Bourdieu Theory of Social Practice PDF

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Sport as Clusters of Social Practice What do we mean by practice? A practice represents a pattern which can be filled out by a multitude of single and often unique actions reproducing the practice. The single individual – as a bodily and mental agent, then acts as the carrier of the practice. Not only a carrier of patterns of bodily behaviour, but also of certain routinised ways of understanding, knowing how and desiring.

Bourdieu’s “Theory of Practice” Social Practice as Structured and Structuring Practical Sense/Logic of Practice Practical sense ‘selects’ certain objects or actions, and consequently certain other aspects, in relation to ‘the matter in hand’ an implicit and practical principle of pertinence; and by fixing on those with which there is something to be done or those that determine what is to be done in the given situation. (1990:90) Key Principles: The Logic of Practice The theory of practice as practice insists is the system of structured, structuring dispositions, the habitus, which is constituted in practice and is always oriented towards practical functions. (1990:52)  {(habitus) (capital)} + field = practice (1984:101) Practice, Field, Habitus and Capital This philosophy is condensed in a small number of fundamental concepts – habitus, field, capital – and it’s corner stone is the two-way relationship between objective structures (those of social fields) and incorporated structures (those of habitus) (1998, vii)

Primary Concepts Field, Habitus and Capital Field – social arenas of consensual and conflicting interest Contextualising the ‘field’ of sport and physical culture

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“The system of institutions and agents directly linked to the existence of sporting activities and entertainments” (1993:118) The practical logic of its production “How was this terrain constituted, with its specific logical, as a site of quite specific social practices, which can have defined themselves in the course of a specific history and can only be understood in terms of that history (1993:119) We need to then ask who are the producers and consumers respectively Also what valued commodities does the field of sport ‘produce’ and what struggles over these are there in evidence?

Habitus – generative schemes of dispositions  “Instilled by childhood learning that treats the body as a living memory pad, an automaton that leads the mind unconsciously along with it, and as a repository for the most precious values (1990, p.68)  “The conditionings associated with a particular class of conditions of existence produce habitus, systems of durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures” (1990, p.53) Dispositions The word seems particularly suited to express what is covered by the concept of habitus(defined as a scheme of dispositions)  Expresses first the result of an organising action – with a meaning close to that of words such as structure  Also designates a way of being, a habitual state (especially of the body) and in particular, a predisposition, tendency, propensity or inclination (1977, p.214) Habitus as a generative scheme of dispositions An “open system of dispositions that is constantly subjected to experiences and therefore constantly affected by them in a way that either reinforces or modifies its structures” (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992:133) Capital – transferable social value  Capital are the valued dispositions, abilities and connections of individual agents. They are closely connected with habitus  Agents acquire capital through practice in the social they engage in  Some forms of capital can be transferred  There are a range of “types” of capital - Social capital - Cultural capital: embodied, objectified, institutionalised - Economic capital - Symbolic capital

Key Reflexive Principles The Habitus – Capital – Field Relation (2) Field The structure of the field in a state of power relations among the agents or institutions engaged in the struggle (Bourdieu, 1993, p.73) Habitus In order for a field to function, there have to be stakes and people prepared to play the game, endowed with the habitus that implies knowledge and recognition of the immanent laws of the field, the stakes and so on (Bourdieu, 1993, p.72) Capital Capital is effective in relation to a particular field, and therefore within the limits of this field, and it is only convertible into another kind of capital on certain conditions (Bourdieu, 1993, p.73)

Secondary Concepts Taste, Illusio and Doxa Taste – manifested preferences  Practice and habits create ‘taste’ - Taste raises the differences inscribed in the physical order of bodies to the symbolic order of significant distinctions. Taste is thus the source of systematic expression of a particular class of conditions of existence. (Bourdieu [1979] 1984: 174-5) - Taste is what brings together things and people that go together (Bourdieu [1979] 1984: 241) Illusio – socialised interest: the “feel” for the (social) “game”  Illusio is fact of being caught up in and by the game, of believing the game is “worth the candle,” or that playing is worth the effort – the fact that this happens matters to those who are engaged in it, who are in the game (Bourdieu, 1998:77) Doxa – self-evident social organisation  “A quasi-perfect correspondence between the objective order and the subjective principles of organisation (as in ancient societies) – the natural and social world appears as self-evident. This experience we shall call doxa, so as to distinguish it from an orthodox or heterodox belief implying awareness and recognition of the possibility of different or antagonistic beliefs.” (Bourdieu [1972] 2007:164) Symbolic Violence – subtle acts of domination  The violence which is exercised upon a social agent with his or her complicity (Bourdieu, 1998:167)  The gentle, hidden form which violence takes when overt violence is impossible (Bourdieu, 1998:196) Hysteresis – delays in realignment of habitus  Delays in the realignment of habitus and field that result from change at the field level (Tomlinson, 2004, p.82)

Summary  The sociocultural world becomes embedded in our bodies and minds

 We learn to feel, taste, touch, think, move, act, see in ways which are consistent with the practical lifeworlds (fields) we engage with  These lead to schemes of dispositions and perceptions of the world  These schemes then act as a “generative grammar” that informs (but does not determine) future actions  In so doing, our habitus also shapes our taste, inclusion, view of the world and sense of place within it  Through engaging in practice in social fields we reproduce them (usually) Over time, this can create doxa – a taken for granted social orde...