habit

The concept of habitus was popularized by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in his book Outline of a theory of practice (1977). He used the concept to address the sociological puzzle between structure and agency and explained that housing was shaped by structural position, but also generated action. According to Bourdieu, when people demonstrate agency they involuntarily refer to social structures, thus reflecting and reproducing them. Thus individual actions are reflected by the socialization and habit of the individual.

Concept

Although the concept of habit was the first to be used by Aristotle, it was Pierre Bourdieu who turned it into an important concept in social theory. The term habit refers to a collective unit by and in which the dominant social and cultural conditions of society are established and reproduced. It is a subjective and yet not an individual system of structures, concepts, schemes of perception, actions and norms that are created internally by individuals of the same group. Habitus helps to create a sense of the world in individuals by attributing cultural value to physical or non-material objects. Even on a very intimate level, habit determines specific qualities. What one considers ‘natural’, ‘forbidden’, ‘neutral’ and ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is created out of his habit. For example, while some social classes appreciate Bollywood music, some other social classes consider only Carnatic or Hindustani music to be worthy of praise.

The sense of habit or our understanding of the valuable things within the habit is provided through various institutions or fields. It starts with the family, where the individual gets accustomed to his environment and culture and is strengthened through institutions like schools and offices. Nevertheless, these institutions can help in the reorganization and modification of basic forms of culture and society.

relation to capital

Although not considered a Marxist sociologist, Bourdieu was influenced by the work of Karl Marx. Both argued that capital forms the foundation of social life and determines one’s position within society. Bourdieu took this idea of ​​capital beyond the economic and into the more symbolic realm of culture. In sociology, ‘capital’ refers to the accumulated position of an individual or group within a stratified society. There are different forms of capital.

Economic capital refers to the wealth of an individual which determines his economic class in the society. Cultural capital refers to the cultural competencies of an individual. A person’s accent, their knowledge of dressing according to occasions, their knowledge of manners, taboos and etiquette, their understanding of cultural objects such as artwork or music and the books they read are some examples of cultural capital. Cultural capital can be translated into other forms of capital as it helps in gaining access to social groups such as prestigious colleges. This in turn helps with economic capital as they have better job prospects due to associations and networks.

Social capital refers to the social networks and relationships that an individual has developed and may call upon to achieve social benefits or mobility. The network connection of one’s family to a company, which helps them to do the job easier than others, or to obtain membership of a particular club because the person knows the son of the owner of the club, social capital are some examples of. It also includes ethnic capital which refers to the benefits of belonging to a specific ethnic group, linguistic capital which refers to one’s linguistic skills that help it gain greater acceptance in a field, and intellectual capital which refers to the benefits of belonging to a specific ethnic group. Refers to the value that one’s knowledge, abilities, and relationships bring to an organization.

reproducibility inequality

Society is a multidimensional space with various sub-spaces. Under various contexts, a person enters these subspaces referred to by Bourdieu as fields. Areas include social groups such as schools, colleges, universities, or one’s circle of friends and social clubs or even workspaces.

When entering a new territory, individuals carry a combination of their habitual, economic, social and cultural capital that they were introduced to and accustomed to. The combination of different capitals automatically turns into symbolic capital when they enter the territory and helps to determine their legitimate position in a given area according to the area docs or regulations.

For example, let’s take A and B as two students who have recently graduated from college and are looking for a job. A is an upper caste and upper class male student from a top ranked university in India. Both his parents are social science professors who teach in the country’s top-ranked colleges. B is a male Dalit student from a middle-class family and was a topper in a college in his hometown. His father is a government employee while his mother is a government high school teacher. Due to their grades and good performance in interviews, both are employed as research assistants in a college in Delhi, in which their performance will determine a permanent position. A, because of his network with professors from different colleges, and his understanding of classical music and ancient art and culture mixes well and interacts better with his new colleagues as a result of which he becomes popular, while B , despite earning similar to A, struggles to keep pace with its metropolitan peers because its cultural and social capital is so different from the rest of its region. Although both are equally competent in their work, by the end of the term, A becomes a permanent employee at the college because of his social and cultural capital, while B loses the opportunity as he cannot relate to the field docs. .

This example shows how cultural and social capital play an equally important role in determining one’s future. It is not only the economic class but also the social class that one inherits from one’s family. Thus, habit and capital not only determine one’s position in society but also result in the reproduction of inequality.