Symbolic Capital Research Articles

Expert knowledge as a social phenomenon: theoretical and mythodological analysis

The transformations of modern society with its rapid informatization and digitalization form a new social demand for analyzing present and future. A figure of an expert appears more and more often as a producer of special expert knowledge in public policy and everyday practices. Namely, expert knowledge becomes in demand and acquires the so-called symbolic capital. This paper deals with a retrospective review of understanding the phenomenon of expert knowledge in the theoretical concepts of the classics of sociological science. In addition, the article presents a theoretical and methodological analysis of the work of Russian social researchers dealing with the issues of expert knowledge in modern Russian society. As a result of theoretical concepts analyzing it is concluded that expert knowledge is a complex multifaceted social phenomenon, the history of which goes back to antiquity and develops over the centuries. First of all, expert knowledge is a set of skills and abilities that allow their holders to develop specific recommendations in management and politics. Secondly, a necessary criterion for expert knowledge is its public nature. The question remains as to what is the priority in expert knowledge - science or practice. In our opinion, both science and practice should unite to solve the applied problems of the objective reality of modern society. It is expert knowledge as the quintessence of fundamental knowledge, professional experience and personal responsibility of an expert that can become an effective tool for supporting transformational changes in Russia.

The Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Kražiai Massacre in Lithuania and Poland

The Imperial Russian authorities closed the Benedictine convent church in Kražiai in 1893 and put down the Catholic community’s opposition with such brutality that the event came to be known as the Kražiai massacre. Soon after the events in Kražiai, a conflict broke out between Lithuanians and Poles over the division of the symbolic capital associated with the Kražiai massacre, as both sides argued over their respective merits in defending the church. On the eve of the First World War, the Kražiai massacre had become a place of memory for Lithuanians and Poles alike. This article presents an analysis of how the 40th anniversary of the Kražiai massacre was commemorated in Lithuania and in Poland in 1933. I try to answer the following questions: what prompted the need to commemorate the anniversary of this event, what meanings accompanied the commemoration of the event in Lithuania and Poland, and did the political elites of these countries try to exploit the Kražiai massacre’s anniversary to reduce political tensions between Lithuania and Poland due to the absence of diplomatic relations between these countries at the time.

On Identifying Chivalric Culture. An Outline of Research Issue

The article is an attempt to capture the chivalric culture on the basis of various activities of the nobility, as reconstructed by an analysis of written records as well as artefacts discovered mainly in Silesian castles during archaeological research. In order to objectify the results of this research, the concept of habitus proposed by sociologist of culture Pierre Bourdieu and his continuators was used. This approach redirects focus to the question of a range of capitals – economic, social, cultural, and others – which were at the disposal of the lord of the castle, discernible on the basis of the analysis of archaeological materials and written records. The possibility of converting them into symbolic capital is identified here with the culture of chivalry.

Annina Gagyiova. Vom Gulasch zum Kühlschrank: Privater Konsum zwischen Eigensinn und Herrschaftssicherung im sozialistischen Ungarn (1956–1989) [From goulash to fridge: individual consumption between Eigensinn and political dominance in socialist Hungary (1956–1989)

Annina Gagyiova. <i>Vom Gulasch zum Kühlschrank: Privater Konsum zwischen Eigensinn und Herrschaftssicherung im sozialistischen Ungarn (1956–1989)</i> [From goulash to fridge: individual consumption between <i>Eigensinn</i> and political dominance in socialist Hungary (1956–1989)

Chinese Language Investment: Pesantren and Social Reproduction Challenges

Pesantren, the most dominant Islamic educational institution, has existed long before Indonesian independence. To answer the challenge of modernity, many pesantrens reform their curriculum. A pesantren, Nurul Jadid, follows this step by offering foreign languages, besides Arabic. Inspired by China’s economic rise, Nurul Jadid includes Chinese in its curriculum. This study investigates how Nurul Jadid promotes Chinese among pesantren students so that they invest in the language. This study employs a qualitative research design and draws on the concept of global language (Crystal 2003), Bourdieu’s cultural capital and social reproduction theory (Bourdieu and Passeron 1990). Data are obtained through in-depth interviews with 13 participants. The findings show that Nurul Jadid promotes Chinese through the creation of the school’s image and the use of religious guidance. These efforts transform Chinese into a cultural capital its students can accumulate for the sake of their mobility. In so doing, the students, most of whom come from working-class background, invest in Chinese, which then functions as a symbolic capital that helps them challenge social reproduction. Keywords: Language Investment, Pesantren, Social Reproduction.

