Making sense of awards

Gideon Lasco on the "Anatomy of an Award."

How do we make sense of such awards and their significance? Using the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, we can think of them as a form of “academic capital” that awardees can use to boost their status or legitimize their positions . . .

Meanwhile, for the award-giving institutions, academic capital can be exchanged for political capital (i.e., closer relationships with people in power), financial capital (i.e., getting a donation or higher budget), or even just symbolic capital (i.e., prestige of being associated with a famous person).

Always spot on, Dr. Lasco's column in the Inquirer offers a balanced analysis of things. I may disagree with him, but it's hard not to see reason in his arguments. (Also read: Why Filipinos have a sweet tooth and 'Doctors to the Barrios.')