Pierre Bourdieu

and Urbanization
Addison Vaughn
Pierre Bourdieu
● Born in Southern France in
1930, died in 2002
● French Sociologist
concerned with power
dynamics in society
● Best known for his book
Distinction: a Social
Critique of Judgement of
Taste
 Bourdieu’s Thesis
● Conceptualization of different kinds of capital and how the
possession of capital (habitus) keeps members grouped
together in a given field by their proximity to the desirable or
undesirable
● Social agents develop strategies for existing in a given field
Definitions
Field: Setting where agents exist. Defined by what is excluded.
Habitus: Amount of capital one has (social, cultural, economic
capital)
Social: Relationships and ties (privileged ones)
Cultural: Proximity to ‘high culture’
Economic: Material assets, property rights
Different Opinions
Marx: Bourdieu expands on Marx’s ideas of class distinction/capital by
incorporating more social and cultural ideas
Foucault: Different than Foucault in that power isn’t “everywhere” but
rather culturally created in combination with political structure.
Wacquant: Similar argument, focusing on American Ghettos.
However these Ghettos are result of state’s “policy of erosion of public
institutions” - creating deterioration of inner city/ghettos.
Today
● This possession (or lack of) of capital keeps others distant
and stuck in given field
● Those possessing appropriate “habitus” have the means to
move “fields” - similar to Urbanization or Gentrification
● Deteriorating US Ghettos: “Deliberate urban abandonment
pursued by government” (Wacquant)
● Gentrification in American cities
● Gentrification of areas like Kreuzberg in Berlin
Questions
● How does Bourdieu’s theory align with gentrification and
urbanization today? Does his argument miss anything?
● What are modern examples of the capital Bourdieu
mentions?
● What else can play into the possession of capital? Ex:
religion, etc