In every society, some individuals have a greater share of valued resources - money, property, education, prestige etc., - than others. These social resources can be divided into different forms of capital. Identify them from the following.
(A) Economic capital
(B) Cultural capital
(C) Social capital
(D) Educational capital
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (B) and (C) only
(A) Economic capital Correct. Economic capital is wealth in the form of material assets and income, such as money and property.
(B) Cultural capital Correct. Cultural capital is capital such as educational qualifications and status. A person from a well-off family can afford expensive higher education, and so turns economic capital into cultural capital.
(C) Social capital Correct. Social capital is capital in the form of networks of contacts and social associations. Someone with influential relatives and friends may, through good advice or recommendations, get a well-paid job.
(D) Educational capital Incorrect. Social resources are divided into three forms of capital: economic, cultural and social. Educational qualifications are a part of cultural capital, not a separate fourth form.
Note: NTA dropped this question in its Final Answer Key. The original NTA paper printed Option (2) as ‘(A), (B), (C) and (D)’, so no option gave the three forms of capital, economic, cultural and social, without educational capital. Since NCERT (2025-26) also speaks of acquiring ‘cultural or educational capital’, statement (D) could be read as another name for cultural capital, which made the question unclear. To give the question one correct answer, Option (2) has been changed to ‘(A), (B) and (C) only’.
NCERT (2025-26): “Social Inequality … In every society, some people have a greater share of valued resources – money, property, education, health, and power – than others. These social resources can be divided into three forms of capital – economic capital in the form of material assets and income; cultural capital such as educational qualifications and status; and social capital in the form of networks of contacts and social associations (Bourdieu 1986). Often, these three forms of capital overlap and one can be converted into the other. For example, a person from a well-off family (economic capital) can afford expensive higher education, and so can acquire cultural or educational capital. Someone with influential relatives and friends (social capital) may – through access to good advice, recommendations or information – manage to get a well-paid job.…” |