The aim of this thesis is to study the market for fantastic fiction in Sweden, focusing on the minor publishers and their relationship with the three major publishing groups. The fantastic fiction in Swedish today are generally dominated by bestselling anglo-american authors, especially at the major publishers. The selection of fantastic fiction that is not originally in English and that diverges from the classic, epic high fantasy is often provided by minor publishers. By researching the range of fantastic fiction in Sweden today, and combining that research with qualitative interviews with informants from five minor publishers and Sweden's largest book shop for fantastic fiction, I wish to examine if the minor publishers provide an important alternative for Swedish readers of fantastic fiction. I also intend to investigate whether those publishers actively try to broaden the Swedish market and if they see themselves as a complement and an alternative rather than competing with the major publishers. This is a study in sociology of literature, focusing on a literary genre that is generally regarded as popular or trivial literature. Therefore, this thesis also discusses the curcuit of popular literature and the position and conditions of fantastic fiction in Sweden today, using the french sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's frameworks and terminology regarding economical and cultural capital. Fantastic fiction is a genre normally associated with economical rather than cultural capital, a notion that greatly affects its position and status in the world of literature.

<p>The United States experienced a tremendous expansion of higher education after the Second World War. However, this expansion has not led to a substantial reduction to class inequalities at elite universities, where the admissions process is growing even more selective. In his classic studies of French education and society, Pierre Bourdieu explains how schools can contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of class inequalities. Bourdieu's concepts have stimulated much research in American sociology. However, quantitative applications have underappreciated important concepts and aspects of Bourdieu's theory and have generally ignored college life and achievement. With detailed survey and institutional data of students at elite, private universities, this dissertation addresses a gap in the literature with an underexplored theoretical approach. </p> <p>First, I examine the class structure of elite universities. I argue that latent clustering analysis improves on Bourdieu's statistical approach, as well as locates class fractions that conventional schemas fail to appreciate. Nearly half of students have dominant class origins, including three fractions - professionals, executives and precarious professionals - that are distinguishable by the volume and composition of cultural and economic capital. Working class students remain severely underrepresented at elite, private universities. Second, I explore two types of social capital on an elite university campus. In its practical or immediate state, social capital exists as the resources embedded in networks. I explore the effects of extensive campus networks, and find that investments in social capital facilitate college achievement and pathways to professional careers. As an example of institutionalized social capital, legacies benefit from an admissions preference for applicants with family alumni ties. Legacies show a distinct profile of high levels of economic and cultural capital, but lower than expected achievement. Legacies activate their social capital across the college years, from college admissions to the prevalent use of personal contacts for plans after graduation.</p> <p>Third, I examine how social class affects achievement and campus life across the college years, and the extent to which cultural capital mediates the link between class and academic outcomes. From first semester grades to graduation honors, professional and middle class students have higher levels of achievement in comparison to executive or subordinate class students. The enduring executive-professional gap suggests contrasting academic orientations for two dominant class fractions, while the underperformance of subordinate class students is due to differences in financial support, a human capital deficit early in college, and unequal access to "collegiate" cultural capital. Collegiate capital includes the implicit knowledge that facilitates academic success and encourages a satisfying college experience. Subordinate class students are less likely to participate in many popular aspects of elite campus life, including fraternity or sorority membership, study abroad, and drinking alcohol. Additionally, two common activities among postsecondary students - participating in social and recreational activities and changing a major field early in college - are uniquely troublesome for subordinate class students. Overall, I conclude that Bourdieu provides a unique and useful perspective for understanding educational inequalities at elite universities in the United States.</p> / Dissertation

&ldquo / Migration&rdquo / is not a term that was totally alien for anyone throughout the history. However, Lausanne Convention of 30 January 1923 -between Greek and Turkish authorities- was a new page to conceptualize and comprise both the theoretical and practical frame of the &ldquo / population transfer&rdquo / . Thus, the problems encountered with the decision of proposing a new model of compulsory exchange of minorities resulted into social, economical, political and cultural transformation in the social space and the physical environment in the Aegean regions. This thesis, briefly, aims to re-evaluate the criteria and the manner that leads the transformation in the physical environment and the organization of the social space after the mutual exchange of populations. In this attempt, the thesis suggests an alternative way of understanding towards the evaluation of the results of population transfer by introducing Pierre Bourdieu&rsquo / s extended capital. Thus, the theoretical frame of this study is constructed by Bourdieu&rsquo / s four capitals, the multi-dimensional social space and the physical environment as its reflection. Yet, this thesis assumes that &ldquo / wars&rdquo / could be the ultimate devastation for the capital network which influentially characterizes the physical environment and this theory will be examplified by a migration period that was experienced between 1900 and 1930 in Aegean regions.

