Cultural Capital as Analytical Category: Between Economy and Culture

The article considers relations between economy and culture focusing on the concept of cultural capital. I discuss different uses of the notion of capital as an analytical category in the discourse of social sciences. Then, I analyze Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital in the context of its specific interplay with Marx’s heritage. The main thesis of this text is the claim that both of them used capital in extra-economical meaning and cultural capital in Bourdieu’s theory is nothing more (and nothing less) then symbolic capital. Moreover, the argumentation shows that a basic Marxist dichotomy between economic and cultural causes (base/superstructure) becomes nowadays irrelevant.