Compare And Contrast Fraser And Bourdieu

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Intro Both Nancy Fraser and Pierre Bourdieu recognize class as an economical form of stratification,and a primary determinant of social development and individual motives. Fraser approaches the study of class as “a critical theory of recognition, one which identifies and fends only those versions of the cultural politics of difference that can be coherently combined with the social politics of equality”(FIND QUOTE). Unlike Fraser, Bourdieu develops a different approach to the study of class. He sees the economical category as a way of defining class structures, but rather than focusing on the class wealth divisions, he focuses on “capital”, which he extends beyond the notion of material assets to capital that it maybe be social, cultural …show more content…

Both Fraser and Bourdieu agree and identify that Class inequality is produced by the unequal distribution of various types of capital across the social space, differences in language styles, and education levels(FIND QUOTE).The education system has been shown to play a large role in reproducing this inequality instead of reducing it.(FIND QUOTE) This theory implies that higher class cultures are better when compared to the working class. Because of this perceived superiority, upperclassmen believe that the lower class are to blame themselves for the failure of their children’s future(FIND QUOTE). However both sociologists also believe that people should not assume that the higher class are superior because of their economic wealth but really the working-class failure is the fault of the education class, not the working culture, as there is an overlap in economic and social injustice(FIND QUOTE). According to Bourdieu, the education system functions to legitimize class inequalities, as success in the education system is facilitated by the possession of culture capital, bias to the lower class pupils who do not own a general possession of cultural