The aim of this study is to explore how middle class residents construct narratives of belonging. The study was conducted in a suburban area in the southern part of Stockholm. This is a neighborhood that undergoes a renewal and status increase. I used a method consisting of auto-photography and subsequent interviews to explore resident’s narratives of belonging. The sampled group was residents with academic exams. Participants were instructed to take five photos of their everyday life in the area and reflect upon these in the interviews. The result was analyzed within a constructive grounded theory frame. The theoretical concepts used take inspiration from Bourdieu’s cultural capital, field and social class. The results are divided into three main cores. The results suggest that a core narrative of constructive affiliation was a useful tool to understand how residents construct a sense of belonging. Residents in this study affiliated with other groups and social classes in the area, through a heightened sense of reflection on their own social position. Residents subscribed to an inclusive version of elective belonging.  Second the construction of a sense of locally based authenticity was a narrative process were they deployed a sense of belonging to the “local” and the small scale community. Third, a sense of rootless territorialism was reflected on in their sense of belonging. This was a process were residents narrative mediated between a stable and a fluid place attachment.

This dissertation argues that cultural capital is self-reinforcing in nature. This conjecture is explored through the analysis of sixth-four semi-structured interviews with black and white middle class parents. The first phase of the analysis investigates how the use of one form of non-elite cultural capital, racial socialization, varies among middle class black parents and how it is related to their deployment of elite forms of parental cultural capital. Throughout the dissertation elite parental cultural capital is operationalized as parents' educational aspirations, parental encouragement of academic engagement and promotion of the work ethic. Next, the relationship between the use of elite parental cultural capital and adolescents' academic achievement is evaluated for black and white middle class families. Ultimately the link between the use of non-elite cultural capital and racial differences in academic outcomes is examined. The results suggest that there may be subtle differences in cultural socialization practices among black parents in this sample, which are apparently correlated with their use of elite cultural capital. This implies that non-elite cultural capital has the potential to reinforce elite cultural capital. However, this appears to have only a weak relationship to the achievement of black adolescents or to the racial achievement gap. / African and African American Studies

