REPRESENTASI KETIMPANGAN SOSIAL DALAM SERIAL "MAXTON HALL" MELALUI PERSPEKTIF BOURDIEU

Abstract

This study aims to identify and analyze forms of social inequality portrayed in the series Maxton Hall: Die Welt Zwischen Uns (2024), produced by Amazon Prime Video. The series was selected because it clearly depicts social inequality within an elite school environment through the relationship between Ruby Bell, a lower-middle-class student, and James Beaufort, a student from an influential upper-class family. This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach grounded in Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social practice, covering capital, habitus, field, and power and social reproduction. Data consisting of dialogues, scenes, characters' actions, and visual elements across six episodes were collected through documentation and analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña (2014). The findings show social inequality emerges through four interrelated aspects. First, James Beaufort's ownership of economic, social, cultural, and symbolic capital far exceeds Ruby Bell's. Second, Ruby's limited capital shapes a habitus of caution and self-restraint reflecting her social background. Third, the Maxton Hall environment functions as a field favoring the dominant group, where social acceptance depends on family background rather than merit. Fourth, upper-class dominance is sustained through financial dependence and social evaluation embedded in the school, allowing inequality to persist. This study concludes that social inequality in the series results from capital interacting with habitus, field, and symbolic power, reproducing each character's social position as an ongoing structural process.

Keywords: Social Inequality, Capital, Habitus, Field

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