Bourdieu, Chapter 6, Intro Statements

In Chapter 6 of Culture and Power, The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, David Swartz discusses Bourdieu's context of fields (champs).

This will be Part 1 (114-129) to this chapter followed by an entry tomorrow with part 2 (129-142).

The concept of field reacts against positivism in that the boundaries are not definitely drawn, (p. 119). As opposed to reductionism and vulgar materialism, through the lens of field the effects of background and environment on individual behavior are perceived. Finally, field rejects cultural idealism.

With the concept of field, Bourdieu emphasizes social conflict rather than consensus (institutions), p. 120. Boundaries are not clearly defined. The broadest possible range of factors to explain behavior are exhibited through the concept of field (p. 121). Thus, a social scientist must not hasten to narrow the range of their investigation. The researcher must not yield to institutional pressure to limit their scope, producing symbolic effects lacking objectivity, p.122.

Fields are:

• arenas of struggle for control over valued resources (i.e., capital as objects of struggle, functioning as "social relation of power").
• centered around forms of capital such as economic, cultural, scientific, or religious.
• in relation to real life areas: such as the intellectual field (culture), economic field (business), science, religion.
• varied as the types of capital
• (p. 123) structured spaces of dominant and subordinate positions based on types and amounts of capital, and unequal distribution of relevant capitals.
• occupied by dominant conservative established actors (orthodoxy) and new subversive subhordinates (heresy)
• of these two opposing strategies dialectically aligned one generating the other (124), and a third which is (conservation), succession, (subversion).
• deeply structured with specific forms of struggle called doxa. (Rules of the game.)
• structured by their internal mechanisms of development, interconnected and independent from external factors, p. 126.
  
• an analysis shifting attention away from the particularistic characteristics of individuals and groups and toward the struggles and dynamics of arenas of social life that shape their behavior (129).

As a way of bringing this discussion to life, here are two Youtube videos for perusal with application of the concept of field. Note the actors, the conflicts, arenas of social life and interaction. In each example, identify orthodoxy, succession, and heresy or subversion. Also note the capital, various types and fields. Enjoy.

• WW2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6omQ5JjjLsE&feature=related

• religion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ope-1Zb5t-k&feature=related


Tomorrow: Part 2.