Reconceptualizing Social Capital Theory: Life Stories of Kazakhstani Youth from Rural or Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds

Abstract

Social capital critically shapes the employment opportunities and social mobility of youth. Little is known, however, about how marginalized youth use social capital to pursue education and career aspirations, particularly in countries with developing higher education systems. Drawing on life history narratives of prestigious university graduates from rural or lower socioeconomic backgrounds in Kazakhstan, my research examines how the graduates use social capital in pursuing their education and career. Guided by Bourdieu’s critical framework, this dissertation advances four arguments. First, I argue that participants’ conceptualization and use of social capital is guided by their ethical stance that differentiated transactional use of social capital from those more focused on improving the quality of life. Second, I contend that the ethical stance of the young people in the study is formed through the process of tarbiyeh, defined as the process of forming and developing an individual’s positive mindset, spirit, character, worldview, and moral sense. Third, I demonstrate that participants’ tarbiyeh guided their ethical stance on how and when to leverage social capital. Finally, I illustrate that for young people in the study, people who were part of their tarbiyeh process had a significant value, which they argued was more important than the instrumental value of social capital. Ultimately, this dissertation invites scholars to re-envision social capital theory by considering how one’s moral values shape when and how they leverage social capital and how one’s social capital can impact morality by shaping their worldview and beliefs. By bringing the question of morality into the conceptualization of social capital, the study contributes to the sociological literature by extending and reframing Bourdieu’s framework.