invest resources, for the purpose of obtaining a benefit in the future (Bourdieu, 1985; Coleman 1988; Lin, 1999; Adler and Kwon, 2002). Nevertheless, compared to the material or financial capital, the contribution to the social capital is riskier and is characterized by the uncertain term of return as the obligations based on the relationship are not protected by the legislation, and there is a risk of their violation (Bourdieu, 1977). Secondly, one particular
Pierre Bourdieu was a prominent French sociologist primarily interested in the dynamics of power in society and the way in which it is reproduced. His theory was derived from Webers theoretical framework and claimed that his theories were always empirically driven (Seidman, 2008, p.145). Bourdieu’s theory contended that the relationship between agency and structure is the result of the interplay between capital, habitus and relative location in the social field. This theory implies that human’s are
SECTION B Middle-class image: Throughout Canadian past, we have evoked a sense of classless society, or at least a unified middle class image. Due to similar status and uniformity of possessions of settlers in the west, Canada has from an early age been seen as this classless society (Porter PAGE). The middle class image is the comfortable lifestyle with 2.5 kids, a detached house, and little financial stress. This pervasive idea that most people in Canada live a pleasant life is generated by the
One of the most current forms of social inequality is symbolic violence, a sociological theory developed by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. The word, symbolic violence, descibes the social differences occuring as a part of our everyday life. Social norms developed through time, becoming part of our habitus. But in order to understand symbolic violence, one has to understand habitus. Using Bourdieus own words, he would say that habitus is structures structures predisposed to function as structural