Symbolic Capital of a Place as a Constellation of Social Meanings (The Сase of the Кaliningrad Region)

Reviewing Symbolic Capital

This article describes a socio-political phenomenon that occurred in Tidore community during the momentum of Local Leaders Election (pilkada). Political phenomena do not only involve rational instruments, but also cultural and supernatural/mystical/occult dimensions being part of a mechanism for power struggle. Values, norms, and traditional leaders (nature and shari'a) are involved in a political contestation. The phenomenon of jinn and mystical/occult power is part of the capital to produce power in Tidore or in another sense; symbolic capital becomes a political mobilization strategy in Tidore. The aims of this research are (1) to analyze power and describe the process of doxa formation and elite habitus/political actors in the symbolic- based power struggle arena in Tidore. (2) to analyze and describe the strategies of the local elite in using symbolic capital in the arena of power struggle in Tidore (Local Leaders Election). This research uses qualitative method with ethnographic research. The research subjects are the indigenous people of Gurabunga, the political elite/political actors, Sowohi, the Sultan and people who are involved and understand the Local Leaders Election (pilkada). Data collection was done by interview, observation and documentation study. The researchers conduct an in-depth study so that the data can be maximal and adequate, and triangulation is carried out. Then this data was analyzed using an ethnographic approach. The theory used as an analytical tool in this research is Perre Bourdieu's Theory of Doxa, Habitus and Arena. The results of the study prove that the process of forming doxa and political habitus has a strong influence on the political practice of the Tidore people. Values, norms, customs and local beliefs of the community have an effect on the dynamics and political reality in Tidore. And symbolic capital as the most important part in producing power in Tidore
 
 Keywords: Doxa, Habitus, Symbolic-based Power Struggle

This article explores how symbolic and cultural capitals shape the perceptions of Ukrainian political elites regarding Russia as a geopolitical threat, focusing on the transformations since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice, the paper argues that elite perceptions are not only reactions to external events but also products of internal struggles within the political field, influenced by elites’ positions, accumulated capitals, and embodied experiences. The article also integrates a postcolonial perspective to examine how the legacy of Russian imperialism continues to affect Ukraine’s political elites, shaping their identity, legitimacy, and responses to the evolving threat. This relational analysis provides a deeper understanding of the dynamics of national identity, memory politics, and power struggles in postcolonial and post-Soviet contexts, highlighting the role of symbolic hierarchies in the construction of political authority and threat narratives.

Although advocacy is central to cultural transformations, claims makers are social actors who struggle for meaning and power. This article focuses on Global Athlete (GA) to analyse the stakes behind advocacy. This sports advocate has engaged a frame keying, even fabrication, to gain recognition in the global sport landscape. GA’s activity is examined on two levels. First, the article analyses how, to become a credible actor, GA framed itself by claiming to be ‘the voice of the athletes’ and appropriating the athletes’ symbolic capital. Second, this appropriation’s economic, political and social resources are identified. This case study highlights the interest of combining Goffman and Bourdieu to understand how GA’s framing captures individuals’ symbolic capital and how keying a frame, as an advocate committed to protecting athletes’ rights, served power struggles within the sports field. The results further show the need for sociologists to question what can be at stake beneath advocacy for ‘noble causes’.

This article builds a gendered understanding of Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital. Through a comparison of two cultural fields – the heavy metal scene and the contemporary folk scene in Toronto, Canada – I show that field structure impacts the extent to which gendered dispositions (which we can understand as masculine capital and feminine capital) are exchangeable for symbolic capital, or reputation. Using semi-structured interviews, discourse analysis, and participant observation, I highlight two features of the fields that shape the extent to which masculine and feminine capital produce symbolic capital: the degree to which symbolic capital is institutionalized, and the level of symbolic boundary-drawing in the field. The heavy metal field’s low institutionalization of symbolic capital and high symbolic boundaries heighten the salience of gender as a basis of symbolic capital, while the folk field’s high institutionalization of symbolic capital and low symbolic boundary-drawing reduce the extent to which gender matters.

