This chapter examines the different formations of the self proposed in contemporary cultural and social theory including Bourdieu and his notion of habitus, showing how most formulations are premised upon the accrual of property and value in the self via various technologies. This self-accrual process conceives of culture as an exchangeable-value in which some activities, practice and dispositions can enhance the overall value of personhood; an example of which would be the cultural education of the middle-class child who is taken to galleries, museums, ballet, music lessons, etc, activities which are all assumed to be morally ‘good’for the person but which will also have an exchange-value in later life such as the cultural capital necessary for employability and social networking. The intimate link between economic and moral value is explored.
Exchange, Value and Affect: Bourdieu and ‘The Self
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