Lecture 8 Bourdieu Stratified labor in prison

Question 1

Bourdieu on Social Reproduction

Answer 1

Bourdieu said that societies are and always have been unequal

he asks a fundamental qn on how obviously unequal societies have remain stable overtime and reproduced without falling apart?

he claims there are different pathways of reproduction:
* ideological justifical in traditional (justofying it using divine reasoning “god wanted me to be king” vs modern society (“brilliance” in innovaiton/talent etc.)
* material inequalities

bourdieu asks to pay attention to immaterial dynamics as well

Question 2

What are bourdieu’s capitals

Answer 2

according to bourdieu, the distribution of capitals are unequal and there is antagonism b/w those who have it and those who do not:
1. Cultural (human) capital: skills; speaking languages well (english specifically bc of its global currency); knowledge of certsin kinfd of culture (music, government); embedded into you as a person and can also be made into an object (studying gives u a degree)
2. social capital: your connections and network, who you know.
3. still concerned with economic capital

Question 3

Gibson Light Reading

Inequalities in prison employment

Answer 3

cultural capital:
- call centre jobs in prison(to pass u need computer skills, having CV, interview skills
- linguistic cultural capital: how its racialized (“applicants must not seem like they are from the ghetto”)

Question 4

Bourdieu vs Marx

Answer 4

Bourdieu says that no matter what Marx proposes in society, some people will still disproportionately have more culture and social capital which can be transferred across generations.