"Då kanske man till slut kan kalla sig konstnär" : En etnologisk studie av kapital och strategi samt betydelsen av konsthögskoleutbildningar

This essay studies the strategic practices of art students, in terms of establishing positions as legitimate artists, within the Swedish higher educational system. Through interviews with six art students, the study explores the opportunities, limitations and definitions of value that agents with different capital compositions experience within the artistic educational field. Through qualitative interviews and cultural analysis, the essay shows examples of how the studied individuals navigate their perceived positions within the artistic field, and with what means they attempt to establish their wanted positions within that field. The study shows that by applying the theoretical framework created by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, the experiences of the studied individuals relate to a greater system of power distribution, which seemingly governs over means of influence within the artistic field. This system can be found reproduced through educational institutions, such as the Swedish art schools in question. Antagonistic attempts of re-forming this institutionally governed field seem only to be coming from individuals with positions of power in general society, which points to a power structure that obstructs any pretensions on the artistic field coming from agents outside of the artistic or social elite. This essay thereby encourages further study of the arguable freedom attributed to artistic practitioners, in light of the potential creative boundaries established through institutional power