Το θέμα της εργασίας μας αναφέρεται στο πολιτισμικό κεφάλαιο και στις εκπαιδευτικές προσδοκίες γηγενών μαθητών δημοτικού σχολείου και μαθητών προερχόμενων από οικογένειες μεταναστών. Σκοπός της εργασίας αυτής είναι να διερευνηθούν: α) οι διαφοροποιήσεις και οι ομοιότητες μεταξύ του πολιτισμικού κεφαλαίου των γηγενών μαθητών και των μαθητών προερχόμενων από οικογένειες μεταναστών της ΣΤ’ τάξης δημόσιων δημοτικών σχολείων της περιοχής της Πάτρας, β) κατά πόσο το πολιτισμικό κεφάλαιο των μαθητών αυτών συσχετίζεται με τις προσδοκίες τους για το εκπαιδευτικό τους μέλλον και γ) η συσχέτιση του μορφωτικού επιπέδου και του επαγγέλματος των γονέων των μαθητών (γηγενών και προερχόμενων από οικογένειες μεταναστών) με τις προσδοκίες τους για το εκπαιδευτικό μέλλον των παιδιών τους. Η έρευνά μας, βασισμένη στο θεωρητικό πλαίσιο του Pierre Bourdieu, διεξήχθη με τη χρήση δύο ερευνητικών «εργαλείων»: του ερωτηματολογίου και της ημιδομημένης συνέντευξης. Τα ερευνητικά μας ευρήματα δείχνουν ότι οι διαφοροποιήσεις μεταξύ του πολιτισμικού κεφαλαίου των γηγενών μαθητών και των μαθητών προερχόμενων από οικογένειες μεταναστών είναι περισσότερες σε σχέση με τις ομοιότητες που παρουσιάζουν και εστιάζονται, μεταξύ άλλων, στην ανάγνωση εξωσχολικών βιβλίων και στα πολιτισμικά αγαθά που υπάρχουν στο σπίτι τους. Οι γηγενείς μαθητές φαίνεται να συσσωρεύουν μεγαλύτερο όγκο «εγγενούς» και «αντικειμενοποιημένου» πολιτισμικού κεφαλαίου από την οικογένειά τους σε σύγκριση με τους μαθητές με μεταναστευτικό υπόβαθρο, το οποίο αποτυπώνεται στις επιλογές τους και στις δράσεις τους. Επιπλέον, προκύπτει ότι το πολιτισμικό κεφάλαιο των γηγενών μαθητών και των μαθητών με μεταναστευτικό υπόβαθρο στις περισσότερες εκφάνσεις του συσχετίζεται με τις εκπαιδευτικές τους προσδοκίες. Οι εκπαιδευτικές προσδοκίες των γονέων των μαθητών ανεξαρτήτως της εθνικής τους προέλευσης και του μορφωτικού τους υπόβαθρου φαίνεται ότι είναι πολύ υψηλές. Διαπιστώνεται επίσης ότι το μορφωτικό επίπεδο και το επάγγελμα των γονέων των μαθητών συσχετίζεται με τις προσδοκίες τους για το εκπαιδευτικό μέλλον των παιδιών τους. / The subject of our paper refers to cultural capital and educational expectations of primary school native students as well as students come from immigrant families. This paper aims to investigate: a) differences and similarities between native students and students come from immigrant families who study at the 6th grade of state primary schools in Patras area, b) to what extent their cultural capital is correlated with their expectations concerning their educational future and c) the correlation of educational level and occupation of students’ parents (natives and those come from immigrant families) with their expectations concerning the educational future of their children. Our research, based on the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu, was carried out by means of two research “tools”: questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Our research findings show that there are more differences than similarities between cultural capital of native students and students come from immigrant families and they are focused, among others, on reading extracurricular books and cultural goods which exist into their house. Native students seem to accumulate larger volume of “embodied” and “objectified” cultural capital from their family compared to students with immigrant background, which is imprinted on their choices and their actions. In addition, it is evident that cultural capital of native students and students with immigrant background is correlated in most of its manifestations with their educational expectations. Educational expectations of students’ parents regardless of their national origin and their educational background seem to be very high. It is also revealed that educational level and occupation of students’ parents is correlated with their expectations concerning their children’s educational future.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to illustrate and analyze the approach and parental involvement of a group of mothers in their children's schooling. Also their reflections on parental involvement will be highlighted and what the parents experience as obstacles in their involvement. Method: I conducted six semi structured interviews for my research. I chose to interview six mothers who have a child in the sixth grade. I chose specifically the sixth grade because the mothers will have had quite a few contacts with the school at this point. I also chose not to reveal their ethnicity because they cannot represent a whole ethnic group anyway. Result: The result of my interviews show that the parents have different approaches when it comes to parental involvement. The approaches are different between the mothers but one thing they have in common is that they care about their children.  Conclusion: One of the conclusions of this study is that the parents who do not participate in meetings and activities at school, are either because of language barrier or lack of information concerning what the school expects of them. Furthermore the study shows that their lack of participation in school activities does not mean that they are not involved as parents. Instead they express their involvement in different ways, mainly in their homes.

Abstract The aim of this study is to identify the positive contributions women of colour (WOC) bring to higher education as they experience the process of becoming doctoral recipients. Their experiences are presented as a new epistemology—a theory of knowledge—as part of the larger area of cultural capital theory. The experiences of WOC in Canadian doctoral programs are conceptualized as ‘cultural wealth’ and new knowledge because evidence reveals that the intrinsic value of their contributions has evolved from unique cultural and historical resources. The discursive theoretical frameworks of Womanist theory, critical race theory (CRT) and cultural capital theory are utilized to guide the analysis of the findings. This study establishes the experiences of the participants as valuable and distinctive knowledge by emphasizing the intersectionality of race, class, gender, culture, and spirituality. The research suggests that the experiences of women of colour are informed by an inner wisdom woven from the mosaic, or uniquely diverse paths, which these women have taken toward earning their doctorate degree. The existing interpretation of cultural capital theory - originally established by Bourdieu and Passeron (1977) - is considered the only social marker of wealth in socio-economical and educational research. Although previous studies have challenged this dominant perspective, this current study presents a unique interpretation of cultural capital theory by expanding the notion of cultural wealth from a Canadian perspective. This study highlights the importance of the racial/cultural context that is highly visible in Canadian culture but seldom addressed in higher education research. In addition, the aim of my study is to establish the wealth of “Mosaic Paths” found among the cultural identity of WOC, as a new epistemology in Canadian higher education. Specifically, the journey toward achieving a doctoral degree is often over-generalized in higher education. This study will reveal the realistic paths that WOC must traverse in order to realize their goals. Finally, the findings from the data reveal six major sources of cultural wealth: 1) Mother’s Influence, 2) Age Capital, 3) Mentorship, 4) Survival Strategies, 5) Negotiating Academic Culture or Know-how, and 6) Spirituality.