This paper describes symbolic capital that owned by an extended family community, Bani Ma'shum. The theory is Bourdieu's concept of habitus, fields, and symbolic capital. This paper uses a qualitative method to explain the survival of the Bani Ma'shum community in district Jatibarang Brebes, Central of Java. This paper describe Bani Ma'shum as a large family community of Javanese ethnicity. Values and experiences based on the Javanese habitus they applied to their activity everyday. The use of the concept of bani is not just naming, but also show that Arab habitus has also been constructed into this community. Bani Ma'shum was formed in NU (ahli sunnah wal jama'ah) community. Bani Ma'shum has several capital, there are social, cultural, politic, economy, and symbolic capital. These capital play in three arenas: socio-religious, politic, and economy. From other capitals, symbolic capital is most plays as important role for members of Bani Ma'shum. Because with symbolic capital members of Bani Ma’shum can access other capital. Bani Ma'shum distinction is based on blood ties and family lineage. This family membership is only based on blood ties and not everyone can enter the Bani Ma'shum family, except by marry their child of Bani Ma'shum family.

This paper describes symbolic capital that owned by an extended family community, Bani Ma'shum. The theory is Bourdieu's concept of habitus, fields, and symbolic capital. This paper uses a qualitative method to explain the survival of the Bani Ma'shum community in district Jatibarang Brebes, Central of Java. This paper describe Bani Ma'shum as a large family community of Javanese ethnicity. Values and experiences based on the Javanese habitus they applied to their activity everyday. The use of the concept of bani is not just naming, but also show that Arab habitus has also been constructed into this community. Bani Ma'shum was formed in NU (ahli sunnah wal jama'ah) community. Bani Ma'shum has several capital, there are social, cultural, politic, economy, and symbolic capital. These capital play in three arenas: socio-religious, politic, and economy. From other capitals, symbolic capital is most plays as important role for members of Bani Ma'shum. Because with symbolic capital members of Bani Ma’shum can access other capital. Bani Ma'shum distinction is based on blood ties and family lineage. This family membership is only based on blood ties and not everyone can enter the Bani Ma'shum family, except by marry their child of Bani Ma'shum family.

This study aims to analyze the dynamics of complex social structures in Najib Mahfuz's literary works through the lens of Pierre Bourdieu's sociological approach to literature. The background of this study is based on Hara's central position in Mahfuz's narrative, which serves as a microcosm of Egyptian society, marked by value conflicts and power struggles. Using a qualitative descriptive method with a textual approach, this study dissects three selected short stories: "Zakirat al-Jiran" (Memories of Neighbors), "Al-Hutaf" (The Call), and "Sada al-Nisyan" (Echoes of Forgetfulness). The analysis specifically applies Bourdieu's triadic concept of Habitus, Capital (economic and Symbolic), and Field, or Arena, to uncover the hidden mechanisms of domination. The study's results reveal diverse manifestations of social structures. "Zakirat al-Jiran" depicts the phenomenon of hysteresis of habitus, where conflicts continue to be reproduced blindly despite the loss of their historical roots, indicating the stagnation of tradition. "Al-Hutaf" highlights the violent clash between Economic Capital and Symbolic Capital, where the moral integrity of society successfully resists the wealth obtained from corruption, proving that social legitimacy cannot always be bought with money. Finally, "Sada al-Nisyan" criticizes the cycle of tyranny; the return of the main character's cruelty after amnesia proves that changes in individual behavior are meaningless without a transformation of the structure of the power arena itself. In conclusion, Mahfouz describes a social structure that is resistant to change, where the position of social agents is largely determined by the accumulation of symbolic capital and habitus that have been firmly institutionalized in society.

The forming of habitus is influenced by the dominance modus of an agent who is successful on applying his capital in a field. The capital meant by Bourdieu in a habitus theory are economic capital, cultural capital, social capital, and symbolic capital. The modus of dominance can be seen through the application of one’s symbolic capital. The higher one’s symbolic capital, the more powerful he is to control his surroundings. The capitals are from pride and prestige possessed. The habitus of Nadoman people on the Mosque Council of Tsamrotul Fuad Islamic Boarding School Cipasung is constructed based on the dominance modus conducted by the people with their symbolic power. The method of this research is qualitative by applying Pierre Bourdieu’s habitus theory. The result shows that Nadoman people behave based on the dominance of an agent’s symbolic power within their relation concept guiding individuals to adapt in their conflicting situation.Keywords: habitus, dominance, Nadoman, behavior, Pesantren/Islamic boarding school

