second neighbor,' and so on),
I
,.,"cu l:trl y fo r the major social ceremonies
huttr:ds, marriagL'S, etc.). But even in this
the relationships actually used by no
mUIl K always coincide with the relationships
... lllly instituted.
I. M.nncrs(bcaring, pronunciation, etc.) may be
Ihlludet.l in social capital insofar as, through
th. mode of acquisition they point to, they
Ihdk:tle initial mcmbership ofa morc or less
group.
14 N.tlliitallibcration movements or nationalist
IIIrlllhgics cannot be accounted for solely by
" Irrcnce to strictly economic profits, i. e.,
.ntkipation of the profits which may be
,Imved from redistribution of a proportion of
10 the advantage of the nationals
and the recovery of highly
1,.1\1 jobs (see Breton 1964). To these specifi-
,.Ily economic anticipated profits, which
.lIlIld only explain the nationalism ofthepriv-
litllCd classes, must be added the very real and
ury immediate derived from member-
,hl l' capital) which are proportionately
.,r.lcr forthose who are lower down the social
('poor whiles') or, more precisely,
'"l1re threatcncd by cconomic and social
,kdine.
I_ I hcre is every reason to suppose that socializ-
ht ll"' or, more generally, relational, dispositions
very unequally distributed among thc
classes and, wit.hin a given class, among
h41!t ions of different origin.
I
', I!. 'full power to act and speak' (translator).
It Ij:oes without sayi ng that social capital is so
t'lt:tlly governed by the logicoflnowledgc and
that it always functions as
capital.
'I II Nhould be made dear, 10 dispel a likely mis-
IInderstanding, that Ihe investment in ques-
111m here is not necessarily conceived as a
l;licul ated pursuit of gain, but that it has every
likelihood of being experienccd in terms of the
logic of emotional investment, i.e., as an
Involvement which is both necessary and dis-
inlerested. has not always been appreci-
by historians, who (even when they arc as
to symbolic effects as E. P. Thompson)
tClld 10 conceive symbolic practices-pow-
dercd wib'S and thc whole paraphernalia of
.. explicit strategies of domination,
Iltltlt,lcd (1111111 hl1ll/w),I,Il\1 HI 1IIIcr
I
lrel III' c11,II'I1;I"lc
lll Cd ,If n;ilyely
Machill\'rllilill view jlu'lj:cts Ihallhc sill
eerely :lcts may he th(lse
to objective A nUIll
ber of fields, p:lrticularly those which IIWkl
tend to deny interest and every sort of c;licu!:1
tion, like the fields (jf cu!tuml produetillu,
grant full recognition, and with it thc eUllke
cration which guaralltces success, ,lilly til
those who distinguish themselves hy Ihe
immediate conformity of thcir inveslmenl s,
token of sincerity and attachment to the eSSCl1
tial principles of the field. It would be thllr
oughly erroneous to describe the ch"ices "r
the habitus which lead an artist, wriler, IIr
resClircher toward his natural plat.."C (" slIbjl"Ct,
style, manner, etc.) in tenns ofr:llinnal
egy and cynical calculation. Thi s is
the fact that, for example, shifts from ""C
genre, school, or speciality to :1II"ther, 'llI.lsi
reli giouscon\'ersions thai :Ire perl, mIle.! ' in 1111
sincerity,' can be unders\(H>!.1 c;lpilal (1 111
versions, the diredion :md IIHl]\)CIII "I ""Iudl
(on which their success otiell III,'
determined bya Wlill
the less likel y In he secn :IS , ut. h the 1111111'
skillful it is. Innl)Ccli cc is t ll c lli"il"ilt)ll' I ,I II"""
who move in their field ur:lllil ;ly like hij h In
water.
19. To understand III t IMn "I
antagonistic positions which SCI 1"1' h
other's alibi, one would need til :m'II }"!\' IlI t'
unconscious profits and the "I UUlI"l
which they procurc I,,,' ,nlelln
tuals. \Vhile some find in :I
of exempting themselves hy cxclmlill)l. Ihr
cultural capital and all the spcci';c p ....
which place them on the side of the 11' 11"",.1111,
othcrs can abandun the detest;lb1c tcrnun "I
the economic, where everything
them that they can be evaluated, ill tilt
analysis, in economic terms, fur Ih:ll "t 11'1"
symbolic. (The latter merely repr.ItIIlCI', ii, til ,"
realm of the symbolic, the stratcgy wltcH' h)'
intellectuals and artisrs endeavor I" i",I'''\(
the recognition of their values, i.e., ,h\' 11
value, by inverting the law of thc nMrkct II
which what one has or what IIIIC l'," II
completely defines what one is worlh :\1111 wll '"
one is-as is shown by the practice "I
which, with techniques such as t.hc
ization of credit, tend tosubordinat e Ihe
ingofloansand thefixingofinterest nle'
exhaustive inquiry into the borrower's pl"l"ti
and future resources.)