Censorship, Pandemic, and the Field of Power: The Death and Revival of a Chinese War Epic

This case study examines the dramatic change of fortune of the Chinese war epic “The Eight Hundred”. The movie was censored in 2019 during China’s celebration of the country’s 70th anniversary but became the market-saving hero in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Through the lens of Bourdieu’s theory of the field of cultural production, this study argues that the movie’s changing fate is essentially the change of its political, symbolic and economic capitals, under different field conditions. The subfield of commercial films in China is subject to the control of political and economic forces in the field of power, but is also becoming an economic power itself.

Symbolic capital of the region in the context of the construction of an ethno-cultural brand (case of the Republic of Mordovia)

The purpose of the article is to identify the cultural and symbolic attributes that form the symbolic capital of the Republic of Mordovia. As part of the study, a representative survey of 384 residents was conducted in accordance with quotas by sex, age, place of residence, as well as a complete survey of the target group — employees of cultural institutions of the Republic of Mordovia (763 people) using an interactive questionnaire on the Google Forms platform. The study of cultural and symbolic attributes and the main components of the ethno-cultural image is due to the search for competitive advantages of the territory to determine and form the image of the region, taking into account the potential of national cultures. The results of the study made it possible to determine a set of authentic and original meanings and images that ensure fame and cause a stable positive association with Mordovia. It was revealed that natural-geographical, ethno-cultural and socio-economic components give the republic its uniqueness and recognition. The natural and geographical advantage of the territory is unique natural and recreational resources, favorable geographical position, proximity to the federal center and the presence of a network of high-quality roads of federal and republican significance. The national and cultural identity of the region acts as a resource for generating its positive reputation. The organization of interesting and non-trivial cultural events that attract local and external audiences increases the attractiveness of the republic. The socio-economic advantage of Mordovia is determined by the production of industrial products and food products that have a high reputation among consumers. For the inhabitants of the region, the places of concentration, preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the region, located in the regional centers, become important. The authors confirmed that the Republic of Mordovia has rich intangible assets that make it possible to construct its own unique ethno-cultural brand of the territory.

Sorting citizens: Governing via China's social credit system

AbstractChina's social credit system can be examined as a governance tool which sorts citizenship behaviors into trustworthy and untrustworthy categories as part of the regime's long‐standing effort to cultivate a loyal citizenry. Based on a data set comprised of central‐level official documents, national model citizen lists, and media reports, this study qualitatively examines how the Chinese state constructs “good” and “bad” citizen ideal types. Contrary to media depictions of the system as digital totalitarianism, political behaviors are not the sole criterion for sorting citizens into categories. In fact, the state constructs “bad” (untrustworthy) citizens as those who engage in a wide range of behaviors, including financial and professional misconduct. Simultaneously, the state also uses the system to construct and cultivate “good” (trustworthy) citizens as those who publicly demonstrate loyalty to the regime. Theoretically, this study sheds light on how the world's most powerful authoritarian regime governs through a system that distributes material and symbolic capital.

Bourdieusian capital conversion during crises of socio-political legitimacy: Sponsorship of the arts by Barclays Bank, 1972 to 1987

This paper advances our understanding of how organisations engage in the process of Bourdieusian capital conversion during crises of socio-political legitimacy. We do so by analysing the arts sponsorship strategies of Barclays between 1972 and 1987. During this period, Barclays faced numerous challenges to its organisational legitimacy as a result of its continued dealings in apartheid South Africa and its ability to generate extraordinary profits despite general economic malaise in Britain. As a response, Barclays increased its sponsorship of the arts, exchanging its substantial economic capital for the symbolic capital associated with high-status arts institutions. We identify the forces that facilitated and inhibited these capital exchanges and how they affected Barclays’ sponsorship strategies. This paper will be of interest to Bourdieusian scholars interested in capital exchange, to business historians interested in banking in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s, and researchers interested in the evolution of corporate sponsorship and philanthropy.

