Bio: (1930-2002) French sociologist and anthropologist. Pierre Bourdieu graduated from the École normale supérieure, and soon after that he was drafted into the army and spent two years in Algeria, where the war for independence from France was taking place at the time. After completing his military service, Bourdieu remained in Algeria for another two years and taught at the University of Algiers. He returned to France in 1960 and taught for three years at the University of Lille, then taught at L'École pratique des haute études from 1964 to 1975, and ended his career at the Collège de France, where was the head of the Department of Sociology. Bourdieu was the founder and editor of the scientific journal Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, and from 1968 until his death he ran the scientific institute Center de sociologie européenne.

During his stay in Algeria, Bourdieu conducted an anthropological study of the Kabila ethnic group, and also studied the effects of colonialism in Algeria on the cultural practices of the domicile population. After returning to France, he conducted empirical research on universities, languages, consumer styles, mass media, and the like. Bourdieu published a large number of papers in co-authorship with other sociologists, and his most frequent collaborators were Jean-Claude Passeron, Luc Boltanski, Alain Darbel, Loïc Wacquant, and Monique de Saint Martin.

                                  Habitus and Field Approach

Bourdieu is best known for his theoretical and epistemological approach, which he calls various names: genetic structuralism, constructivist structuralism, structuralist constructivism, and reflexive sociology, although this approach is best known for its specific use of Bourdieu's key theoretical concepts of "field" and "habitus". Bourdieu most consistently set out this theoretical approach in his books Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (1977, in French 1970), Outline for a Theory of Practice (1977, in French 1972), Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment Taste (19894, in French 1979), and An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology (1992). The epistemological basis of Bourdieu's approach is based on his tendency to overcome binary oppositions (dichotomies) prevalent in social sciences: subjectivism/ objectivism, physicalism/psychology, structure/actors, theory/empiricism, micro/macro, causal explanation/interpretive explanation, materialism/idealism, methodological individualism/methodological holism, etc. The apparent dualism of these paired concepts is caused by social factors, that is, intellectual rivalry, which produces a narrow and rigid division between scientific disciplines, subdisciplines, and theoretical directions. Bourdieu's solution to overcoming these divisions is to use a truly critical and reflexive social science that will always pay attention to the socio-political context, especially the power relations within which scientific research is conducted and the context that affects the subject of study. This approach requires a critical and reflexive attitude towards theory and methodology, but also towards the practices of the people who are the subject of research. The essence of this "reflexive" epistemology is the constant, systematic, and strict use of self-criticism and introspection of scientists who study society.

Bourdieu's theoretical approach introduces two key theoretical concepts: habitus and field. In addition to these two concepts, the following concepts are very important for Bourdieu's theory: "practice", "strategy", "capital", "distinction", "symbolic power", "symbolic violence" and "doxa". All of these concepts have, in Bourdieu's approach, a very specific meaning, different from the way these terms are used by other sociologists. The term field denotes a specific semi-autonomous sphere of social life that has its own logic. Each field has its institutions, its own rules, governing values, norms of behavior, and desirable goods (physical or symbolic) to be possessed. Examples of fields are: politics, science, art, religion, education, etc. Each field has its structure, that is, a network of relationships between objective positions occupied by the individual or collective actors acting within that field. The number of fields themselves and their development varies between different societies. Historical development is especially important, because with the emergence of modern complex industrial societies there comes an increase in the number of fields, an increase in their autonomy, and an increase in the structure and complexity of each field. What is crucial for Bourdieu's sociology is the view that the analysis of power relations and the actions that individual and collective actors take, to increase their own power, within different fields, is key to understanding society. Each field is the scene of more or less open fighting. Actors in dominant positions will adopt defensive and conservative strategies to preserve their status, while those in lower positions will develop subversive strategies aimed at overthrowing the governing rules, while, most often, accepting the legitimacy of the field itself.