Since the 1990s in Australia, education policies have created an environment in which competition among schools has increased and parental choice of school has been encouraged. This has been coupled with practices of corporatisation, marketisation and performativity, which have led to the proliferation of a new type of independent school, which operate in the outer suburbs of large cities, target a specific niche market, and charge low cost fees. This study examines the reasons parents are making the choice to send their children to a new, non-government schools in preference to other alternatives and the role of promotional material produced by the school in that choice. The case study of one such school, The Shelbyville College, involved in-depth interviewing of parents at the College as well as a Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough) of the College's prospectus and website which act as performative tools to measure the school's effectiveness in the market. Using Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and cultural capital, the study showed that parents interviewed were choosing this type of school to increase the educational and social status and career prospects of their children as 'extraordinary children'. Through such discourses, parents as consumers of particular schooling products and their engagement with the promotional activities of the College are produced as 'good parents'. Seeking and engaging with promotional material helped remove any dissonance that may occur from a long and expensive relationship with the institution. In choosing this particular school, parents were seeking 'good Christian values' and the freedom to actively engage in their children's education. The College, through its promotional efforts, promises to build on familial habitus and inculcate valued cultural capital in order to make students more successful academically and socially than their parents. The promotional materials of the website and prospectus emphasised the co-curricular involvement in music, speech and drama and invite parents into a discourse of success through the College's educational offering which creates 'extraordinary children'. The uniform mandated by the College is another 'text' in the production of extraordinary children as outlined in the prospectus and website and is an important site for identity production. The uniform demonstrates, not only the disciplinary regime and preparation for professional dress, but also the prestige and esteem derived from the consumption of high status products such as non-government schooling. It is expected that the findings of this study will have relevance for government schools that are the primary competition for new, non-government schools and will lose funding if they continue to lose students. The study will have some implications for CEO (Catholic Education Office) schools that have traditionally provided a low-cost alternative to the government sector. Parents in the study reported choosing the new, non-government school because of differences in values, and perceptions of safety and status improvement offered by these schools. The continued success of the new, non-government schools is also likely to have broader effects on social and educational inequality in Australia through their effects on the government school sector.

This study is situated within a context of the changing role and value of the university, particularly in terms of a renewed focus on the importance of 'practical' research. It seeks to explore candidates' experiences of the culture of three doctoral research degrees in the School of education, RMIT University. The degrees in question are the Doctor of Philosophy by thesis, the Doctor of Philosophy by project and the Doctor of Education. The research sought to problematise and contest current understandings of doctoral candidates' experiences by highlighting complexities in the process and identifying differences and similarities between each of the three degrees. The main research question is 'How do candidates perceive the respective cultures of traditional, practice-based and professional doctoral education?' A nested, multiple-case study of the three doctoral modes was used to address three sub-questions, which focused on the norms and practices of candidates ; the extent to which their needs and expectations were met; and differences in their notions of research and practice. Differences and similarities between the degrees are analysed, leading to answers to the fourth sub-question which sought to identify what can be learned in terms of supervisor pedagogy and learning support. The research design was underpinned by a Bourdieuian epistemology and a critical theoretical perspective. Bourdieu's theory of practice with its conceptual tools of habitus, field, capital, agent and practice allowed analysis of candidates' experiences and the doctoral structures within which their practice resides through one critical lens. The data revealed many issues common to all doctoral programs. These include the importance of understanding the various habitus' and relative amounts of cultural capital of candidates, and the impact of a perceived lack of learning community. Other findings related to ambivalence regarding the types of cultural and social capital appropriate for do ctoral candidates not aiming to work in an academic environment where these are in conflict with the workplace. Three meta-themes were developed: tensions between and within the field; challenges to autonomous principles; and the importance of habitus and cultural capital in doctoral study. The study added to the literature aimed at increasing understanding of candidates' trajectories toward success in the doctoral field, thereby informing supervisor and learning support pedagogy. Five recommendations were proposed, aimed at producing a vibrant doctoral learning community with a deeper understanding of candidates' issues.