Social value of Spanish among transnational Latin American families in Italy

The aim of this paper is to explore the value of Spanish through the study of the ideologies and subjectivities represented in the discursive practices of some transnational Latin American families that underwent processes of diaspora to Italy. In particular, the goal is to focus on their family language policies by exploring the relationship between linguistic uses, identities, and ideologies. In the current context of neoliberalism, many scholars have highlighted how language has become a commodity (Holborow, 2007; Block, Gray, and Holborow, 2012; Heller and Duchêne, 2012) or, in terms of Bourdieu (1991), a symbolic capital, i.e., a system of values that social actors associate with a particular linguistic use in a specific economic and political context, determined by certain power relations. In global contemporary diasporas, in line with the colonial era (Mignolo, 1992; Heller and McElhinny, 2017), the perceptual and evaluation schemes of linguistic practices continue to be strongly determined by the centre-periphery relationship. This same language regime is reflected in the social value of Spanish that emerges in the discursive practices of Hispanic families in Italy. The data, in effect, demonstrate a clear perceptual inequality between the Spanish of the diaspora, marginalised by its condition of minority language and delegitimised for representing a deviation from the monoglossic norm (Silverstein, 1996), and the central languages (‘standard’ varieties of Spanish and Italian), understood as convertible resources in the global linguistic market and more desirable in terms of social mobility.

Trust as a Catalyst of Economic Growth: A National and Regional Breakdown

Given the fact that Ukraine declares a European path of development and considers itself a potential member of the European Union, the study mainly examines the relationship between trust and economic growth in Ukraine and other countries of the world, including post-Soviet countries. The hypothesis that general trust has a positive effect on economic growth in general is tested, and a comparative assessment of the level and factors of trust across the regions of Ukraine has been carried out. The results show an historical tradition of mistrust of the state and its institutions particular to Ukraine as the country where the state has been perceived as foreign by most of the population for over 70 years; exceptional weakness and corruption of state administration, even by the standard of third-world countries; availability of influential and consistent stereotypes, partially universal and partly specific to post-communist countries. It causes polarization in society and within certain social groups and governmental institutions. Ukrainian society is characterized by the waste of symbolic capital of confidence in authorities. Meanwhile, there is some symmetry between mistrust of the system and trust in entities created by people to meet their spiritual, social, psychological, and other needs.

Different responses to mega-trends in less favorable farming systems. Continuation and abandonment of farming land on the islands of Lesvos and Lemnos, Greece

Farming systems in marginal or less favored areas of Europe have faced a multitude of challenges as a response to so-called “mega-trends”. A typical response has been land abandonment. The focus of this paper is on the farming systems of the Greek islands of Lesvos and Lemnos. These neighboring islands are geographically very similar but differ greatly in their farming systems, resulting in different responses to the same megatrends. While land abandonment is widespread in the small-scale olive groves of Lesvos, on Lemnos specialization towards animal and dairy products is more common. We performed land cover analysis and interviews with farmers in both areas, in two complementing rounds: one more quantitative that recorded recent changes and farmer rationales and a more qualitative one that investigated longer term trends and decision-making patterns. The analysis revealed that, among others, land ownership and inheritance patterns matter in both areas in different ways, leading to diverse trajectories. On Lemnos, as part of the traditional mixed-farming system (Mandra), land leasing is dominant, separating land users and landowners. Interviews also reveal the different symbolic capital, as olive trees on Lesvos are considered a family asset and not just a land use, something that cannot be said of the leased grazing lands on Lemnos. The market value of the different products is important, but the different trajectories also demonstrate how the rationales behind the responses to mega-trends can guide which trajectories will be dominant in the area. This article highlights the complexity and mix of local drivers and global trends that drive abandonment at both farm and the landscape scales and guides the formulation and application of agricultural policies and public resources for improved management of marginal areas.

MIGRATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER: THE MOTIVATION OF SYRIANS TO START A BUSINESS IN GAZİANTEP

Göçmenlerin kendi işletmelerini açmaya yönelmeleri, farklı bağlamlarda tartışılmaktadır. Göçmenlerin işyeri açması, bazen uyumun veya sosyal ağların bir göstergesi olurken bazen hâkim ekonomik sisteme yeterince dâhil olamamalarının bir göstergesi olabilmektedir. Göçmenlerin işyeri açmalarının ekonomik, kültürel, sembolik ve sosyal sermayeleriyle yakından ilişkili olduğu tartışılmaktadır. Bu faktörlere, sosyo-ekonomik ve politik söylemin yeni gelenleri ne kadar içerdiği ve göçmen grubun büyüklüğü gibi unsurlar da eklenebilir. Bütün bunlar dikkate alındığında, çalışmada Bourdieu’nün ilişkisel perspektifi, Gaziantep’te Suriyelilerin işletme açma deneyimlerini analiz etmek için kullanılacaktır.Amaç: Gaziantep’teki Suriyelilerin, hem kendi işyerlerini açma oranlarının hem de bu oranlarda erkeklerin payının yüksek olduğu görülmektedir. Bu çalışmada, Suriyelilerin işletme açma motivasyonları, toplumsal cinsiyet faktörü dikkate alınarak tartışılmaktadır.Yöntem: Bu çalışma, 2018 yılı Kent Kültürü ve Kentlilik Bilincinin Geliştirilmesi Mali Destek Programı kapsamında Gaziantep’teki Suriyeliler Başarı Hikâyeleri çalışmasının verilerine dayanmaktadır. Makale, yarı-yapılandırılmış görüşme sorularından hareketle, Gaziantep’te işletme sahibi olan 16 Suriyeliyle (5 kadın ve 11erkek) yapılan görüşmelere odaklanmaktadır.Bulgular: Kadınların sermaye birikimlerindeki farklılık, ev ve çocuk bakımındaki geleneksel rolleri, işletme açma motivasyonlarını belirlemektedir. Erkeklerin, Suriye’de yaptıkları işleri devam ettirme isteği, ailenin geçimini sağlama yükümlülüğü ve işyerinde karşılaştıkları ayrımcılık, kendi işyerlerini açma deneyimlerini etkilemektedir. Çalışma saatlerindeki esneklik ise hem kadınlar hem de erkekler için işyeri açma deneyiminin önemli bir parçasıdır. Özgünlük: Göçmenlerin işyeri açma tartışmalarında göz ardı edilen toplumsal cinsiyet temelli faktörlerin tartışılması, çalışmayı farklı kılmaktadır.

Understanding the plural landscape of cybersecurity governance in Spain: a matter of capital exchange

This paper empirically explores the contribution and collaborative networks of public and private actors to cybersecurity provision in Spain. The article draws on data from three sources: policy and legal documents, a Delphi study with cybersecurity experts, and 34 interviews. Rooted in the theoretical underpinnings of nodal governance and anchored pluralism, the paper argues that the position of actors and public-private collaboration dynamics involved in cybersecurity governance can be understood through the analysis of capital exchange. Therefore, the study provides a list of the most relevant nodes for cybersecurity in Spain, assesses the capital they possess and how they exchange it through collaborative networks and explores the characteristics and barriers of these collaborative relationships. Analyses reveal that public organisations hold a preeminent position in cybersecurity governance despite large technology corporations’ greater economic and cultural capital. Remarkably, the paper identifies the central position of new public bodies in the network of cybersecurity nodes. Moreover, cultural barriers that are hindering public-private collaboration in Spain are identified. These results indicate that, despite the state’s difficulties in providing public solutions to cybersecurity challenges, Spain is an example of how governance can be anchored in public bodies through symbolic and social capital.

