Street capital: Ethnicity and violence on the streets of Oslo

Most of Pierre Bourdieu's work describes struggles over symbolic capital and hierarchies among the economic and cultural elite. However, his theories and concepts are not exclusive to studies of those with power. By using Bourdieu's conceptualizations of social space, capital and habitus, the article discusses the hierarchies and struggles over symbolic capital at the bottom of societies. The analysis is grounded in interviews and fieldwork with ethnic minority youths on the streets of Oslo, Norway. Analysing the violence among the young men, the article argues that marginalized ethnic minorities and certain groups of refugees use particular strategies in order to accumulate symbolic capital. They have embodied experiences that can be transformed into forms of `street capital' favourable in a violent street culture.