What is ‘cultural capital’?

This concept comes from research of Marxist theorist Bourdieu, and it can be linked (as an opposition) to meritocracy. Cultural capital theory focuses on the fact that society is dominated by middle class culture, this being the ‘capital’ we are talking about – the middle class can use their culture as “payment” for educational success. Cultural capital means that working class students do not have the same experiences as the middle class, such as going to museums, going on holidays, watching documentaries and so on – they are things that the middle class take for granted but are educational in nature and it aligns them with the ideals of societal institutions and therefore disadvantages the working class. The ideals of the middle class dominate schools and it can be suggested that schools attempt to make students more middle class by imbuing the cultural capital on them and devaluing working class culture. Additionally, cultural capital means that the middle class know more professionals and can therefore more easily gain access to internships and jobs – it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.