Habitus represents the mental and cognitive structure of every person, which enables people to act in society. Each person internalizes these mental structures by living in society. Habitus gives people rules for understanding, valuing, and classifying all aspects of society. On the other hand, the habitus gives people the ability to act in society, because it creates long-term predispositions to, more or less, instinctively react in a certain situation. Habitus is associated with social class, because individuals, that are in the same class, share a common culture and taste. Habitus is not adopted by simple internalization and acceptance of social norms, but cognitively, through daily action within the field. Habitus is adopted partly on a conscious level and partly on an unconscious level. Actors act pragmatically, but their goals and means, for the most part, are not determined consciously and rationally, but spring from a socially constructed "the feel for the game."

It is the concept of practice that theoretically connects habitus and field. Everyday practices of people, within some field, shapes the habitus, but, at the same time, these practices contribute to maintaining or changing the very structure and rules of a field. According to Bourdieu, practice is crucial, so he puts much more emphasis on what people really do than on what they think or say should be done. Bourdieu also uses the metaphor of game, to explain habitus and practice; where habitus would represent knowledge of the rules and "the feel for the game", while practice would represent moves that players take in the game. A very important aspect of practice is the "strategy" that actors use to achieve their goals within some field. Most strategies are not the product of conscious planning, but they are, most often, unconscious rules that enable improvisation in everyday life. Of course, such improvised strategic activities must be effective to achieve the goals.

In order to achieve their goals, that is, for their strategies to be successful, individual and collective actors use various forms of capital. There are four types of capital that can be employed within each field (although different types of capital will be more effective in different fields): symbolic capital, cultural capital, economic capital, and social capital. While the notion of economic capital is very close to what economists mean by capital, other forms of capital are specific to Bourdieu's approach. Symbolic capital consists of prestige, status, titles, and reputation. Social capital consists of social networks and personal acquaintances that an individual can use to implement his strategy. A person's cultural capital depends on the amount of knowledge and the ability to use symbolic cultural forms that are associated with the top of the hierarchy within each field. The form of cultural capital to which Bourdieu pays the greatest attention is high art, ie knowledge of classical music, painting, fine literature, and the like. Within the upper class, there is an inverse relationship between the size of economic and cultural capital. To achieve a generational reproduction of class position, those with the most economic capital can achieve reproduction by using only economic capital, while those who do not have enough economic capital need cultural capital to preserve positions within the ruling class.

Bourdieu believes that each field is a stratified hierarchical system within which there are relations of power and domination. Of all the forms of power and domination, the most important are symbolic power and symbolic violence. All cultural symbols - art, food and clothing patterns, science, religion, language - serve to pursue the interests of those in power. Those at the top of the hierarchy of a field use symbols to preserve, increase and legitimize that power, so such strategies are a source of symbolic power and symbolic violence. Symbolic power and violence have the function of creating and increasing social "distinction". The distinction, conceived in this way, is a separate analytical concept in Bourdieu's approach and is the main theme of his book Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment Taste. Society is filled with the great struggle to create social distinctions, because class struggles are, in essence, struggles to create a symbolic classification of people into distinct classes. Symbolic power and symbolic violence serve to create, legitimize and preserve the distinctions that exist between social classes. When symbolic power succeeds in gaining a monopoly on the legitimacy of power relations and the "distinctions" that exist between classes within a field, then that field begins to have its doxa, that is, common sense, which serves to present power relations and distinctions as natural and self-evident. The goal of those who exercise domination is to, with the help of symbolic power, present the relations of power so legitimate and self-evident that any attempt of resistance by the oppressed is extinguished. That is why self-restraint and self-censorship, imposed on themselves by oppressed actors, are the most effective forms of reproduction of power relations.

                                             Class Analysis

In addition to Bourdieu's theoretical work, he also conducted empirical research to examine the applicability of his approach. In the aforementioned book Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment Taste, he explores the relationship between cultural consumption and class. This book is based on a large empirical study of cultural consumption, including newspapers, music, food, and other forms of consumption. He concluded that there are three hierarchically ordered types of aesthetic taste or style of cultural consumption: elite (legitimate), middlebrow, and popular (mass). Elite aesthetic taste characterizes, first of all, the dominant class, although Bourdieu found that in this class there is an inverse relationship between the size of economic and the size of cultural capital. Each type of cultural consumption and taste serves to give individuals a sense of place within the social structure. The aesthetic taste of a person (elite, middlebrow, or mass) in one of the areas of cultural consumption (e.g. art) usually corresponds to the type of taste in other areas (e.g. fashion, sports, literature).

