Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 12:06:47 -0500 (EST)
From: George Free <aw570-AT-freenet.toronto.on.ca>
Subject: Re: Habitus and Culture Change


On Mon, 4 Nov 1996, Paul Bayer wrote:

> 
> your remark seems to be a more biographic one. You are right, that the
> works who leaded Bourdieu to take his questions were the studies in
> Algeria and in Bearn. These studies have demonstrated for him, that a
> similar (anthropologic) approach should be possible when investigating
> the modern society. Without question there is an anthropologic root
> within Bourdieus work.
> 	But I insist, that for developping his approach, Bourdieu had to study
> modern society, that Bourdieu wanted to develop his approach in order to
> study modern society. In fact this was his work of the past 30 years.
> Without doubts there was a substantial evolvement, enlargement and
> strengthening of his concepts within this period.

Hi Paul,
	I am wondering why you think that it is important to insist on 
this point, i.e., that Bourdieu's ideas derive in large part from his 
study of modern societies? Do you doubt the generality of his approach?
	There is also an historical aspect to the development of
Bourdieu's approach, as I am sure you would also recognize. Bourdieu took
up the structuralist anthropology current in France and started to
challenge it especially when he began to apply it to his own social world,
as I understand. It seems from some of his biographical remarks that his
background as someone from Bearn allowed him to sympathize or relate more
directly with the people he was studying as an anthropologist. Bourdieu's
work can be seen as an important development within the French
anthropological tradition--especially, as he says, for bringing the
subject back in (without falling prey to the subjectivism from which the
structuralists like Levi-Strauss broke).
	
> 
> 	You are right also with this remark. Identifying the invariants in
> their concepts is an interest of nearly all scientist. But Bourdieu
> remains critical and sees the danger that someone could take his
> concepts and "construct" a "theoreticist" theory. Obviously Bourdieu
> himself is working to better outline and explaine the more general
> concepts of his approach. That seems to be the target of his last book
> "Raisons Practiques, Sur la Theorie de l'Action" -- 1994. There is also
> a growing debate between scientists and philosophers over the general
> importance and applicability of his concepts (for example in "Critique"
> of august/september 1995). But Bourdieu remains cautious in theorizing
> his concepts and insists on the reciprocity between sociological
> concepts and sociological field work. 
> 
	Agreed. Thanks for the _Critique_ reference.

		regards,
		George Free		aw570-AT-torfree.net
		Toronto, Ontario
		Canada

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