Hip-hop and Construction of Group Identity in a Stigmatized Area. : A Field Study regarding Cultural Capital among Roma Youths in Konik, Montenegro.

This research aimed for an extended knowledge and understanding of young people in stigmatized areas and their construction of group identity. With a focus on Roma youths in Konik, Montenegro, and their involvement in hip-hop we wanted to explore what this culture meant to them in relation to their context. An ethnographic approach was used in collecting the empirical data through observations, interpreting music lyrics and conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews. Five young Roma boys from Konik, all involved in hip-hop, were interviewed. Theoretical perspectives on identity, youth culture and stigmatization were central. In addition, Bourdieu’s theory regarding cultural capital was emphasized and connected to youths and hip-hop. The empirical material showed that involvement in hip-hop provided the Roma youths with a group identity that they referred to in positive terms. Contextual factors of stigmatization excluded the Roma group from the majority population and the engagement in hip-hop created a possibility for the youths to be someone. The cultural capital gained through hip-hop was not used to verify and legitimate an authentic Roma identity. It was rather a way for them to create boundaries towards the negative elements in their community.

Cultural capital and social inequality in health

Economic and social resources are known to contribute to the unequal distribution of health outcomes. Culture-related factors such as normative beliefs, knowledge and behaviours have also been shown to be associated with health status. The role and function of cultural resources in the unequal distribution of health is addressed. Drawing on the work of French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, the concept of cultural capital for its contribution to the current understanding of social inequalities in health is explored. It is suggested that class related cultural resources interact with economic and social capital in the social structuring of people's health chances and choices. It is concluded that cultural capital is a key element in the behavioural transformation of social inequality into health inequality. New directions for empirical research on the interplay between economic, social and cultural capital are outlined.

The Integration of Formal and Non-formal Education: The Dutch “brede school”

The Dutch “brede school” (BS) development originates in the 1990s and has spread unevenly since: quicker in the primary than secondary educational sector. In 2007, there were about 1000 primary and 350 secondary BS schools and it is the intention of the government as well as the individual municipalities to extend that number and make the BS the dominant school form of the near future. In the primary sector, a BS cooperates with crèche and preschool facilities, besides possible other neighborhood partners. The main targets are, first, to enhance educational opportunities, particularly for children with little (western-) cultural capital, and secondly to increase women’s labor market participation by providing extra familial care for babies and small children. All primary schools are now obliged to provide such care. In the secondary sector, a BS is less neighborhood-orientated than a primary BS because those schools are bigger and more often located in different buildings. As in the primary sector, there are broad and more narrow BS, the first profile cooperating with many non-formal and other partners and facilities and the second with few. On the whole, there is a wide variety of BS schools, with different profiles and objectives, dependent on the needs and wishes of the initiators and the neighborhood. A BS is always the result of initiatives of the respective school and its partners: parents, other neighborhood associations, municipality etc. BS schools are not enforced by the government although the general trend will be that existing school organizations transform into BS. The integration of formal and non-formal education and learning is more advanced in primary than secondary schools. In secondary education, vocational as well as general, there is a clear dominance of formal education; the non-formal curriculum serves mainly two lines and objectives: first, provide attractive leisure activities and second provide compensatory courses and support for under-achievers who are often students with migrant background. In both sectors, primary and secondary, it is the formal school organization with its professionals which determines the character of a BS; there is no full integration of formal and non-formal education resulting in one non-disruptive learning trajectory, nor is there the intention to go in that direction. Non-formal pedagogues are partly professionals, like youth- and social workers, partly volunteers, like parents, partly non-educational partners, like school-police, psycho-medical help or commercial leisure providers. Besides that, the BS is regarded by government educational and social policy as a potential partner and anchor for community development. It is too early to make reliable statements about the effects of the BS movement in the Netherlands concerning the educational opportunities for disadvantaged children and their families, especially those with migrant background, and combat further segregation. Evaluation studies made so far are moderately positive but also point to problems of overly bureaucratized structures and layers, lack of sufficient financial resources and, again, are uncertain about long-term effects.

Social inequality and smoking in young Swiss men: intergenerational transmission of cultural capital and health orientation

OBJECTIVES Smoking is related to income and education and contributes to social inequality in morbidity and mortality. Socialisation theories focus on one's family of origin as regards acquisition of norms, attitudes and behaviours. Aim of this study is to assess associations of daily smoking with health orientation and academic track in young Swiss men. Further, to assess associations of health orientation and academic track with family healthy lifestyle, parents' cultural capital, and parents' economic capital. METHODS Cross-sectional data were collected during recruitment for compulsory military service in Switzerland during 2010 and 2011. A structural equation model was fitted to a sample of 18- to 25-year-old Swiss men (N = 10,546). RESULTS Smoking in young adults was negatively associated with academic track and health orientation. Smoking was negatively associated with parents' cultural capital through academic track. Smoking was negatively associated with health orientation which in turn was positively associated with a healthy lifestyle in the family of origin. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest two different mechanisms of intergenerational transmissions: first, the family transmission path of health-related dispositions, and secondly, the structural transmission path of educational inequality.

