Abstract

ARRIAGA, Germán. Reflections on the spiritual capital in the sociology of religion. Soc. relig. [online]. 2017, vol.27, n.48, pp.69-96. ISSN 1853-7081.

Pierre Bourdieu's contribution to the scientific study of religion in the social sciences is not exhausted by its explicit religious studies. Despite the modest contribution to this field, compared to the prolific work dedicated to art and education, his theory of culture provides a set of conceptual tools that can be oriented analysis religions. The aim of this paper is then to find the possibility to explore the notion of "spiritual capital" in the social sciences. Therefore, some of the authors and traditions in sociology who have appealed to the "capital" as a theoretical concept inquire, since a subsequent investigation of the theoretical possibilities of spiritual capital requires stopping and time of analysis required in previous traditions that appealed to use of the term. Then it continues with a section that examines the development of "religious capital", focusing on the work of P. Bourdieu understood as competition for property management of salvation into an economy of symbolic goods. Finally the innovative concept of "spiritual capital" developed by Bradford Verter employing the Bourdian model for understanding a spectrum of contemporary religious phenomena is explored.

Keywords : Religion; Spiritual Capital; Religious Field.