About Symbolic Capital(ism)

When sociologists talk about “capitalists,” we are not typically referring to regular people who support capitalism or engage in trade. Capitalists, in the sociological sense, are people who own the means of production, and use this wealth (capital) to extract "surplus value" from workers — allowing themselves (the capitalists) to acquire income and wealth without providing physical goods and services for people (like the workers do). Capitalists, in the sociological sense, are defined by ownership and wealth. Their primary currency is actual money.

Symbolic capitalists, on the other hand, trade primarily in legitimation and administration. Their primary currency is status. They're folks who exert significant control over institutions of cultural and intellectual production, which they use to enhance themselves and their allies and patrons, and undermine their rivals. They "make a living" by trading symbolic capital for others’ financial capital — largely by serving the interests of the wealthy and the powerful in exchange for a share of the “surplus value” they extract for workers — allowing symbolic capitalists to likewise enjoy comfortable lives without needing to provide physical goods or services to people either.

Another way of putting it: symbolic capitalists are professionals who traffic in symbols and rhetoric, images and narratives, data and analysis, ideas and abstraction (as opposed to workers engaged in manual forms of labor tied to physical goods and services). Their work involves the production and manipulation of information, rhetoric, social perceptions and relations, organizational structures and relations, traditions and innovations, and so on. Those who work in fields like education, science and technology, finance and accounting, arts and entertainment, media, law, consulting, administration or public policy are typically symbolic capitalists.

Symbolic capitalists have been known by other names, by other scholars. They’ve also been known, for instance, as the Professional Managerial Class, the New Class, the Creative Class, and so on. I refer to this constellation of elites as “symbolic capitalists” because they make a living primarily based on what they know, who they know, and how they’re known — that is, by cultivating and leveraging symbolic capital on behalf of themselves and others (a quick and accessible overview of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of “symbolic capital” is available here).

I’m a symbolic capitalist. And if you’re reading this, there’s a strong chance that you’re a symbolic capitalist too. This Substack explores the history, culture and legitimacy struggles of people like “us,” building on themes and ideas of my first two books.

We Have Never Been Woke

There are many ways in which symbolic capitalists are unusual compared to the rest of society. One of the most important is that, from the beginning of our professions, symbolic capitalists have defined ourselves in terms of social justice.

The high pay, autonomy and prestige we enjoy relative to other workers have been justified by our purportedly deep commitment to helping everyone in society — including and especially the least among us. Many of our professions are formally oriented towards altruism and serving the common good, as described in the canons of our professional organizations and beyond (e.g. journalists are supposed to “speak truth to power,” and serve as “a voice for the voiceless”; academics are supposed to “follow the truth wherever it leads” and “speak the truth” without regard financial or political interests).

In the contemporary context, symbolic capitalists are the Americans most likely to self-identify as feminists, antiracists or allies to LGBTQ people. We’re the most likely to self-identify as progressive, leftist, or liberal. Politically, we’re overwhelmingly and increasingly aligned with the Democratic Party.

Over the last half-century, the global economy has been reoriented around people like “us.” Symbolic capitalists have more affluence and influence than ever before. In light of the ways symbolic capitalists like to understand and describe ourselves, one might assume that our rising clout would lead to society growing rapidly more egalitarian. One might expect to see longstanding social problems getting ameliorated, and growing trust in institutions because of all the great work we’re doing. In some ways there have been signs of progress. In most respects, however, the trendlines go the opposite direction.

Longstanding social issues have largely festered or grown worse. We see increasing institutional dysfunction and mistrust. Growing affective polarization. Inequalities in the U.S. have grown increasingly pronounced even as symbolic capitalists have risen in prominence and power. Symbolic capitalists are, themselves, among the primary beneficiaries and perpetuators of these inequalities — and social justice discourse is increasingly mobilized to justify them. The ‘losers’ in the symbolic economy are portrayed as deserving their lot because they think, feel or say the ‘wrong’ things about race, gender and sexuality. Elites’ bids for more power and status, meanwhile, are increasingly bound up with their egalitarian bona fides.

Understanding this state of affairs is the project of my first book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite, published by Princeton University Press in October 2024.

Those People

Increased stratification and declining social mobility. A crisis of expertise. The rise of “populist” leaders. Heightened tensions around “identity politics.” Growing affective polarization. Political dealignments and realignments. These are not separate phenomena, they’re fronts in a broader struggle over which communities, stakeholders, lines of work, lifestyles and cultures are valued in contemporary society – and which seem destined for the dust heap of history.

This is the argument of my second book, Those People, now officially under contract with Princeton University Press, slated for publication in late 2026.

Those People will turn the analytic lens from the “winners” in the symbolic economy towards those who perceive themselves to be the “losers.”

By “those people,” I’m referring to the constellation of elite and normie stakeholders who increasingly define themselves against symbolic capitalists and our culture and values, who are increasingly mistrustful and disconnected from our institutions, and who are increasingly alienated from our preferred political party.

We Have Never Been Woke explored the political economy of the symbolic professions from the interwar period through the present. Those People will explore the causes and consequences of the growing social distance between symbolic capitalists and “normies.” It will demonstrate how this very distance leads symbolic capitalists to misunderstand others’ alienation from “us,” often generating misleading and prejudicial descriptions of “those people” and their motives, aspirations and frustrations.

We Have Never Been Woke explored “how a new elite uses the language of social justice to gain more power and status – without helping the marginalized and disadvantaged.” Those People focus on Americans left behind by the symbolic economy and their campaign for prosperity, autonomy, dignity, purpose or, that failing, revenge.

It is slated for publication with Princeton University Press in late 2026.

Symbolic Capital(ism)

Symbolic Capital(ism) will not be cover the same ground as We Have Never Been Woke (folks interested in those arguments and findings should just pick up a copy of the book!). This Substack will instead extend the arguments of We Have Never Been Woke to additional cases, further developing implications and applications of that book’s findings, and responding to questions and criticisms. The newsletter will also serve as a laboratory for testing key themes, arguments and findings for Those People. And it will explore territory that cuts across both projects, alongside adjacent themes and ideas that aren’t explored in either text.

Bottom line: if you’re a fan of my public-facing essays exploring social justice, inequality or the symbolic economy, if you enjoyed We Have Never Been Woke, or if you’re interested to see where things go next — you should definitely subscribe to Symbolic Capital(ism).

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**The image from this Substack was produced by Shane Conway in a journal article applying Bourdieu’s ideas about symbolic capital and symbolic violence to understand challenges faced by family farmers — published in the Journal of Rural Studies. You can check out the paper here.