Cultural capital and smoking in young adults: applying new indicators to explore social inequalities in health behaviour.

BACKGROUND Associations between social status and health behaviours are well documented, but the mechanisms involved are less understood. Cultural capital theory may contribute to a better understanding by expanding the scope of inequality indicators to include individuals' knowledge, skills, beliefs and material goods to examine how these indicators impact individuals' health lifestyles. We explore the structure and applicability of a set of cultural capital indicators in the empirical exploration of smoking behaviour among young male adults. METHODS We analysed data from the Swiss Federal Survey of Adolescents (CH-X) 2010-11 panel of young Swiss males (n = 10 736). A set of nine theoretically relevant variables (including incorporated, institutionalized and objectified cultural capital) were investigated using exploratory factor analysis. Regression models were run to observe the association between factor scores and smoking outcomes. Outcome measures consisted of daily smoking status and the number of cigarettes smoked by daily smokers. RESULTS Cultural capital indicators aggregated in a three-factor solution representing 'health values', 'education and knowledge' and 'family resources'. Each factor score predicted the smoking outcomes. In young males, scoring low on health values, education and knowledge and family resources was associated with a higher risk of being a daily smoker and of smoking more cigarettes daily. CONCLUSION Cultural capital measures that include, but go beyond, educational attainment can improve prediction models of smoking in young male adults. New measures of cultural capital may thus contribute to our understanding of the social status-based resources that individuals can use towards health behaviours.

¿Qué filosofía en la era del "giro cultural" y el nihilismo del capital?

En este trabajo intentamos hacer una especie de balance del lugar en que ha quedado la producción filosófica contemporánea luego del estallido de la posmodernidad. Nos interesa mostrar cómo, mientras las ciencias sociales incorporan los resultados del perspectivismo y los quiebres de paradigmas de los 80, y a medida que ese discurso hegemoniza la producción académica, la filosofía misma parece desdibujarse en intervenciones puntuales y fragmentarias, dejando que se imponga un pragmatismo antiteórico incapaz de responder a la hegemonía del capitalismo global. El retroceso de la teoría no es sólo explicable en términos inmanentes (aludiendo a la muerte de los metarrelatos, o a la dialéctica del iluminismo) sino que requiere un adicional externo; desenmascarar la naturaleza del mismo y su vínculo con las realidades sociales es la asignatura pendiente de una reflexión teórica sustantiva.

Capital cultural de alumnos ingresantes (2009 y 2010) a la carrera de Licenciatura en Psicología en la UNSL

Pierre Bourdieu nos ofrece una vasta teoría, con numerosas investigaciones específicamente dedicadas al tema de la educación, para interrogar los supuestos y prácticas de la educación superior. Afirma que "la institución escolar contribuye... a reproducir la distribución del capital cultural, y con ello, a la reproducción de la estructura del espacio social". Fundamentalmente, las dos instituciones que manejan el capital cultural son la familia y la escuela. Y la familia se vuelve sinónimo de origen social, ya que encierra, como institución, un conjunto de estrategias de reproducción de su ser social (estrategias matrimoniales, de sucesión, económicas, educativas). Todo aquello que comprende el concepto de origen social, adquisiciones prescriptas y adquiridas, puede ser "convertido" en capital cultural heredado. Y Bourdieu explica la lógica de esta conversión, que fundamentalmente va a cobrar brillo, en el volumen total de su capital, en un ámbito educativo. Partiendo de dicha hipótesis, y con datos sobre la escolarización de los padres de alumnos ingresantes (2009 y 2010) a la carrera de Licenciatura en Psicología en la UNSL, el presente trabajo busca aportar al análisis de la relación entre la distribución del capital cultural y la estructura del espacio social, en la educación superior argentina

A teoria de Pierre Bourdie : Habitus, campo social e capital cultural

Através dos conceitos de habitus, campo social de capital cultural este trabalho busca demonstrar a teoria de Pierre Bourdieu e sua importância na pesquisa sociológica. Sua construçao teórica entrelaça conceitos chave que se completam e se fundem num conjunto interdependente que faz com que a teoria da açao seja sempre viva e aplicável a realidades distintas. Uma teoria que pode ser utilizada pontualmente na análise de uma sociedade, na sua formaçao e constituiçao, no entendimento de seus agentes, seus valores e costumes. Partindo de suas experiências pessoais, guiado por sua intuiçao e dono de uma percepçao ímpar Bourdieu conseguiu instituir uma teoria sólida e racional que possibilita investigar, teorizar e entender as peculiaridades das sociedades, modos de vida e sistemas de pensamento. As diferenças entre os povos e as manifestaçoes culturais presentes no convívio humano foram construídas coletivamente e se perpetuam no tempo. Enquanto muitos falam da constante evoluçao e mutaçao do ser humano, Bourdieu coloca a construçao da personalidade individual vinculada aos preceitos e a ordenaçao arraigada dos modos de vida de cada sociedade e dos campos sociais nela existentes, bem como torna nítida a influência da escolarizaçao na formaçao do indivíduo social