Pierre Bourdieu: Agent Provocateur

by Michael James Grenfell

Most books on French social critic Bourdieu (1930-2002) set out his main ideas chronologically then evaluate their worth and value, explains Grenfell (social science, U. of Southampton). He takes a different approach, focusing on the sociologist's socio-political engagement, which he says was the starting point of ideas for Bourdieu himself. He looks at his cultural influences, his main fields of work, and his ideas about events and trends of the last decade of the century. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Isaiah Padgett]

Good intro to Bourdieu, but more geared towards his life rather than his thought or the application of his theories. 3.5/5

[Vip Vinyaratn]

My professor recommended me the book as an introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's thought. This book narrates his thought and put it agianst french social, political, and intellectual background. You can grasp Bourdieu's thought in many aspects such as education, media, cultural, economic etc.

Although not very much in-depthed detail on his "theory", the reader can get at least a broad perspective on his work; ranging from anthtopology, sociology to philosophy (espeacially his engagement with Heidgger's philosophy)

[Janelle C.]

I think this book would work well for a introductory theory course. It gives insight into Bourdieu's background, which gives context to his theories. The theories themselves can be dense but I thought this book gave a nice overview and made them more accessible. Too often, Bourdieu's articles are assigned as a disembodied article, which makes them even more difficult. This book fleshed out the concepts within the context of Bourdieu's life and work, which made them more relevant.