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Pierre Bourdieu: Agent Provocateur
The French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu is now recognized as leading intellectual of the late twentieth century. This comprehensive account of Bourdieu's life and work traces the origins of his ideas and theories, explaining and exploring just what Bourdieu argued for and why. Illuminating the social, political, and philosophical strands that run through his work, Michael Grenfell's broad study takes in Bourdieu's response to The Algerian Crisis, his ideas for the reform of state education, and his views on aesthetics and the mass media. Detailed attention is also paid to Bourdieu's overtly political stance, including his critique of capitalism and his opposition to recent Western military action in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan.
Laying out the implications of Bourdieu's work and assessing the consequences, Grenfell explains why his ideas are still relevant and suggests where his ideas might be taken from here. This clear, thorough account of Bourdieu is invaluable to students, researchers and teachers of contemporary society theory.
Laying out the implications of Bourdieu's work and assessing the consequences, Grenfell explains why his ideas are still relevant and suggests where his ideas might be taken from here. This clear, thorough account of Bourdieu is invaluable to students, researchers and teachers of contemporary society theory.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 30, 2008
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)
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)
March 10, 2011
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.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews