Capital in illegal online drug markets: How digital capital changes the cultural environment of drug dealing

Digital societies demand technological competence, including for actors in illegal activity. Inspired by Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital and related criminological concepts such as street capital, this study analyses digital capital as a wider concept relating to digital drug markets that capt...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bakken, Silje Anderdal (Author)
Contributors: Oksanen, Atte ; Demant, Jakob Johan
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
In: Theoretical criminology
Year: 2023, Volume: 27, Issue: 3, Pages: 421-438
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Bourdieu
Capital
Culture
Illegal drugs
Internet
Social Media
Social Network
Technology
illicit drug markets
street capital
Description
Summary:Digital societies demand technological competence, including for actors in illegal activity. Inspired by Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital and related criminological concepts such as street capital, this study analyses digital capital as a wider concept relating to digital drug markets that capture both technological and cultural competences. We pursue this empirically via interview data (N = 107) on social media and darknet drug markets. The overall need for digital competence erodes the earlier divide in drug markets based on either subculture or networks. The need to be familiar with mainstream technological tools and behaviours connects digital drug markets to more general cultural competencies. Consequently, illegal activities become connected with mainstream cultural capital because both fields value the same competencies.
ISSN:1461-7439
DOI:10.1177/13624806221143365