NOTE: The following entry was researched and written by yours truly. Any corrections, suggestions, general questions, or any other information should be directed to this email address > metronomad@metronomad.eu alternatively at leeroi1@yahoo.com .

The Cultural Capital

"Cultural capital" is defined as an asset that contributes to cultural values. More precisely, cultural capital is the stock of cultural value embodied in an asset. This stock may in turn give rise to a flow of goods and services over time that may have both cultural and economic value. The asset may exist in tangible or intangible form.

One basic concept in the development within the context of culture is the determination of cultural value. It implies an essential element of culture in both functional and constituent senses as previously defined.

It is its role as an expression of group or collective aspects of people’s behaviour, as demonstrated in their activities and belief systems. Thus in broader terms something can be said to be of cultural value if it contributes to these shared elements of human experience (Throsby, 2003).

But valuation of cultural products is expected to differ in many respects. It is not necessary to have the same economic value. Most often is that valuation depends on the tangible material that is quantifiable and measurable. But there is more to it than just gauging these physical qualities. To be able to interpret these values given to a cultural product, one has to consider other techniques that could assess the non-use value which is basically intangible. Nevertheless to appraise the economic value of a cultural product, there are various techniques that can be employed. “Similarly, the cultural value of the flow of services it produces could, again in principle, be identified” (Throsby, 2003). One has to look further on the other dimensions of the cultural value that must have been embodied or produced by an item of cultural capital. Whether the approach to assessing cultural value is absolutist or relativist, certain elements might be identified as contributing to the aggregate cultural value of an item.

There is another dimension to look into the cumulative values attached to a particular object. Whether the approach to assessing cultural value is absolutist or relativist, certain elements might be identified as contributing to the aggregate cultural value of an item, including aesthetic value (beauty, harmony), spiritual value (understanding, enlightenment, insight), social value (connection with others, a sense of identity), historical value (connection with the past), symbolic value (objects or sites or practices as repositories or conveyors of meaning), and authenticity value (integrity, uniqueness).

The above components may be described as follows: definition provided by Professor David Throsby, University of Canberra, Australia

Aesthetic value: the site may possess and displays beauty in some fundamental sense, whether that quality is somehow intrinsic or whether it only comes into being in the consumption of it by the viewer. Under such heading of aesthetic value we might also include the relationship of the site to the landscape in which it is situated and all the environmental qualities relevant or associated to it.

Spiritual value: may be conveyed by the site or object that contributes to the sense of identity of the community or of the individuals. This may also provide them with a sense of cultural confidence and of connectedness between local and global or it may help them define the notion of human civilisation and the society. The realisation other sites create that similar spiritual value or objects in other communities may promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.

Social value: the interpretation of culture as shared values and beliefs which binds groups and people and may suggest that its existence may contribute towards social stability and cohesion in the community.

Historical value: this value, however it is received, in unarguably intrinsic to the site, and of all the components of cultural value it is probably the most readily identifiable objective terms. Perhaps its principal benefit is seen in the way in which historical value assists in defining identity, by providing a connectedness with the past and revealing the origins of the present.

Symbolic value: The site or object conveys meaning and information, which helps the community to interpret its identity and to assert its cultural personality. The value of the site as a representation or associative meaning is important in its pedagogical function, not just for the young but also for advancing the knowledge base and level of understanding of the whole community.

Authenticity value: The site or object is valued for its own sake because it is real and not fake, and because it is unique or original. An important concomitant characteristic is integrity, variously defined in different circumstances; protection of its integrity, however interpreted, may be a significant constraint imposed on projects decision-making when cultural value was taken into account.

The flow of cultural goods and services produced from cultural capital provides both material and non-material benefits. Here we mean cultural capital based on the production and intervention that gives rise to a new product. Material benefits are those direct and observable contributions to improving the standards of living. Non-material benefits refer to those “intangible phenomena” often referred to as “quality of life”.

[link] Cultural Diversity, Creativity
[link] Cultural Capital
[link] Taxonomy Of Cultural Products/ Industrial Districts
[link] Relationship of Cultural Resources Value

References:
-Santagata, Walter 2003. Cultural Districts, Property Rights and Economic Development (Lecture Notes) Cultural Project for Development ,ITC-ILO/University of Turin, Italy.
-Throsby, David 2003, The Cultural Capital and Theory of Development (Lecture Notes) ITC-ILO/University of Turin, Italy.