Solidarity happens: Corriente Sindical de Izquierdas, radical trade unionism in democratic Asturias

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the Franco dictatorship, a pole of workers’ militancy was forged in the city of Gijón around a critical current of Comisiones Obreras, the main Spanish trade union, called the Corriente de Izquierdas (Left Current). This group of workers was the driving force behind some of the most important conflicts of the new democracy, including a strike of strict solidarity that lasted almost three months. Expelled from their union in 1982, the Corriente Sindical de Izquierdas became the main reference point for radical trade unionism in Asturias. Despite its small size and limited presence, for forty years it has been at the forefront of many of the most notorious and agonising conflicts against the deindustrialisation of the city and the region, with trade union methods characterised by their radicalism, but above all, by their strong commitment to solidarity. Such has been its trade union history that the organisation has earned a notable place in Asturian and even Spanish popular culture. Here we will review its evolution as a trade union and what have been the signs of identity that have made it possible for an admittedly small organisation to accumulate such remarkable social prominence and symbolic capital.

Habituation of Chinese Subculture amid Bangka Malay Domination: The Role-sharing Politics

Ethnic Chinese is an ethnic group that has long been part of the people of Bangka Island. The harmonious relationship between the ethnic Chinese and the indigenous population shows that the habituation process is going well so that their existence is accepted as a social reality. This study uses descriptive qualitative methods to collect data from interviews and observations in regencies/municipalities within Bangka Island. This research finds that the existence of the Chinese ethnicity has been processed by strengthening the four main capitals of the Chinese ethnicity (Bourdieu’s view): economic capital, social capital, cultural capital, and symbolic capital. Capital control has encouraged good role-sharing politics because capital control is carried out transformatively. It is not surprising that the Chinese minority subculture, although in many ways it feels dominant, can still be accepted as a social reality that forms intercultural harmony on Bangka island.

Hadrian's Wall and Border Studies: Problems and Prospects

ABSTRACTHadrian's Wall remains one of the most iconic elements of Roman frontier infrastructure, with considerable symbolic capital in all kinds of contemporary situations and representations. Whether inspiring the fictional ice wall in Game of Thrones or illustrating debates about English–Scottish relationships in Brexit-era Britain, the Wall has a powerful legacy. In more scholarly circles, the Wall sometimes figures in the literature of the emerging field of Border Studies, too, and in this paper I examine some of these representations, as a prelude to discussing what Border Studies offers to Wall studies within Roman archaeology. While the interdisciplinary nature of Border Studies can mean that Hadrian's Wall is misunderstood when taken out of context, this does not mean that the broader insights of Border Studies have no value to Roman archaeologists in better interpreting the Wall and its place in Roman Britain. To the contrary, the combination of innovative theories of frontiers and borderlands with detailed, nuanced understanding of the Wall communities through time has much to offer the archaeology of Britain in the Roman empire. Indeed, this field has the potential to connect frontier studies better with other dimensions of Roman provincial archaeology than has been typical in our discipline over much of the last half-century.

Gender roles and domestic power in energy-saving home improvements

The importance of considering gender aspects in studies on residential energy consumption has been acknowledged. However, an important topic is still ignored in gender and energy transitions research: domestic power for men and women differs depending on the type of couple to which they belong. According to Pierre Bourdieu, the chances of each spouse to exercise legitimate power in domestic affairs depend on their respective economic and symbolic capital. In other words, spouses-matching matters, and practices, gender domestic roles and social representations on energy-saving home improvements are influenced to a great extent by the type of union that matches both spouses’ respective socio-economic characteristics into homo- or heterogamic unions. This mixed-method research is based on extensive data collected in multiple efforts over 18 years, comprising: (1) several sets of in-depth interviews with adults married or in union realised between 2006 and 2021; and (2) three large quantitative surveys realised in 2004, 2014 and 2016. Results indicate that traditional gender roles and male domestic power are mostly challenged in hypogamous unions both in considering and in carrying energy-saving home improvements. <em><strong>Practice relevance</strong></em> A one-size-fits-all retrofit framing and energy policy does not work. In this case, it is not the technical conditions but rather a couple’s power relationships in the home. The male territory of energy-saving home improvements is being eroded, especially by wives who are more educated than their husband. Domestic power is key to apprehend the marital dynamics around retrofit. Recognising these marital dynamics, a variety of values can be mobilised to support the execution of energy retrofits, including, for example, more feminine values such as equality, and care for children. Policy instruments and media messages should be designed accordingly, and not mainly as financial benefits. Practitioners would be well-advised to take a more gender-neutral attitude with less stereotyping of male and female potentials. This also means treating homeowners in couples as a team rather than interacting only with the male partner: gender-neutral interactions would better avoid causing or reinforcing embarrassing situations for one partner or for the couple itself in their marital struggle for domestic power in deciding on or executing energy-saving home improvements.

