cultural capital

Noun

cultural capital (uncountable)

1. The social assets of a person, such as education, intellect, style of speech or dress, etc. that promote social mobility.
   • If you like: if economic capital is what you have, cultural capital is what you know, social capital is whom you know. […] Unless educational resources make some attempt to reverse the flow of cultural capital transmitted in the home then the end result will be enhanced forms of cultural inequality.2007, Tim Edwards, Cultural Theory, SAGE, →ISBN, page 265
   • [Carl] Wilson tends to side with the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who argues that taste is never disinterested: It’s a form of social currency, or “cultural capital,” that we use to stockpile prestige.2007 December 13, Sam Anderson, “Taster’s Choice”, in New York