In "Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction" (1977), Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron presented cultural capital to conceptually explain the differences among the levels of performance and academic achievement of children within the educational system of France in the 1960s; and further developed the concept in the essay "The Forms of Capital" (1985) and in the book The State Nobility: Élite Schools in the Field of Power (1996).
Dalam bab "Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction" (1977), Pierre Bourdieu dan Jean-Claude Passeron merepresentasikan 'modal budaya' untuk menjelaskan secara konseptual, perbedaan tingkat kinerja dan prestasi akademik anak-anak dalam sistem pendidikan Prancis pada tahun 1960-an; dan konsep tersebut dikembangkan lebih lanjut dalam esai "The Forms of Capital" (1985) dan dalam buku The State Nobility: Élite Schools in the Field of Power (1996).