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<p>Various media allow people to build transnational networks, learn about the world and meet people from other cultures. In other words, media may allow one to cultivate cosmopolitan capital, defined here as a distinct form of embodied cultural capital. However, far from everyone is identifying this potential. Analyses of a national survey and in-depth interviews, conducted in Sweden, disclose a tendency among those in possession of cultural capital to recognise and exploit cosmopolitan capital in their media practices. Those who are dispossessed of cultural capital are significantly less liable to approach media in this way. Relying on various media practices in order to reshape one’s cultural capital exemplifies what Bourdieu called a reconversion strategy. As social fields undergo globalisation, media offer opportunities for the privileged to remain privileged – to change in order to conserve.</p>
</abstract>

Various media allow people to build transnational networks, learn about the world and meet people from other cultures. In other words, media may allow one to cultivate cosmopolitan capital, defined here as a distinct form of embodied cultural capital. However, far from everyone is identifying this potential. Analyses of a national survey and in-depth interviews, conducted in Sweden, disclose a tendency among those in possession of cultural capital to recognise and exploit cosmopolitan capital in their media practices. Those who are dispossessed of cultural capital are significantly less liable to approach media in this way. Relying on various media practices in order to reshape one’s cultural capital exemplifies what Bourdieu called a reconversion strategy. As social fields undergo globalisation, media offer opportunities for the privileged to remain privileged – to change in order to conserve.

Moulding Cultural Capital into Cosmopolitan Capital: Media practices as reconversion work in a globalising world

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Various media allow people to build transnational networks, learn about the world and meet people from other cultures. In other words, media may allow one to...

Media and technologies of communication…	Component 1
…make me experience the world as a smaller place	.742
…put me in contact with peoples and cultures in other parts of the world	.860
…motivate me to travel to meet people and cultures in other parts of the world	.747

	Cosmopolitan Media Classification Index
Age	–.01 * (.00)
Woman	.12 (.12)
Travels outside Nordic countries > 2 times/year	1.36 *** (.20)
Travels outside Nordic countries once or twice/year	.78 *** (.16)
University educated	.54 *** (.14)
Taking political stance	.55 *** (.15)
Urban residency	.07 (.13)
Working class (subjective)	–.92 *** (.15)
Constant	5.64 ***

R_adj2	16 %

N	961

Moulding Cultural Capital into Cosmopolitan Capital: Media practices as reconversion work in a globalising world

Published Online: Dec 08, 2017

Page range: 51 - 64

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0408

Keywords
cultural capital, cosmopolitan capital, media practices, Bourdieu, media use

© 2017 Johan Lindell et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Cosmopolitan media classification: Variables used and their interrelation

The social stratification of a cosmopolitan media classification

Moulding Cultural Capital into Cosmopolitan Capital: Media practices as reconversion work in a globalising world

Published Online: Dec 08, 2017

Page range: 51 - 64

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0408

Keywordscultural capital, cosmopolitan capital, media practices, Bourdieu, media use

© 2017 Johan Lindell et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Cosmopolitan media classification: Variables used and their interrelation

The social stratification of a cosmopolitan media classification

Keywords
cultural capital, cosmopolitan capital, media practices, Bourdieu, media use