Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002)

En esta lección inaugural con ocasión de su ingreso en el Collége de France, en 1982, Pierre Bourdieu impartió una suerte de metalección («lección sobre la lección inaugural de sociología consagrada a la sociología de la lección inaugural») en la que dejó muy clara su noción de la sociología : no una ciencia descriptiva de la sociedad, sino una interrogación acerca de la «violencia simbólica» con que se «trata de imponer la verdad parcial de un grupo como la verdad de las show more relaciones objetivas entre los grupos». Así, la sociología es, ella misma, objeto de su propia labor de investigación: «en la sociología, tal como yo la concibo, todas las proposiciones que esta ciencia enuncia pueden y deben aplicarse al.sujeto que hace la ciencia» . Para Bourdieu, el sociólogo es una especie de policía del capital simbólico, que permanece atento a los engaños que la cultura establecida siempre querrá imponer; por eso su labor no puede no ser política: se tratará de detectar en qué momento el racismo, la demagogia o el populismo aparecen en el discurso del periodista, del ministro, del libro de texto. En este sentido, Bourdieu rinde homenaje a Marx, «fundador de la sociología del conocimiento», y a Foucault, quien forma parte de «la gran tradición de epistemología histórica», de la que también participa Canguilhem. Bourdieu agrega, en esa senda, que «no hay crítica epistemológica sin crítica social». Un texto que puede ser una excelente introducción a la obra de Bourdieu y también, para los iniciados, un documento histórico a la par que un interesante resumen de las ideas esenciales del autor a mediados de su carrera intelectual. show less

Dense, dated, and at times unnecessarily convoluted—but also genuinely fascinating in its exploration of how taste is shaped by class, education, and social structures. I couldn’t always tell whether the writing style was simply academic or quietly gatekeeping, but the core ideas are strong enough to push through the difficulty.

As someone interested in how people construct meaning (and perhaps feeling slightly outside those structures myself), I found it particularly show more compelling—especially reading it as an American now living in England, where class operates very differently but just as persistently. It also led to some mildly unsettling self-reflection on where my own tastes sit versus where I’d place myself socially.

Not an easy read, and certainly not for everyone, but one I really enjoyed and will likely return to—if only to bring it up at dinner parties and tipsy midnight sessions. show less

Here, in his final book, based on the last series of lectures Bourdieu delivered at the Collège de France, the distinguished sociologist warns his readers of a great danger to the scientific field: "submission to economic interests and to the seductions of the media threatens to combine with external critiques and internal denigration, most recently presented in some 'postmodern' rantings." Above all concerned with the last, Bourdieu is at pains to revive his own theoretical model of the show more scientific field, first set out in 1975, which he feels offers a far better model of what happens in the production of scientific facts than, say, the model developed by Bruno Latour, who is singled out for very rough treatment. In many ways, this valedictory piece is autobiographical, and many who were in the past moved by the moments when Bourdieu's rich theoretical reflections parted to reveal his commitment to social justice and other progressive causes will find, in addition to this short book's tart and brilliant reflections on the state of science and (far more significantly) science studies, touching moments of self revelation. show less

Se eu continuar a ler esses livros de sociologia que me arrebatam tanto vou acabar abandonando Jung lindamente para me dedicar à psicologia social. Rá!
Ter baseado boa parte do livro em citações de obras de Virginia Woolf, sobretudo Rumo ao Farol, ajudou muito ao Bourdieu a me ganhar e pautar a dominação simbólica a partir de um inconsciente androcêntrico fechou para meu encantamento.