Структурно-функциональные особенности религиозной экстремистской деятельности: между иерархичностью и сетевизацией

The work is devoted to the study of the structural and functional model of religious extremist associations. Religious extremist actions are viewed as a joint form of organized activity. Its specifics are influenced by the conditions of modern civilization: digital environment, virtualization, globalization, and networkization. The research methodology is based on the structural-functional approach by T. Parsons. Religious extremist associations are viewed as systemic units of a sociocultural community and independent social systems. The establishment of network connections is carried out within the theories framework by J. Barns, M. Castells. The nature of the relationship between the participants is determined by the theory of social exchange by G. Homans. In the modern world, many organizations, especially those with a transnational characteristic, are replacing the hierarchical structure model with a network one. This allows them to optimize their economic and intellectual resources, strengthen political and symbolic capital, expand their target audience and increase competitiveness. Extremist organizations are also transforming their structure. Religious extremism seeks to implement socio-political projects for a radical transformation of social reality on a religious basis through the conquest, retention, and use of power by illegal methods. Religious extremist associations actively use network resources, cooperate with other organizations and make appropriate changes to the structure. However, they retain a hierarchical model where the relationships are less explicit due to networkization processes. This model remains the main one due to the presence of a) sacred; b) general religious beliefs; c) a sense of spiritual unity and sacred significance, as well as the sharing of the religious and political ideology provisions by all participants. It is the combination of hierarchy and networkization that contributes to the widespread dissemination of the religious extremism ideas and the growth of the activity of religious extremist associations.

Demonstrating institutional trustworthiness: A framework for pharmacy regulatory authorities.

Self-regulation is well suited for health care providers as the distinctive knowledge requirements can be effectively managed by those with the specific knowledge base compared to national or provincial/state governments. Despite their prevalence and long history in health care, self-regulating professions have become a topic of increasing debate as a result of evidence of declines in trust in a number of institutional contexts. It is important that Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (PRAs), as the regulating body for a critical health profession, can demonstrate and proactively respond to issues related to public trust. Such capabilities are needed to address an overall decline in trust in self-regulated professions and allow PRAs to quickly address issues that may impact public trust within their own jurisdiction. However, a process and best practices that allow PRAs to demonstrate institutional trustworthiness to the public is lacking. Given the need from both a research and practice perspective, this research develops a conceptual framework of how PRAs can demonstrate institutional trustworthiness to the public. The literature was reviewed to identify dominant themes associated with regulatory practice that would serve to demonstrate institutional trustworthiness of PRAs to the public. Eight best practice themes emerged: public interest objective, transparency, engagement, accountability, independence, collaboration, adaptability, and awareness. The conceptual framework is comprised of six key steps, related to defining public interest orientation, implementing trust-related best practices, developing a communication strategy to increase public awareness of PRA activities, monitoring symbolic capital, assessing public trust in registrants (interpersonal trust), and assessing public and registrant trust in the regulator (institutional trust). Future research should develop pharmacy-focused instruments related to trust, establish baseline measures of registrant and public trust in pharmacy regulatory authorities, and explore issues of public trust in PRAs between different cultures and developed and developing countries.