cultural capital

[ kuhl-cher-uhl kap-i-tl ]

noun

1. Sociology. the skills, education, norms, and behaviors acquired by members of a social group that can give them economic and other advantages:

   The accumulation of cultural capital is one route to upward mobility.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cultural capital¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

“New York and L.A. have come to symbolize America in distant lands. To be a media capital or a cultural capital is to become a fashion capital.”

From Los Angeles Times

Another explanation for this whole saga is that Melania is simply trying to cash in on the chance that Trump loses and she has less cultural capital.

From Slate

What has happened – whether it’s in politics or in publishing – is something called “elite capture,” in which those with cultural capital and power assume the right to speak for and represent the powerless.

From Salon

The community's social and cultural capital is "far in excess of its numerical strength", he says.

From BBC

As social critic Michael Eric Dyson wrote in a 1993 essay for “Cultura Studies,” “Jordan eats Wheaties, drives Chevrolet, wears Hanes, drinks Coca-Cola, consumes McDonald’s, guzzles Gatorade, and of course, wears Nikes. He successfully produced, packaged, marketed, and distributed his image and commodified his symbolic worth, transforming cultural capital into cash, influence, prestige, status, and wealth.”

From Salon