Biblioteca Digital de VanguardiaBourdieu’s class theory
What explains the enormous popularity of Bourdieu’s critical theory in US academia and particularly in sociology? This paper considers two answers. One is that Bourdieu offers a compelling macrosociological account of contemporary society similar in scale to those of Marx, Weber, or Durkheim. Howeve...
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| Formato: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Lenguaje: | Portugués |
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FCL-UNESP Laboratório Editorial
2019
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| Acceso en línea: | https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/estudos/article/view/12245 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/63330 |
| Sumario: | What explains the enormous popularity of Bourdieu’s critical theory in US academia and particularly in sociology? This paper considers two answers. One is that Bourdieu offers a compelling macrosociological account of contemporary society similar in scale to those of Marx, Weber, or Durkheim. However, a close examination shows that Bourdieu fails in this task. His work offers neither an empirically supported class analysis nor an account of social reproduction or social change. Thus, I conclude that Bourdieu’s popularity cannot be a result of the power of his explanations. There is, however, a second answer: that Bourdieu’s sociology is popular because of the specific social conditions in US academia today. In this context, where intellectuals win rewards by pursuing a strategy of distinction, where they lack much organizational connection to popular movements, and where their material interests lie in a defense of their privileges, Bourdieu’s sociology is highly attractive. It effectively resonates with academics’ lived experience and serves to articulate their most fundamental political interests. |
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