Bourdieu in American Sociology, Jeffrey J. Sallaz and Jane Zavisca, 2007 As reviewed by Ralph Soule and Tamara Sole

Article’s Purpose  To evaluate the degree to which Pierre Bourdieu’s work informed or influenced the discipline of sociology in America between

Key Take-Aways  Bourdieu developed theories for relating culture and inequality  There’s been  a steady diffusion of Bourdieu’s writings into American sociology throughout the past 25 years  An increasing use of Bourdieu’s ideas in American sociology research  Bourdieu’s cultural capital remains the key influence on American sociology research

Overview of Bourdieu’s Concepts  Critical of a “mediocre and empirical” strand within sociology  Social structures influence individual mental structures that in turn reproduce or change social structures through  Capital: economic, cultural, social, symbolic  Field: The social “playing field” upon which actors act  Habitus: socially learned dispositions, skills and ways of acting, often taken for granted  Symbolic power: the ability of dominant groups to impose a social structure that suits their wishes

Overview of Bourdieu’s Concepts (cont.)  Symbolic dimension of class inequality and reproduction  Grave doubts about ethnography since researchers can never truly see the world from their subjects’ point of view  States are essential for making and maintaining market fields, the “global market” is a political creation  The characteristics of products, especially symbolic meaning for consumers, exerts an independent influence on suppliers.  Common critiques: ideas are too static and too specific to French society

Methodologies  Quantitative content analysis of 4 prominent sociology journals  American Journal of Sociology  American Sociological Review  Social Forces  Social Problems  Review of 4 books explicitly apply Bourdieu’s theories  Making Capitalism Without Capitalists (Eyal, et al. 1999)  The Architecture of Markets (Fligstein, 2002)  Money, Morals, and Manners (Lamont, 1994)  Body and Soul, (Wacquant, 2004)

Article’s Conclusion  American scholars are increasingly likely to cite and acknowledge Bourdieu’s work  Increased interest (as of 2004) in Bourdieu’s work is not a fad or short-lived.  Bourdieu citations were substantive  Many scholars are applying Bourdieu’s theories and are moving the research forward  Bourdieu’s ideas were not limited to France since they have been successfully transposed to the US and other countries.

Questions  If social structures generate individual mental structures that in turn reproduce social structures, how do social structures change?  Give some examples of symbolic power (what Bourdieu called the most effective form of power), the capacity of dominant groups to impose “the definition of the social world that is best suited to their interests.”  Is there anything profound about Bourdieu’s assertion that states are essential for making and maintaining market fields, or is this just a statement of the obvious?