In the same Book Bourdieu presents his theoretical approach to classes and his classification of classes in France. Bourdieu sees classes as the product of symbolic self-classification of a particular group, but also of external classification by other groups. A significant and underestimated aspect of class tensions is, in Bourdieu's opinion, the "classification struggle" concerning the symbolic function of everyday cultural consumption and lifestyles. The biggest difference between Bourdieu, on the one hand, and Marxist and Weberian authors, on the other, is that he does not define classes according to their position in relations of production, but defines different classes according to the level of different forms of capital they possess, and how relations between those forms of capital affect the collective and individual practices of members of different classes. Individuals, as members of different classes, use their own capital - of all types - to develop strategies and put them into practice, all to improve or maintain their own position. The success of these strategies for each individual is what Bourdieu calls the "social trajectory" of the individual.

The class habitus of workers is shaped by the internalization of their own class position, and this internalization occurs during early socialization, primarily through the family and the school system. Accordingly, habitus acts as a socialized form of capital. Formal educational qualifications are a particularly important aspect of cultural capital. Habitus, inherent in different classes, is not directly a product of the position of these classes in production relations but is related to the size and composition of different types of capital, which condition the emergence of specific living conditions, thus creating a "class position" for a particular class. The living conditions of some class create a specific class habitus, for that class.

According to Bourdieu, individuals occupy different professional locations within the general system of professions and vocations, and these relationships form a professional structure. Bourdieu’s class scheme classifies all persons, who are in the professional structure, according to the locations they occupy within that professional structure. In that sense, the division of labor by professions represents the structure of objective positions - "locations" that are "occupied" by individuals.

Class locations can be positioned over three separate dimensions or axes. The first axis concerns the total capital, primarily economic and cultural, which individuals have at their disposal through their profession. This axis is most important for positioning individuals in a particular class. Industrialists, directors, and university professors have large capital at their disposal, and therefore share the same class location and together form the dominant class. Manual workers do not own any form of capital and together they form a working (dominated) class. In the middle, between these two classes, are technicians, small business owners, and those who perform routine administrative tasks, and they make up the "petty bourgeoisie", or the middle class.

The second axis concerns the differences that exist within the classes, in proportion to the type of capital different factions of the same class have at their disposal. The same class contains different factions, and these factions differ according to the type of capital that individuals in specific locations have at their disposal. Professors and those who control the creation of aesthetic content have great cultural capital, but little economic capital. On the other hand, industrialists have large economic capital, but small cultural capital. The third axis examines the intragenerational and intergenerational mobility of individuals, both between different classes and between factions of the same class. Bourdieu's research showed that there are three basic class locations in France: the dominant class, the middle class, and the working class.

                                  Research on Academic World

Bourdieu explored the academic world in the books Homo Academicus (1984) and State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power (1998, in French 1989). He examines the relationship between fields, habitus, and different forms of capital within the French university system. Special attention is paid to sociology as a discipline and its key authors. Bourdieu studies the social origins of these sociologists, what they published and where, their political engagement, the institutions with which they are connected, their media appearances, etc. This helped him make a map showing the forms of capital used, as well as how power and conflict take place within a French university. Bourdieu also studied the field of television, above all, television journalism. He singles out two opposite types of television journalism - "pure" (autonomous) and commercial. pure journalists organize their work autonomously, in accordance with ethical and professional principles. The work of commercial journalists is aimed at creating content that will increase the rating, viewership, and income from advertisements, all to achieve the economic and political interests of corporate media owners. The commercial approach to journalism is becoming dominant, and one of the consequences of that trend is the depoliticization of news, which is increasingly focused on human stories, sensations, and public scandals, and, at the same time, increasingly neglects socially and politically important topics. Television can also serve as a place where actors from other fields (science, culture), and those who have failed in their fields, can find their refuge and a place for self-promotion if they are suitable for the television.

