Low-income, racial/ethnic minority youth in under-resourced schools have certain opportunities to acquire cultural capital that is valued in dominant institutional contexts. I use observational data from 6 months of debate practices and competitions with two teams in the Chicago Debate League, as well as interviews with 12 debaters and 2 coaches, to show that debate participation can contribute to participants’ acquisition of two forms of cultural capital. I argue that debaters demonstrate dominant cultural capital through demanding critical feedback and analyzing complex ideas. I further document how debaters develop “adaptive cultural capital,” or cultural capital that dominant institutions demand of them but that is not required of members of dominant social groups. Here, adaptive cultural capital is illustrated through debaters’ ability to face failure with resilience. These findings contribute to sociological understandings of how schools influence students’ acquisition of diverse forms of cultural capital.

中文翻译：

---

“我的声音很重要”：高中辩手收购主导性和适应性文化资本

资源匮乏学校中的低收入、种族/少数民族青年有一定的机会获得在主流制度环境中受到重视的文化资本。我使用来自芝加哥辩论联盟两支球队的 6 个月辩论实践和比赛的观察数据，以及对 12 名辩手和 2 名教练的采访，表明辩论参与有助于参与者获得两种形式的文化资本。我认为辩论者通过要求批判性反馈和分析复杂想法来展示主导文化资本。我进一步记录了辩论者如何发展“适应性文化资本”，即主导机构要求他们但主导社会群体成员不需要的文化资本。这里，适应性文化资本通过辩论者面对失败的韧性来说明。这些发现有助于社会学理解学校如何影响学生获得多种形式的文化资本。