Pierre Bourdieu worked to understand the relationship between class, culture, and power by studying schools in France with the expectation of finding that social mobility was the result of meritocracy. What did he discover instead?

Question

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Bourdieu discovered that social mobility was not the result of meritocracy, but rather the educational system helped reproduce existing social relations by passing class positions from generation to generation in a family. This is known as social reproduction, where schools reinforce and perpetuate social inequalities rather than providing equal opportunities for all students. This is achieved through various mechanisms such as cultural capital, educational credentials, and social networks that advantage those from privileged backgrounds, thus making it harder for those from lower classes to move up the social ladder.

Pierre Bourdieu Worked to Understand the Relationship Between Class, Culture