HABITUS

THE GIST

•  A concept that explains how inequality is reproduced through the dominant social and cultural conditions that an individual is accustomed to, which then determines their position in society.
• The term habitus refers to a collective entity by and into which dominant social and cultural conditions of a society are established and reproduced.
• What one considers natural, taboo, neutral and good or bad is constructed by one’s habitus.
• The “capital” refers to a person or group’s accumulated status within a stratified society.
• Economic capital refers to a person’s wealth which determines his economic class in society.
• Cultural capital refers to a person’s cultural competencies.
• Social capital refers to the social networks that a person has developed and can call upon to achieve social mobility.

_HISTORY 

• The concept of Habitus was made popular by French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu in his book  “Outline of a theory of practice”(1977).
• According to Bourdieu, when people exhibit agency they consciously refer to social structures, thus reflecting on and reproducing them.
• Individual actions are thus reflected by the socialization and habitus of the individual.

CONCEPT

• The concept of Habitus was first known by Aristotle, but Pierre Bourdieu transformed it into social theory.
• Habitus is a subjective and yet not an individual system of structures, concepts, schemes of perception, actions and norms that are internalized by individuals in the same group.
• Habitus helps instil a sense of the world in individuals by attributing cultural value to material or immaterial objects.
•  Even at a very intimate level, habitus postulates specific properties.
• The sense of habitus or our understanding of the things valued within the habitus is conferred through various institutions or fields.
• It begins with the family, where one gets attuned to one’s surroundings and culture and is reinforced through institutions like schools and offices.

CONNECTION TO CAPITAL

• The capital formed the foundation of social life and dictated one’s position within society.
• In sociology, capital refers to a person or group’s accumulated status within a stratified society.
• A person’s accent, their knowledge about dressing according to occasions, their knowledge of etiquette, taboos, manners, their understanding of cultural objects like music, artwork, and the books they read are examples of cultural capital.
• The network connection one’s family has in a Company, which helps them get the job easier than others or gaining membership to an exclusive club are examples of social capital.

REPRODUCING INEQUALITY

• Under different contexts, an individual enters these sub-spaces referred to as fields.
• Fields include institutions like schools, colleges, universities, social groups like one’s friend circles and social clubs or even workspaces.
• While entering a new field, individuals carry their habitus, a combination of the economic, social and cultural capital they were introduced to and accustomed to them.
• The combination of different capitals is automatically transformed into symbolic capital when they enter the field and help in determining their legitimate position in the given field.

EXPLANATION

• For instance, Shruthi and Laya are two students who recently graduated from college and are looking for jobs.
• Shruthi is an upper caste student from a top-ranking university in India.
• Her parents are both professors in social sciences who teach in top-ranking colleges.
• Laya is a Dalit student, from a middle-class family and was a topper in a college in her hometown.
• Her father is a government employee while her mother is a teacher in a government high school.
• Due to their grades and good performance in interviews, both are employed as research assistants at a college in Delhi, wherein their performance would determine a permanent position.
• Shruthi, due to her network with professors from different colleges and her understanding of classical music and ancient art and culture can mingle well and have better conversations with her new colleagues resulting in becoming popular, while Laya despite earning the same as Shruthi, struggles to gel well with his cosmopolitan colleagues resulting as her cultural and social capital is very different from the rest.
• Though both are equally competent at their work, by the end of the term, Shruthi because of her social and cultural capital becomes a permanent employee, while Laya loses the opportunity as she cannot relate to the Doha of the field.
• This example shows how cultural and social capital play an equally important role in determining one’s future.
• It is not an only economic class but also the social class that one inherits from one’s family.
• Thus, habitus and capital not only determine one’s position in society but also result in the reproduction of inequality.