20. Among the advantagcs procurcd by ':"1'" .11 i
all its types, the most precious is thc inl"!
volume of useful time that is made 1",,\ ,1.
through the various methods of apprl'pn.,t ,I
58 The Forma of Capital
other people's time (in the form of services). It
may take the form either of increased spare
time, secured by reducing the time COllSumed
in act ivities diucdy toward pro-
ducing the meallS of reproducing the
ence of the domest ie group, or of more inlensc
use of the lime so consumed, by reoJurst [0
OIher people's labor or 10 devices and methods
which an: avai12ble only to those who have
spcnttime learning how to use them and which
(like bener tr:mspon or living elose to the place
of wor k) make it possible to save time. (This is
in COntrast to the cash savings of the poor,
which for in
barpin hunti ng, etc.) None of this is true of
mere economic capitnl; it is possession of
cultural capital that makes it possible to deri\'e
greater profit not only from by
securinga higher yield from the same time, but
also from spare lime, and so to increase both
economic and cultuml
21. It goes without saying th:1llhe dominant frac-
tions, who tend til place ever greatcr emphasis
lin educatil)nal investment, within an overall
strategy (If asset diversification ami of
ment s aimed at combining security with hi gh
yield, have al l sortsofways of evadingscholas-
tic verdicts. The dirC(..'1 transmission of I.."CO-
nomic capital remains one ul the Wincil)al
means of reproduction, and Ihe ef1cct of social
capital ('a helping hand,' 'string. pulling,' the
'old boy network') tends to correct Ihe effect of
sanctions. Educational qualifications
nc"er function perfectly ascurrency. They In:
never entirely separable from thei r holders:
thei r value rises in proportion to the value of
their bearer, especially in the least rigid areas of
the social structure.
References
Becker, G. S. (l964a), A Tllt(Jrttjcll1 and EmpiriC(j/
Analysis with Spu ill/ to Edu((J lion
(New York: National Bureau of Economic
Research).
--(1964b), Human Capjlal(New York: Colum-
bia Vni v. Press).
Dourdicu, P. (1982), 'Le; rites d'instilution' ,AtUs
dt la rt:chucht (n scitnces 43: 58-63.
Breton, A. (1962), 'The F.t:onomics of National
ojPolitiral Economy, 72: 376-86.
Grassby, R. (1970), 'English Capi talism
in the Latc Sevcntl..'Cnt h Century: The Compo-
si tion of Business Furruncs', Past und
46: 87- 107.
3
Class and Pedagogies: Visible and Invisible
... ,,"" ''''""' of thc assumptions and
particular fonn of
pedagogy, a form
ICOIst the following characteris-
;
"". till' control of the tcacher over the
lid 1_ Implicit rather than expli cit.
h., .. , Ideally, the teacher arranges thc
Iflrll which the child is expected 1'0 rc-
''''''Kt'lmd explore.
"'1!l1l' withi n this arranged context, the
""It! PI>p:tremly has wide powers over
hc selects, over how he structurt:s,
"hl IIvcr the I'ime scale of his act ivities.
"'hl"l e the child apparentl y regul ates his
11""11 muvementsand social relationshi ps.
\\ Itn C I herc is a reduced emphasi s upon
Ihl I r>l n .. mission and acquisition of specific
"111_ (SI.."C Note I).
.. "'h"re Ihe criteria for evaluat ing the peda-
... ) ure multiple and diffuse and so not
.. tl ) Im:asured.
"'Ible Pedagogy and Infant Education
this pedagogy as an
.lntermsoftheconccptsof
I 'jl i frame, the pedagogy is
I through weak classification and weak
Visible pt.'tlagogi(.'S arc reali scd
classifi c'ltion and strong
dilTerencc between visibl e
in visible llCd a).\:ugies is in the manner in
h crit eri a :Ire transmitted and in the
"",of",,,;;,I ;,-;,, of the criteria. Thc more
. manner (If and the
Basil Bernstein
more diff usc the criteria the more in visible the
pedagogy; the more specific the criteria, t he
more explicit the manner of their transmis-
sion, the more visible the pedagogy, These
definitions will be extended later in the paper.
If the pedagogy is invisible, whataspectsofthe
child have hi gh visibility for the teacher? I
suggest two aspects. The first arises out of an
inference the teacher makes from the child's
ongoing behaviour about t he dtvelopmental
stage of the child. This inference is then
referred to a concept of readiness. The second
aspect of the child refers to his external behav-
iour and is conceptualised by the teacher as
busyness, The child should be busy doing
things. These inner (readiness) and outer
(busyness) aspects of t he chil d can be trans-
fonned into one concept of' ready to do.' The
teacher infers from t he ' doing' the state of
' readi ness' of the child as it is reveale<1 in his
present activity and as thi s stat'e adumbrates
future 'doing.'
We can bricfl y note in passi ngapoint which
wil l be developed later. In the same way as the
child's reading releases thc child from the
teacher and sociali ses him into the pri vatised
solitary learning of an explicit anonymous
past (i.e. the textbook), so busy children (chil -
dren doing) release the child from the teacher
but socialise him into an ongoing intcr-
actional present in which the past is invisible
and so implicit (i.e. thc teachers' pedagogical
theory). Thus a non--doing child in the invisi-
ble pedagogy is the equivalent of a non-
reading child in the visible pedagogy.
(However, a non- reading child may be al a
grealer disad vantage and experience greater
difficulty than a ' non--doing' child.)
' I 'hc concept basic to t he invisible pedagogy