Introduction into the

Sociology of Education
Universitat de Valencia, Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch
Departament de
Sociologia i Antropologia
Social

May 2017
 Excursus: Education, Schools and Institutions

School and teaching as a social institution

institutionalized = something lasts

Institutions: pattern of expected action of individuals or groups enforced by social sanctions

(rewards and punishments)
Pattern that is reproduced, endures
Rules that define the patterns
Sanctions that enforce the patterns
Purposes and meanings

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 2
 Where does social inequality in schools and education results from?

social inequality in and through education

structure practice individual agent

e.g. Durkheim e.g. Bourdieu e.g. Rational Choice

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 3
 Education, Power and Cultural Capital

www., copyright unknown [22.04.2017]

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 4
 The point of my work is to show that culture and
education aren't simply hobbies or minor influences.
They are hugely important in the affirmation of
differences between groups and social classes and in
the reproduction of those differences

Pierre Bourdieu

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 5
 Pierre Bourdieu: Theory of Practice

Meaning of cultural symbols and practices

Social struggle for distinction as a fundamental
dimension of social life
Relation of structure and action: Against
dichotomies

Structural theory of practice, which connects

action to culture, structure and power
Three important (and interrelated) subjects:
capital, habitus, field

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 6
 Pierre Bourdieu: Theory of Practice

objectivism subjectivism

determinism voluntarism
social practice
structure individual action

external factors internal factors

macro micro

habitus
field
capital

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 7
 Habitus

How is action regulated?

How does action follow regular statistical patterns without being the product of obedience to
rules, norm or conscious intentions?
How do patterns of conduct occur over time without being the product either of some
abstract external structure or of subjective intention?
How can one take into account both the observed regularities (e.g. statistics) and free,
reasoning human actors who carry out their everyday action practically without full
awareness of or conscious reflection on structure?

(Swartz 1997: 95)

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 8
 Habitus

[A] system of lasting, transposable dispositions which, integration past experiences, functions at every
moment as a matrix of perceptions, appreciations, and actions [].
(Bourdieu 1971: 83)

[A] system of durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as

structuring structures, that is, as principles which generate and organize practices and representations
than can be objectively adapted to their outcomes without presupposing a conscious aiming at ends or an
express mastery of the operations necessary in order to attain them. (Bourdieu 1990: 53)

Mutually penetrating realities of individual subjectivity and societal objectivity

Importance of time: behavior is strategic rather than rule or norm conforming
Actors are practical strategists

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 9
 The social field

The field is a network, or configuration, of objective relations between positions (Bourdieu/

Waquant as cited in Swartz 1997: 117)

Fields are arenas of production, circulation and exchange of services, goods, status,
knowledge
Agents struggle to accumulate or monopolize different forms of capital
Different fields (e.g., intellectual field, science, politics ) are organized around specific
types of capital or combinations of capital

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 10
 Positions in the social field
capital volume
+ cultural
+ economic

time

capital + cultural - cultural

composition - economic + economic

- cultural
- economic (referring to Bourdieu: Distinction)

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 11
 Positions in
the social
field

Walther 2014: 12

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 12
 Capital invested and used to (re)produce social class

economic cultural social Transmission/

capital capital capital Conversion

symbolic
capital

institutiona
objectified embodied
lized

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 13
 What would you answer with Bourdieu?

www., copyright unknown [22.04.2017]

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 14
 Education and Capital

How has cultural and social capital changed over time? What could be an example of
something which is no longer valued? What might be a new type of cultural and social capital
in our societies?

Considering education:
How important are economic, social and cultural capital for educational attainment and
participation?
What does society reward or punish in respect of having or lacking cultural capital?
Which elements of the dominant culture are actually associated with educational success?

Where and when do or did you experience Bourdieu yourselves ???

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 15
 Muchas Gracias !

Introduction into the Sociology of Education Universitat de Valencia, Departament de Sociologia i Antropologia Social May 2017 Dr. Eva-Maria Klinkisch 16