The (Non)Accumulation of Capital

Explicating the Relationship of Structure and Agency in the Lives of Poor Black Men

Bibliographic Data

ID2247266
AuthorsAlford A Young (0009-0004-5654-7731, University of Michigan, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume17
Issue2
Pages201-227
Publication date1999-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0735-2751 • E-ISSN: 1467-9558
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/0735-2751.00075
OpenAlexW2067391778
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited47

The concepts of habitus and capital are crucial in the research tradition of social and cultural reproduction. This article applies both terms to an analysis of aspects of the life histories of low-income African American men. In exploring how their past experiences relate to their present-day statuses as nonmobile individuals, this article also revisits and redefines the utility of habitus and capital as conceptual devices for the study of social inequality. It expands the empirical terrain covered by the concept of capital to include that which allows low-income individuals to manage their existence in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities while also hindering their mobility in the broader social world. One implication of this approach is an improved cultural analysis of low-income individuals. The improvement lies in that their behavior can be better understood as reflections of their readings of social reality, which are based upon the material and ideational resources that they have accumulated throughout their lives, and not simply as manifestations of flawed value-systems or normative orientations

Cultural capital · Cultural reproduction · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Epistemology · Geography · Habitus · Inequality · Normative · Positive economics · Reproduction · Social capital · Social inequality · Social mobility · Social reproduction · Social science · Sociology · Structure and agency · Gender Studies · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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