Bourdieu: Key concepts Theory is not just for the sake of theorizing, but emerging out of empirical knowledge

and practice - therefore, it is called theory of practice. The divide of subjectivism and objectivism: Bourdieu sees them as two models of knowledge Objectivism Structure (usually from levi-Straussian anthropology) Social rules and regulations Reproduction of structure Structuralism Subjectivism Phenomenology (from philosophical tradition of enlightenment) Free choice of individual Agency Existentialism

Bourdieu criticized the strict divide between two traditions and emphasized that both are necessary to understand the social world. He tried to bridge the two traditions. Neither rule nor personal choice ut strategy explains human practices. So, he worked towards A science of dialectical relations between objective structures and the subjective dispositions within which these structures are actualized and which tend to reproduce them. (1977 b:3)

Objective structure

Subjective disposition

Habitus The dialectical relation between outer social structure and inner objective structure is defined as habitus. Field Outer social structure Objective structure Habitus Inner self Subjective disposition (durable and transposable)

Past and present circumstances of a person

Perceptions, appreciations Shapes present and future practices Practice

[(habitus) (capital)] + field = practice Practice results from relations between ones dispositions (habitus) and ones position in a field (capital) within the current state of play of that social arena (field). The double relation b/w habitus and field is described as - On one side, it is a relation of conditioning: the field structures the habituson the other side, it is a relation of knowledge or cognitive construction. Habitus contributes to constituting the field as meaningful world. Habitus: ways of thinking, feeling, acting, derived from personal historywhich in turn shapes history. So, we make history but mot under conditions entirely of our own making. The range of choices available and/or visible to a person in a particular time is conditional by his/her history and present & past circumstances. Neither habitus, nor field area fixed, they are both changing and evolving over time. Habitus is the link b/w - Social & individual - Objective & subjective - Structure & agency Social & individual: area linked because persons have unique experiences of the social world and at the same time they share social structures such as class, ethnicity etc. Objective & subjective: is linked because of internalization of the outer and externalization of the inner. Habitus is a socialized subjectivity and the social embodied (externalized and internalized respectively)how external social structures are internalized and inner dispositions are shaping the outer structures. Structure & agency: in addition to shared regularities of the society, the social agests improvise strategically based on their particular positions, beliefs and aptitudes, and points of view. Such strategic improvisation is caved practical logic of the social agents.

Doxa: Social agents share doxa of the field, the assumptions that go without saying, and that limit the actions & thoughts. Field: Social space a field of forces. Prople who dominate & people who are dominated. Constant, permanent rations of inequality Actors struggle for the transformation or preservation of the field Actors use all the (relative) power at their disposal

 Their relative power defiles their position in the field which in turn will determine their strategies Social space in which interactions, transactions and events occur