Bourdieu and Education: How useful is Bourdieu's theory for researchers?

Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction has been highly influential \nwithin the sociology of education. This paper will provide a critical \nintroduction to Bourdieu’s theory regarding the cultural reproduction \nof educational advantage, and an overview of the empirical literature \non cultural reproduction. It will be argued that the ‘grand theory’ of \ncultural reproduction is unhelpful. On the other hand, the concept \nof cultural capital, though ill-defined, has proved useful for empirical \nresearchers.