是“补偿性策略”而非“资本”：再议“底层文化资本”概念的局限性-清华大学教育研究

文章信息/Info

Title:: “Compensatory Strategies” Rather Than “Capital”:A Further Examination on The Limitations of The Concept “Underclass Cultural Capital”

Keywords:: Culture as toolkit; compensatory strategies; cultural capital; neo-Marxism; ideology; Bourdieu; Willis

摘要:: 本文对“底层文化资本”这一概念的局限性进行了深入剖析，并主张以“底层的补偿性策略”替代之。以布迪厄和威利斯作为理论假想敌，“底层文化资本”概念在理论逻辑和核心立场上相当飘忽。其对底层文化的承认是高度选择性的、矛盾的，暗含了将底层文化等级化的风险。其英雄化的个体主义叙事使得它成为了贤能主义意识形态的衍生。结合安·斯威德勒的文化工具箱理论，本文提倡以“底层的补偿性策略”作为替代以规避以上问题。落脚于“策略”，这一表述突出了对能动性的强调；“补偿性”这一定语，又点明了处境不利群体所面临的结构性限制；两者互嵌，才能充分讨论能动性和结构性、文化生产与文化再生产和社会再生产之间的辩证关系。同时，这一表述也能规避“底层文化”这一笼统概括的本质主义倾向。

Abstract:: There were some debates regarding the new concept of “underclass cultural capital.”This paper further examines the limitations of this concept and suggests using the “compensatory strategy of the disadvantaged” as a more theoretically and logically appropriate alternative. The concept of “underclass cultural capital” positions itself as a theoretical challenge to Bourdieu’s and Willis’s theories, but this positioning is not accurate. Its usages of terms as well as its core arguments are unclear and self-contradictory, ending up turning itself as another version of meritocratic narratives. This paper suggests using the “compensatory strategy of the disadvantaged” inspired by Ann Swidler’s “Culture as toolkit” theory. The proposed alternative expression not only acknowledges the dialectical relationship between agency and structure but can also avoid essentializing the disadvantaged as a heterogenetic group.