                             Critique of Neoliberal Globalization

At the end of the twentieth century, Bourdieu focused his attention on economic topics, and, above all, on neoliberal economic globalization. The book The Weight of the World (1999, in French 1993), edited by Bourdieu, is the product of a great deal of empirical research that was done by interviewing members of the lower and middle classes, to determine the economic difficulties of life and social exclusion. The consequences of economic globalization are declining trade union strength, collective bargaining, wage cuts, job insecurity, job flexibility, and labor market individualization. These economic changes have extremely negative consequences for the functioning of democracy, as there is depoliticization, voter apathy, and a crisis of political class legitimacy, as voters realize that all politicians represent the interests of international capital, not voters. In the book Counterfire: Against the Tyranny of the Market  (1998b), Bourdieu shows that globalization entails, at the same time, the expansion of international financial capital, but also has a normative function, because it spreads the ideology of global capitalism as an inevitable reality that all states, organizations, and actors have to adapt to. This ideology is a carefully crafted myth that serves to dismantle the welfare state in Western Europe.

The new doxa orders individual states to abolish social protection measures to achieve flexibility in work forces them to reduce budget expenditures, and increase global competitiveness. The decline in the power of states takes place at a time when there is a growth of global institutions (IMF, World Bank, WTO, etc.) that are not accountable, for their work, to any country. The goal of this new ideology is to increase the symbolic capital of companies, international institutions, and economists. Neoliberal economists and their discourse are presented in the media as objective, scientific, and rational, and economics itself has been transformed into an abstract and purely mathematical discipline. Neoliberal economic models are considered perfect, so economists blame politicians and citizens for every failure of their application in practice because they were not capable and disciplined enough. In this way, economists and their models became completely isolated from criticism. On the other hand, opponents of neoliberal globalization are branded as anti-democratic and reactionary. The goal of the new doxa is to present the particular system that exists in the United States as best and universally applicable and desirable. The application of abstract and mathematical economic models has enabled mathematics to become a new tool in selection and reproduction in the educational and academic fields.

Main works

Sociologie de l'Algérie (1958);

Les héritiers: les étudiants et la culture (1964);

Le métier de sociologue: Préalables épistémologiques (1968);  

La reproduction: Éléments d’une théorie du système d’enseignement (1970);

Esquisse d'une théorie de la pratique: Précédé de Trois études d'ethnologie kabyle (1972);

La Distinction: Critique sociale du jugement (1979);

Le Sens pratique (1980);

Ce que parler veut dire: l'économie des échanges linguistiques (1982);

Homo academicus (1984);

Choses dites (1987);

La noblesse d'État: grandes écoles et esprit de corps (1989);

An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology (1992);

The Field of Cultural Production (1993a);

La misère du monde (1993b);

Free Exchange (1995);

Sur la télévision (1996);

Academic Discourse: Linguistic Misunderstanding and Professorial Power (1996);

Méditations pascaliennes (1997);          

La domination masculine (1998a);

Contre-feux: propos pour servir à la résistance contre l'invasion néo-libérale (1998b);

Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action (1998c);

Les structures sociales de l'économie (2000);

Science de la science et Réflexivité (2001);  

Le Bal des célibataires: Crise de la société paysanne en Béarn (2002);

The Social Structures of the Economy (2005);

Sociologie générale, vol. 1-2 (2012, 2016).

Main works translated into English:

Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (1977, in French 1970);

Outline of a Theory of Practice (1977, in French 1972);

The Inheritors: French Students and Their Relations to Culture (1979, in French 1964);

Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1984, in French 1979);

State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power (1998, in French 1989);

On Television and Journalism (1998, in French 1996);

The Logic of Practice (1990, in French 1980);

Homo academicus (1990, in French 1984);

In Other Words: Essays toward a Reflective Sociology (1990, in French 1987);

Language and Symbolic Power (1991, in French 1982);

Weight of the World: Social Suffering in Contemporary Society (1999, in French 1993b);

Masculine Domination (2001, in French 1998b);

Counterfire: Against the Tyranny of the Market (2003, in French 1998b);

Science of Science and Reflexivity (2004, in French 2001);

General Sociology, vol 1-3 (2019-2021, in French 2012, 2016).