For a Relational Approach to Cultural Capital: A Concept Tested by Changes in the French Social Space

Abstract

This article shows that a relational approach to the notion of cultural capital may shed light on how stratification and the mechanisms of social domination have developed in France. By using several studies focused on a range of social classes, it demonstrates how cultural capital is being used in changing ways, at every level of the social hierarchy. The article is intended to move away from a substantialist definition of cultural capital, which cannot be solely defined by its contents, such as an educational degree or a collection of cultural practices. In order to understand the transformations of the boundaries between social classes, it is necessary to analyse developments in the relationship between cultural and economic capitals, and between cultural capital's incorporated, objectified and institutionalized forms.