The discourse about the ‘death of French literature’ which has spread throughout the Anglo-American publishing industry since the 1990s raises the question of the conditions required for a dominant national literature to maintain its symbolic capital in the era of globalization. This discourse is a sell-fulfilling prophecy used as a weapon in the international competition and struggles within the world market of translation in a context of accrued economic constraints. The present article first confronts discourse to practice through ohHan empirical study of the circulation of French literature in the United States in the era of globalization, based on a quantitative analysis of all the literary titles translated from French in the United States between 1990 and 2003, on interviews with publishers and translators, and on archives. The symbolic capital of French literature appears to be founded not only on its past achievements (classics) but also on its present production, which accounts for 40% of the translations. Although most are novels, upmarket genres like poetry and theatre are better represented than commercial genres. The data also displays the growing diversity of translated authors, regarding gender and nationality. However, the high centralization of the publishing field in the Francophone area impacts the circulation pattern: most translated works were published in Paris. The article then turns to analyse the structure of the American publishing field, using Bourdieu’s opposition between small-scale and large-scale production: French literature is located at the pole of small-scale production, a factor that explains its growing invisibility. A network analysis displays three clusters of publishers: large conglomerates who prefer to reprint classics, university presses engaged in the canonization of modern French literature, and small independent publishers investing in living writers. A by-product of the stiffening of commercial constraints on the publishing industry, the discourse on the ‘death of French literature’ paradoxically contributes to nourishing the well-founded fiction of national literatures. On the theoretical level, using world system analysis, field theory and the concept of symbolic capital helps explain isomorphism by imitation in the global market of translation.

Purpose– The existing expatriation literature confirms that international assignments (IAs) are an essential tool for developing international talent and global managers but relevant studies are conducted mainly in western developed contexts and neglect the effects on individuals from less developed countries such as China. This paper explores the concept of career and symbolic capital in Chinese multinational company context. It investigates the value of IAs by exploring the relationships between career capital and symbolic capital.Design/methodology/approach– Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews with Chinese expatriates were conducted.Findings– Results suggest that the value of individual career capital from IAs depends on the contexts and how different parties perceive the value. A model comprising individual, organisational and social dimensions are proposed along with mediating factors that affect the effectiveness of value transfer between career capital and symbolic capital. Implications are rehearsed, exposing areas for further research.Originality/value– This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the notion of career in an important but under-researched sample: Chinese expatriates. It helps to gain a better understanding on Chinese multinational companies and their employees.

Este artículo presenta un análisis de los procesos de permutación que ha sufrido la música de verbena en la ciudad de barranquilla, a través de una hibridación cultural que se ha fundamentado en nuevos procesos de mediación tecnológica y apropiación cultural, factores que han incidido ampliamente en las principales etapas de construcción de la música popular colombiana. El estudio de caso se desarrolló a partir de entrevistas a profundidad con integrantes del grupo Systema Solar y una revisión documental y bibliográfica. Dentro de los hallazgos se encuentran dos elementos en el trasfondo del proceso de acumulación de capital simbólico en estas nuevas expresiones musicales: 1) un proceso de mediación tecnológica, a partir de la incorporación de equipos y nuevas técnicas de producción como la remezcla de canciones, por ejemplo y 2) la apropiación de un ethos Caribe, definido ya no a partir de una identidad territorial, sino de sentido

