| This exploratory study examines the value, utilization, and embodiment (habitus) of a new type of cultural capital, global cultural capital, among international school alumni in Japan. Using data from an online survey, interviews, and participant observation, this study explores the impacts of international school education on alumni's career paths and identities within their social network. This study finds that alumni employ their global cultural capital through their work as "cultural mediators"---working on cross-border issues, while utilizing their bilingual capabilities and interpersonal skills of flexibility and open-mindedness. Their primary social network is used as a form of social distinction and is reinforced by their fluid cultural identities. Alumni's lifestyles, shaped by their habitus , as well as their structural position in the global economy as transnational professionals are elements of the formation and reproduction of a global class in Tokyo. |
