Field (Bourdieu)

About: Field (Bourdieu) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11421 publications have been published within this topic receiving 180769 citations.

Towards a Reflexive Planning Theory

Abstract: There has been a noticeable silence among planning researchers concerning the notion of reflexivity. This is in sharp contrast to other areas of the social sciences, where the issues of reflexivity have recently assumed major prominence. This article argues that concepts and theories of Bourdieu’s notion of reflexivity generated primarily in the fields of sociological research provide a necessary and fruitful backcloth for the study of planning and land-use development. Following a brief consideration of the Habermasian and Foucauldian approaches that have come to dominate planning thought in recent times, we explore Bourdieuian notions of reflexivity, habitus, capital and field. We argue that a Bourdieuian stance, with its greater emphasis on digesting and acknowledging the researched habitus, field and capital, will offer planning researchers new tools for understanding the nature and outcomes of planning practices. Furthermore, we contend that a Bourdieuian conceptual framework will highlight the durab...

Symbolic Violence and the Making of the French Agriculturalist: An Enquiry into Pierre Bourdieu's Sociology

Abstract: This paper is a discussion of Pierre Bourdieu's sociology, with emphasis on his theory of symbolic violence. Using Sylvain Maresca's work on delegation and representation among the French peasantry as an empirical illustration, I examine Bourdieu's key concepts (capital, field, habitus, symbolic power), his approach to social organisation and dynamics (social space, strategies of conversion and reproduction), and map out the basic structure of his framework. Several difficulties are discussed: the closure of the conceptual system, the form of explanations, the oversight of the state, the underestimate of material determinations, and the lack of a theory of historical transformation. Having underlined the meta- theoretical grounding of his model, I conclude by arguing that Bourdieu offers the means for a dialectical transcendence of interpretive and structural sociologies.

Bourdieu as education policy analyst and expert: a rich but ambiguous legacy

Abstract: This article focuses on Bourdieu’s contribution to the analysis and transformation of the field of education. It shows that, when closely examined, Bourdieu’s writings on education reveal not only one but at least three competitive or complementary policy theories. There is a common principle to all of them, that is the invisibility of policy, which is embedded in the cognitive classifications and everyday activity of institutions. Nevertheless, while the first theory is strongly deterministic, the other two leave some room for political and pedagogical action. This article also shows that Bourdieu has exerted an important influence, both directly and indirectly, on collective representations and collective dynamics of educational politics and policy in France. This influence has lasted despite the extremely varied positions he took throughout his life and work on the relation between science and politics from strong reluctance to commit himself at the beginning of his career to academic radicalism at the...

STUDYING CONTEXTUAL EFFECTS ON POLITICAL BEHAVIOR A Research Inventory and Agenda

Abstract: The study of contextual effects on political behavior has expanded dramatically in the last two decades. In this article we review the recent progress of the field in an attempt to develop a cohere...