Reading Questions for Bourdieu(1-259)

1. On p. 14, at the very bottom, Bourdieu starts on how secondary factors(composition of capital, social trajectory, age, place of residence)vary with different works(almost like he's giving some leeway to agency). But then, in the next sentence, he says as one moves toward works that are least legitimate, age becomes the dominant independent variable(and seems to push one to their natural place). Would it be logical to assume that he's saying someone near the bottom rungs of the class ladder, for instance, would abandon any affinity they had towards a work of high taste, and embrace works more in alignment with their class position when they reach a certain age? Do less legitimate forms of culture vary more with age, or class(in terms of accessibility)?

2. The crux of the book so far, as I can understand it, is that those born into a position of high cultural capital will maintain that position throughout their entire life, that cultural capital(inherent and acquired) is a self-reinforcing mechanism. Bourdieu seems rather ambiguous as to the role of human agency in French society. Given that, what institution do people affirm their agency through as they progress from a small to child to adult? What might Bourdieu suggest as the ultimate constraint on any progress made through that institution?

3. Last week's class discussion revolved largely around punk as the abrasive, atonal, and revolting counterpoint to middle-class cultural standards. While Distinction doesn't specifically address different counter-cultures and their attendant social enclaves, Bourdieu does give a pretty damning assessment of their existence, essentially saying their greatest feat will be reinforcing dominant values. On p. 251, he says "The latter(counter-culture) merely contest one culture in the name of the other...in doing so they fulfill the traditional role of a cultural avant-garde which, by its existence, helps to keep the cultural game functioning." Do you agree with Bourdieu? Are counter-cultures essentially waiting to be appropriated? Is one's inborn cultural capital(class) too dominant of a trait to be displaced by anything encountered in the social world?