Abstract

Pre-existing social and economic inequalities affect access to, experience and outcomes of schooling in ways which can be studied by looking at parental decisions about school choice and in the nature and frequency of participation in schools. These questions are part of a PhD research on how school choice and parental participation policies impact education service delivery in state run, private and assisted private schools in Pakistan. I see value in borrowing from Bourdieu’s concepts of capitals (social, economic and cultural) for analysing the differences in nature and level of participation and negotiations of the market for education through school choice decisions. However, there are methodological specificities which must be taken into account. In this discussion, I hope to explore the possibilities and challenges of adapting some of Bourdieu’s concepts within a framework and for a setting which is far removed from the setting for Bourdieu’s work.