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critical evaluations of his work, notably papers by Rodney Benson, 4 Rogers Brubaker, Nick Crossley, and John Myles. Indeed, it is the 1985 article by Rogers Brubaker that can truly be said to have served as one of the best introductions to Bourdieu’s thought for the American social scienti?c public. It is for this reason that we include it in the present collection. Intellectual origins & orientations We begin by providing an overview of Bourdieu’s life as a scholar and a public intellectual. The numerous obituaries and memorial tributes that have appeared following Bourdieu’s untimely death have revealed something of his life and career, but few have stressed the intersection of his ...
Once again, unfettered capitalism has failed. Promises for global prosperity and peace have given way to a world of deep recession, social upheaval and political instability. Once again, mainstream economics has proved its inadequacy. Despite its technical rigour and mathematical virtuosity, it failed dramatically to respond to the current crisis. Why is this so? Mainstream economics turns a blind eye to society. By assumption, it maims its analyses by wiping away what makes us what we are. There is pressing need for a critical discussion and new ideas. We therefore turn to the insightful and stimulating work of Pierre Bourdieu. Arguably one of the major sociologists ever, he was also a majo...
The Oxford Handbook of Pierre Bourdieu examines the legacy of one of the most influential social thinkers of the last half-century. Taken together, these writings offer a comprehensive overview of Bourdieu's biography, his main theoretical ideas, and his ongoing influence on the social sciences.
Economists do more than merely describe an external economic world. They shape it in the image of their theories and models. This idea, following the philosophy of language, puts forward that economic theories are performative, and not only descriptive. This idea has become a powerful critique of the scientificity of economics since it removes the idea of an external world against which our description could be evaluated as truth. If any theory can become true, there are no true theories per se because there is no such thing as a pre-existing economy to describe. Is such a relativist stance a fatality? This is the question at stake in this book. Furthermore, the author asks if any theory is ...
This new book gathers together essays concerning the strategic modes of appropriation that Bourdieu practiced with regard to Marx, together with their various outcomes. It is especially devoted to the practice of critique that both thinkers exercised vigilantly throughout their careers, as this is the terrain on which we can best illuminate the debt that Bourdieu acknowledged to Marx. Ongoing dialogue with the entire body of Marxian critique is a constant in Bourdieu's writings. This is most clearly evidenced by the adoption of a critical perspective on the social world that denotes a massive Marxian presence. It is reinforced by the repeated references to Marx’s texts that the sociologist...
This edited collection of essays exploring the achievements and limitations of a Bourdieusian approach to cultural analysis and the implications for future research.
Can one speak dispassionately today about Pierre Bourdieu? The extraordinary success of his work and its agonistic dimension makes things quite difficult. Jean-Louis Fabiani’s book is an attempt to apply Bourdieu’s analytical tools to his own work as he invited us in his reflexive sociology. Testing their limitations and their potential ambiguity allows the author to shed new light on the social genesis of his main concepts (field, habitus and capital) and on the complex relationship between science and politics. While the sociologist’s systemic ambition is never taken for granted, it remains possible to reveal its hidden grandeur. Professor Jean-Louis Fabiani is the winner of the 2020 CEU Award for Outstanding Research [Click here to read the interview with Professor Jean-Louis Fabiani on the occasion of receiving the award]
Word-of-Mouth in Contemporary Hollywood provides a unique insight into the potential for online communication to enable audiences to exert a greater impact on film industrial practices than ever before. In an overarching analysis of contemporary Hollywood film financing, marketing, distribution, and exhibition practices, Simon Hewitt recontextualises word-of-mouth in light of social media and examines the growing impact of audience participation. Using a ‘Bourdieuconomic’ approach, he applies qualitative research methods to better understand the contemporary Hollywood film audience, the contemporary Hollywood film industry, and the mechanisms that connect the two. The book explores new f...
This open access book describes how elite studies theoretically and methodologically construct their object, i.e. how particular conceptualizations of elites are turned into research practice using different methods for collecting, dealing with and analyzing empirical data. The first of four sections focuses on what Mills named the power elite and includes Bourdieu’s field of power. The second section addresses studies of the domain of economic power, whereas the third section centers on research on elite education. The fourth and last section highlights research on symbolic power, either within social fields or as a dimension of social structure at large, areas where recognition is essential. All sections comprise empirical case studies of elites and power, whereby each of which makes explicit the various methodological choices made in the research process. Through focusing on methodological approaches for the study of elites and power and on how such approaches relate to each other as well as to the theoretical perspectives that underpin them, this book will be a valuable source for social scientists.