Social space

From Geography

Social space is a vital term in Bourdieu's theory of practice. It's not an geographical space or territory, it's a relation space. This relation space is "an arrangement of social positions that are determined by relations of proximity and distance. The multiple dimensions of social reality are displayed by means of different forms of capital." (Lippuner & Werlen, 2009, p. 46) These forms of capital are:

- Economic capital (money, income, property)

- Social capital (an authoritative resource in Giddens’ sense, social relations, (employement) contracts)

- Culture capital (education, skills, all sorts of competences in dealing with signs and semantics)

"These three forms of capital constitute the main coordinate axis of social space, that is, the determinants by means of which positions in social space are defined and allocated." (Lippuner & Werlen, 2009, p. 46) "There is a struggle for the value of capital in social space and for the exchange rate of various sorts of capital." (Lippuner & Werlen, 2009, p. 47)

References:

Lippuner, R. & Werlen, B. (2009) Structuration Theory. In: International Encyclopedia for Human Geography. Elsevier.

Published by Paul Leemans & Luuk Robers