A question of autonomy: Bourdieu’s field approach and higher education policy
TL;DR: The concept of field forms the centre of Pierre Bourdieu's relational sociology and the notion of autonomy is its keystone as mentioned in this paper, which enables higher education to be examined as a distinct and irreducible object of study.
Abstract: The concept of field forms the centre of Pierre Bourdieu’s relational sociology and the notion of ‘autonomy’ is its keystone. This article explores the usefulness of these underexamined concepts for studying policy in higher education. It begins by showing how Bourdieu’s ‘field’ approach enables higher education to be examined as a distinct and irreducible object of study. It then explores the value and limitations of this conceptualization through analyses of policy during two contrasting moments of transition in the same field. First, the insights offered by a field approach are illustrated by analysing the new student debate over the creation of new universities in early 1960s English higher education. This shows how the field’s relatively high autonomy shaped the focus and form of policy debates by refracting economic and political pressures into specifically educational issues. Second, considering contemporary changes in policy highlights how the erosion of the social compact underpinning higher educ...
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TL;DR: Key issues for educational researchers are identified, new ways of conceptualizing key ideas using theoretical constructs from Castells, Bourdieu and Bernstein are offered, and a case is made for how to develop the debate in order to advance understanding is made.
Abstract: The idea of the ‘digital natives’, a generation of tech-savvy young people immersed in digital technologies for which current education systems cannot cater, has gained widespread popularity on the basis of claims rather than evidence. Recent research has shown flaws in the argument that there is an identifiable generation or even a single type of highly adept technology user. For educators, the diversity revealed by these studies provides valuable insights into students’ experiences of technology inside and outside formal education. While this body of work provides a preliminary understanding, it also highlights subtleties and complexities that require further investigation. It suggests, for example, that we must go beyond simple dichotomies evident in the digital natives debate to develop a more sophisticated understanding of our students’ experiences of technology. Using a review of recent research findings as a starting point, this paper identifies some key issues for educational researchers, offers new ways of conceptualizing key ideas using theoretical constructs from Castells, Bourdieu and Bernstein, and makes a case for how we need to develop the debate in order to advance our understanding.
614 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a multi-level distinction between gender inequality practices and gender equality practices is proposed to come to better understanding of the slow pace of gender change in academia, and they argue that gender inequality is ineffectively countered by gender equality because the latter lack teeth, especially in traditional masculine academic environments.
Abstract: In this article we propose a multi-level distinction between gender inequality practices and gender equality practices to come to better understanding of the slow pace of gender change in academia. Gender inequality resembles an unbeatable seven-headed dragon that has a multitude of faces in different social contexts. Based on an empirical study on the recruitment and selection of full professors in three academic fields in The Netherlands we discuss practices that should bring about gender equality and show how these interact with gender inequality practices. We argue that the multitude of gender inequality practices are ineffectively countered by gender equality practices because the latter lack teeth, especially in traditional masculine academic environments.
273 citations
01 Nov 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use Bourdieu's concept of social field to develop theorising about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalisation.
Abstract: The paper uses Bourdieu to develop theorising about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalisation. Use is made of Bourdieu’s concept of social field and the argument is sustained that in the context of globalisation, the field of educational policy has reduced autonomy, with enhanced cross-field effects in educational policy production, particularly from the fields of the economy and journalism. Given the social rather than geographical character of Bourdieu’s concept of social fields, it is also argued that the concept can be, and indeed has to be, stretched beyond the nation to take account of the emergent global policy field in education. Utilising Bourdieu’s late work on the globalisation of the economy through neo-liberal politics, we argue that a non-reified account of the emergent global educational policy field can be provided.
211 citations
Cites background from "A question of autonomy: Bourdieu’s ..."
...The second challenge that we raise here is that within national fields of power, the educational policy field has moved towards the more heteronomous end of field relations ( Maton 2005 ), being subsumed in many instances as part of the field of economic policy, which seeks to mediate nationally the global economic field....
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...…we raise here is that within national fields of power the educational policy field has moved towards the more heteronomous end of field relations (Maton, 2005), being subsumed in many instances as part of the field of economic policy, which seeks to mediate nationally the global economic field....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use Bourdieu's concept of social fields to develop theories about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalization, and they argue that the concept can be and indeed has to be, stretched beyond the nation to take account of the emergent global policy field in education.
