Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 12:13:33
From: Margot Ford <mford-AT-darwin.ntu.edu.au>
Subject: Re: PB and New Concepts


At 03:41 PM 8/1/96 +0300, you wrote:
>At 01:23 PM 9/20/98 +1000, Simon Emsley wrote:

>
>The sole reason I have been inclined towards Bourdieu was to find myself an
>innovative opening of Marxist criticism, and I had quite serious
>reservations for post-Marxism (especially for fetishistic anti-essentialism
>of Laclau and Mouffe): I prefer, rather than happy-go-lucky deconstruction,
>searching for ways to retain the good ol' "class" or "structure" or
>"agent"... Aside from aggreing with the points you brought (and some of
>them turned on lamps inside my head!), what indeed made me confused about
>his use of class was the way he connected the field of power to the field
>of class (you see, there is further a problem in using everywhere "the
>field of..."). 
>
>When I consider my own case, Islam, and regarding a specific sect of Islam
>as a field, I can draw the outline of the field of power, in terms of how
>symbolic violence works. Alevi Muslims' religious practices go back to the
>days of Shamanism, before Turks have invaded Asia Minor, and these
>practices have --although more liberal and egalitarian than Sunni Islam
>(that of Arabs)-- very strict definitions of individual habituses. Yet that
>field of power cannot be treated as enveloped by the field of class, the
>case is so complicated: On the one hand, Alevism has historically been a
>stake in the hands of Turkish Socialists against the always-Sunni
>bourgeoisie, because of the egalitarian and heterodox philosophy of the
>sect. On the other hand, nowadays, the Army (Turkish Army, having
>accomplished three coups and one --an ultimatom to the fundamentalist
>Islamists last year-- indirect intervention in 38 years, sees itself as the
>sole Protector of Democracy, Unity, and Secularism) politicizes the Alevi
>sect against the "rising threat" of radical Islam. Thirdly, there are the
>poltical Islamists, all Sunni, separated among themselves with respect to
>Alevis. Fourthly, there are the dispositions of the Alevis themselves,
>which, I think, are not defined by the archaic religious practices, but by
>more materialistic ones plus by those imposed by other power groups.
>
>Gosh! It's been a long and boring mail. But you see, I am having great
>difficulties in connecting power struggles to class struggles. I wonder if
>Bourdieu has anything written on religion. 
>
I don't find this at a;ll boring - this is a great example of the
complexities of class and power when the added factor of cultural
differences becomes part of the equation.  It pushes theories of power and
class to new dimensions when examples such as this are used.


margot



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