This paper studies how social capital is divided across classes in Chile, one of the most unequal countries in the world. We analyse the extent to which upper-, middle-, and lower class individuals congregate in social networks with similar others, while following Bourdieu and expecting that in particular the networks of the higher social strata are segregated in terms of social capital. We test our argument with large-scale, representative survey data for the Chilean urban population aged 18–75 years (n = 2,517) and build an integrated indicator of people’s social class that combines measures of education, occupational class, and household income. Our regression analyses show that upper-class individuals have larger networks and access to more varied and prestigious social resources than their middle- and lower class counterparts. Interestingly, however, we found a U-shaped relationship between social class and class homogeneity, indicating that network segregation is high at the top as well as at the bottom of the class-based social strata. In contrast, the classes in the middle have more heterogeneous class networks, possibly forming an important bridge between the “edges” of the class structure. These findings demonstrate that whereas social and economic capital cumulates in higher classes, the lower classes are socially deprived next to their economic disadvantage.

中文翻译：

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开放但隔离？智利的阶级划分与社会资本网络结构

本文研究智利是世界上最不平等的国家之一，社会资本是如何在不同阶层之间划分的。我们分析了上层、中层和下层个人与类似其他人在社交网络中聚集的程度，同时遵循布迪厄并期望特别是上层社会阶层的网络在社会资本方面是隔离的。我们使用针对智利 18-75 岁城市人口（n = 2,517）的大规模、具有代表性的调查数据来检验我们的论点，并建立了一个综合指标，该指标结合了教育、职业等级和家庭收入的衡量标准。我们的回归分析表明，与中下阶层的人相比，上层阶层的人拥有更大的网络，并且可以接触到更多样化和更有声望的社会资源。有趣的是，然而，我们发现社会阶层与阶层同质性之间存在 U 型关系，表明网络隔离在以阶层为基础的社会阶层的顶部和底部都很高。相比之下，中间的类有更多的异构类网络，可能在类结构的“边缘”之间形成了重要的桥梁。这些研究结果表明，虽然社会和经济资本在较高阶层中积累，但较低阶层在社会上被剥夺了经济劣势。可能在类结构的“边缘”之间形成一座重要的桥梁。这些研究结果表明，虽然社会和经济资本在较高阶层中积累，但较低阶层在社会上被剥夺了经济劣势。可能在类结构的“边缘”之间形成一座重要的桥梁。这些研究结果表明，虽然社会和经济资本在较高阶层中积累，但较低阶层在社会上被剥夺了经济劣势。