Beyond Cultural Instrumentality: Exploring the Concept of Total Diaspora Cultural Capital for Sustainability

Dieu Hack-Polay (), Mahfuzur Rahman and Matthijs Bal
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Dieu Hack-Polay: Department of Graduates Studies, Crandall University, Moncton, NB E1G 3H9, Canada
Matthijs Bal: Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: In this article, we critique and extend Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital to develop the new concept of total diaspora cultural capital. We build on the limitations of cultural capital, which in the Bourdieu theory centre on materiality and class perpetuation. The article builds on an extensive review of the literature, using the PRISMA framework. We also use the findings of previous research to illustrate this argument. We differentiate between four types of organisations or groups that articulate various levels of cultural capital to build a body of evidence that establishes total diaspora cultural capital (type D groups) as a bounded collective identity creation encapsulating three main dimensions: appropriation, customisation and deployment. Total diaspora cultural capital is perceived as fitting the post-colonial global context through the acknowledgement that diasporas and hosts make the modern world, being agents who create and disseminate culture and economic sustainability through reciprocal appropriation of cultural assets. The research is the first to conceptualise the notion of total diaspora cultural capital. This research significantly extends Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital, which fails to capture the multiple contours of evolving sustainability perspectives. Total diaspora cultural capital creates bounded cultural capital that strengthens the agility of diaspora businesses.

Keywords: total diaspora cultural capital; cultural appropriation; Bourdieu; bounded cultural capital; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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