Reviewed by: Unexpected Alliances: Independent Filmmakers, the State, and the Film Industry in Postauthoritarian South Korea by Young-a Park Kyungjin Cho Young-a Park, Unexpected Alliances: Independent Filmmakers, the State, and the Film Industry in Postauthoritarian South Korea. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2014. 224pp. Young-a Park’s Unexpected Alliances is an ethnographic variation of the narrative on the anticathartic aftermath of the Revolution: what happens when the tyrants are toppled and the oppressed become the new masters? In this ethnography, Park follows South Korea’s activist independent filmmakers throughout the country’s transition from a military authoritarian regime to a democratically-elected post-authoritarian regime. Having participated in the democratization movement as radical liberals, how did they re-invent themselves as key cultural actors in a neo-liberal state? More crucially, how do we make sense of anti-establishment activists as they become the main players in the state’s cultural apparatus? How is their symbolic capital as activists eroded as they bestow prestige and funds for select members of their circles? Indeed, having forged “unexpected alliances” with state and business sectors, as suggested in the title, how will history judge them? In the Introduction, Park begins her story with an irony: the success of the Korean film industry propelled by “unlikely social actors,” activist independent filmmakers. The book notes how the Korean film industry is considered both a commercial and artistic success. Whereas Hollywood films dominate in other markets, Korean films comprise more than half the national market share and have increasingly boasted commercial success in new markets such as China, whose large-scale audiences are the main consumers of hallyu (the Korean wave). Success, however, is not only limited to commercial films. Artistic recognition of Korean films such as Pieta (2012) by Kim Ki Deok, which was awarded the Golden Lion Award at the [End Page 1253] 69th Venice Film Festival, and more recently of Kim Heung Soon’s Factory Complex (2014), the winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, is a culmination of various social and state forces at work. Identifying these forces and the way they operate is at the core of Park’s book. For Park, this irony has two dimensions. The first lies in the fact that anti-state, anti-capital independent filmmakers have joined hands with both the state and chaebol (Korean business conglomerates) to propel a commercial, albeit staunch nationalistic, film sector. The second dimension refers to the manner in which the post-authoritarian regimes, starting with that of Kim Dae Jung, promoted the cultural industry. Former film-making activists who had contributed in bringing the liberal regime into power, established themselves as cultural brokers with almost exclusive access to government subsidies. Their personal connections with other activists, who were now key players in the government, provided the basis for their social capital; whereas their status as radical activists, bestowed upon them symbolic capital, imbuing them with a higher sense of morality. The formation of a favored cultural hegemonic bloc, was reminiscent of government patron–client transactions of the 1960s and 1970s under the military dictatorship, which was precisely the type of cronyism and favoritism that activists had sought to topple. It is within these contexts that Park asks the main question of her inquiry: “Can the alliances in contemporary South Korea described throughout this book be characterized as the ‘cooptation’ of social activism?” (24). In other words, did the activists sell out once they came into power? As such, Park’s inquiry is part of the larger discussion that problematizes the rapid pace of neoliberalization that has transformed the sociopolitical landscape of South Korea after democratization, and the role that previous activists have played in this process (Song 2009). Park’s ethnography is an attempt to make sense of these seemingly contradictory historical processes, by focusing on radical film activists in its center. In Chapter 1, Park traces the origins of activist independent filmmakers through an organization they formed, which she names KIFA (Korea Independent Filmmakers Association). Active in the 1970s and 1980s, KIFA would produce anti-government films and also use screening events as political rituals of resistance. At the height of political and labor repression...

The ethnographic study of tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean offers the opportunity to examine the ways that racial ideologies perpetuate social inequality, debunking the myth of racial democracy in countries such as Brazil. In the case of Brogodó, in Bahia, Brazil, structural inequality and racial ideology limit the equal participation of Brazilians of African descent in the local ecotourism industry. This article draws on evidence from ethnographic research to investigate the relationship of structural inequality, racial ideology, and cultural and symbolic capital. In the ecotourism industry, employer discourses emphasizing the limits of local community members’ cultural capital conceal their preference for employees exhibiting both the habitus and phenotypic traits associated with whiteness, reflecting broader social and economic practices that discriminate against African-descendent Brazilians. The ability to naturalize habitus and disguise racial ideology behind discussions of education and qualifications reflects employers’ and members of the dominant classes’ symbolic power.

This study generally aims to describe the strategy of modern Batak and Christian sects (Charismatic churches) as the subordinate agents to achieve a recognition of their faith from Batak Toba communities who accepted Ulos and cultural practices as the symbolic capital and the cultural identity in the field of Christianity. The scope of this study focuses on the artistic field and religious identity of Batak Toba, which is depicted by reactions of Batak people who still recognize Ulos as part of the religious instrument at conventional churches, as shown in the mailing list comments, Silaban Brotherhood. This study will use ethnographic qualitative approaches and research literature. To answer this issue, Bourdieu’s perspective theory will take control of drawing identity as the mental representation of objectives toward practices committed by social agents and as the subjectivity shown by symbolic manipulation strategies. The construction of identity is produced by the existence of the power field and the occurrence of symbolic capital amongst social agents.