Abstract: This paper uses Bourdieu to develop theorizing about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalization. Use is made of Bourdieu's concept of social field and the argument is sustained that in the context of globalization the field of educational policy has reduced autonomy, with enhanced cross-field effects in educational policy production, particularly from the fields of the economy and journalism. Given the social rather than geographical character of Bourdieu's concept of social fields, it is also argued that the concept can be, and indeed has to be, stretched beyond the nation to take account of the emergent global policy field in education. Utilizing Bourdieu's late work on the globalization of the economy through neo-liberal politics, we argue that a non-reified account of the emergent global educational policy field can be provided.
182 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that much of the writing by academic developers has a rhetorical function in legitimising academic development and argue that academic development practice is a form of artistry and a concrete science.
Abstract: Academic development has emerged as an important new site of practice in higher education internationally over the past 40 years, and has been influential in shaping the terms of debate about teaching and learning in higher education. Academic development has shifted its focus from the individual teacher to strategic interventions at institutional and national levels. This article argues that much of the writing by academic developers has a rhetorical function in legitimising academic development’s role. The article explores the sorts of accounts academic developers produce about themselves, and argues that academic development practice is a form of artistry and a ‘concrete science’. The article asks questions, therefore, about the contexts within which academic development has emerged, the stakes both for academic developers and the wider academic community, the sorts of knowledge being produced by academic developers about themselves and others, and the relationship between theory and practice and the p...
161 citations
Cites background from "A question of autonomy: Bourdieu’s ..."
...been a site of struggle and transformation (Maton 2005)....
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...The period covered is one in which the higher education ‘field’, in Bourdieu’s sense, has been a site of struggle and transformation (Maton 2005)....
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...new political contexts; and, as Maton (2005) points out in his analysis of the autonomy...
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...Moreover, as Apple (2006) reminds us, radical projects can become disarticulated in new political contexts; and, as Maton (2005) points out in his analysis of the autonomy of the field and its reshaping, while relational autonomy has been weakened positional autonomy has retained it strongly…...
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Book•
15 Jul 1992
TL;DR: The authors provides a systematic and accessible overview of the internal logic of Bourdieu's work by explicating thematic and methodological principles underlying his work, including a theory of knowledge, practice, and society.
Abstract: Over the last three decades, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has produced one of the most imaginative and subtle bodies of social theory and research of the post war era. Yet, despite the influence of his work, no single introduction to his wide-ranging "oeuvre" is available. This book, intended for an English-speaking audience, offers a systematic and accessible overview, providing interpretive keys to the internal logic of Bourdieu's work by explicating thematic and methodological principles underlying his work. The structure of Bourdieu's theory of knowledge, practice, and society is first dissected by Loi c Wacquant; he then collaborates with Bourdieu in a dialogue in which they discuss central concepts of Bourdieu's work, confront the main objections and criticisms his work has met, and outline Bourdieu's views of the relation of sociology to philosophy, economics, history, and politics. The final section captures Bourdieu in action in the seminar room as he addresses the topic of how to practice the craft of reflexive sociology. Throughout, they stress Bourdieu's emphasis on reflexivity--his inclusion of a theory of intellectual practice as an integral component of a theory of society--and on method--particularly his manner of posing problems that permits a transfer of knowledge from one area of inquiry into another. Amplified by notes and an extensive bibliography, this synthetic view is essential reading for both students and advanced scholars. Pierre Bourdieu is Professor of Sociology at the Colle ge de France. Loi c J. D. Wacquant is a Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Harvard University.
8,465 citations
"A question of autonomy: Bourdieu’s ..." refers background in this paper
...The structure of a field is given by relations between these positions, where such relations are not reducible to interactions (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992, p. 96)....
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5,312 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1993
3,279 citations
"A question of autonomy: Bourdieu’s ..." refers background in this paper
...First, Bourdieu (1993) argues that the relative autonomy of higher education means the structure of the field as a whole serves as a crucial mediating context which, ‘like a prism’, refracts external influences ‘according to the specific logic of the field’ (p. 164)....
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...Theoretically, Bourdieu emphasized the relative autonomy of practices [although even here he argued that ‘the principle of position-takings lies in the structure and functioning of the field of positions’ (Bourdieu, 1993, p. 35)]....
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TL;DR: The papers in this volume show the origin and development of Bernstein's theoretical studies into the relationships between social class, patterns of language use and the primary socialization of the child as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The papers in this volume show the origin and development of Bernstein's theoretical studies into the relationships between social class, patterns of language use and the primary socialization of the child. 'Bernstein's hypothesis will require [teachers] to look afresh not only at their pupils' language but at how they teach and how their pupils learn.' Douglas Barnes, Times Educational Supplement 'His honesty is such that it illuminates several aspects of what it is to be a genius.' Josephine Klein, British Journal of Educational Studies
2,438 citations