Painting the full picture : the conversion of economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital

Pret, Tobias and Shaw, Eleanor and Drakopoulou Dodd, Sarah (2016) Painting the full picture : the conversion of economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital. International Small Business Journal, 34 (8). pp. 1004-1027. ISSN 0266-2426 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242615595450)

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Abstract

This article explores how and why entrepreneurs convert their available economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital. We utilise Bourdieu’s theory of practice as a conceptual framework to explore the lived experiences of 10 craft entrepreneurs. This study reveals that transforming capital is a natural and enjoyable process, with our findings highlighting the convertible, multifaceted nature of different forms of capital. We also uncover previously unidentified forms of capital conversions and demonstrate that the conversion process can involve multiple forms of capital. Furthermore, our findings show that craft entrepreneurs give no primacy to economic capital, whose transformations form part of a larger process of capital conversion.

ORCID iDs

Pret, Tobias ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8594-6617, Shaw, Eleanor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6614-6729 and Drakopoulou Dodd, Sarah ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3140-8194;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)