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A Different Poststructuralism Outline of a Theory of Practice. by Pierre Bourdieu; Richard Nice Review by: Craig Calhoun Contemporary , Vol. 25, No. 3 (May, 1996), pp. 302-305 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2077436 . Accessed: 10/10/2013 06:55

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This content downloaded from 129.12.11.80 on Thu, 10 Oct 2013 06:55:33 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 302 CONTEMPORARYSOCIOLOGY

Third, students of would also do ;and sociology has always had a well to take the notion of "deep play" (a stronger commitment to both theory and theoreticalidea, if ever there was one) more explanation. Perhaps, then, sociologists will seriously.In "Deep Play," Geertz is not only be able uninhibitedlyto assimilate and find exploring the meanings of the Balinese real nourishment in the rich filling of cockfight.He is also askingwhat makes some Geertz's interpretation-sandwich. culturalperformances, some cultural experi- ences deeper, more intense, more gripping than others. This is the beginning of an works cited: analysis of why some rituals, texts, or more meaning than others Alexander,Jeffrey C. 1987. TwentyLectures: Sociolog- symbols generate ical Theory since World War II. New York: do. Geertz explores how tension,uncertainty Columbia UniversityPress. about the outcome, balanced opponents, and Asad, Talal. 1983. "AnthropologicalConceptions of the ability to symbolize (and sublimate) Religion:Reflections on Geertz."Man 18:237-259. significantsocial tensions make some cock- Biersack, Aletta. 1989. "Local Knowledge, Local History:Geertz and Beyond." Pp. 72-96 in Lynn fights deeper, more exciting, and more Hunt (ed.), The New Cultural History.Berkeley: satisfyingthan others. Universityof CaliforniaPress. Barely breaking the surface of Geertz's Geertz, Clifford.1968. Islam Observed: Religious essays, but there, nonetheless, lurks the Development in Morocco and Indonesia. New in sense Haven: Yale UniversityPress. question of whether and what . 1983. Local Knowledge: FurtherEssays in are really "systems" after all. He InterpretiveAnthropology. New York:Basic Books. recognizes thatmultiple kinds of realitiescan Keesing, Roger M. 1974. "Theories of Culture."Pp. abide side by side. He also occasionally 73-97 in Annual Review of Anthropology3. Palo addresses great clashes of meanings, when Alto:Annual Reviews, Inc. Parker,Richard. 1985. "FromSymbolism to Interpre- people's cultural assumptions don't mesh, tation:Reflections on the Workof CliffordGeertz." and when culture itself is a source of Anthropologyand Humanism Quarterly10(3):62- sometimes violent conflict.If cultural coher- 67. ence is itselfvariable, Geertz's work provides Shankman,Paul. 1984. "The Thick and the Thin: On this variation. the InterpretiveTheoretical Program of Clifford a startingpoint for studying Geertz."CurrentAnthropology 25 (June):261-279. Geertz's polemical stands-in favor of Swidler,Ann and Roland L. Jepperson.1994. "Inter- interpretationand against explanation, for pretation,Explanation, and Theories of Meaning." description over theory, and against all Paper presented at the American Sociological general theory-are red herrings.They have Association Annual Meetings, Los Angeles, CA (August). distracted us from the depth and originality Wikan,Unni. 1992. "Beyondthe Words:The Power of of his own theorizing. Sociology has not Resonance." American Ethnologist 19 (August): faced a crisis of confidence like that of 460-482.

A DifferentPoststructuralism

CRAIG CALHOUN Universityof NorthCarolina, Chapel Hill

Original review, CS 9:2 (March 1980), by Outline of a Theory of Practice, by Pierre ArthurW. FrankIII: Bourdieu. Trans. by Richard Nice. New York: The contributionof Bourdieu's work is that Cambridge UniversityPress [1972] 1977. 248 in producinga bettergrounded structural- pp. $19.95 paper. ISBN: 0-521-29164-X. ism,he accomplishesthe practice of a more scientificMarxism ... The European idiom Pierre Bourdieu (1988) has described one of Bourdieu's writingshould not distract central motivation behind his NorthAmerican sociologists from its extraor- work as a determinationto challenge mislead- dinaryimportance as a theoryof method. ing dichotomies. This determination is no-

This content downloaded from 129.12.11.80 on Thu, 10 Oct 2013 06:55:33 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CONTEMPORARYSOCIOLOGY 303 where more manifestthan in the workthat French intellectualscene and that shaped firstmaide him famousin English-languageBourdieu's own initialorientation opposed sociology,and which remainsperhaps his the structuralismsof Levi-Straussand Althus- most influential,Outline of a Theoryof serto theegocentric of Sartre.2 Practice.' Outlineattacks many problematic Ifforced to choose,Bourdieu was clearlyon dichotomies,but has gained its enduring Levi-Strauss'sside (thoughnot that of Althus- influencemost of all fromits challenge to the ser), but in Outline he combined classic oppositionof structureand action. structuralistanalyses of the Kabyle with a The idea of transcendingthis dichotomy developingcritique of 'scogni- was not a new one in sociologicaltheory; tivistneglect of practical knowledge, its more recallthe effortsignaled by TalcottParsons's generalobjectivism, and its inabilityto turn firstbook, The Structure of Social Action.But that objectivistgaze on itselfin order to Bourdieu's effortwas both original and provide an adequate account of its own compelling.It caught,moreover, the rising scientificstandpoint. For all of his influence demandfor an integrationof structureand in anthropology,and his general fame, action that followed the successive crises Levi-Strausshad not been widely read in firstof Parsons'sown functionalismand then Americansociology. This made Outlineboth of a Marxismthat had splitinto structuralist more difficult for many readers to assimilate and voluntaristcamps. and more valuableas a criticalintroduction Outlinedid notachieve the instant fame of to some ofthe achievementsof structuralism Bourdieu'sDistinction, which burston the (that is, of culturalstructuralism, as distinct Anglophonescene in a 1984 translationand from various acultural accounts of social helped to spark the renaissance of the structure).Like Foucault's work of the same sociologyof culture,as well as a thriving period (The Orderof Things,and Archaeol- subfieldof culturalstudies of stratification.ogy of Knowledge), Outline offered both one Rather,partly because it is a more difficult of structuralism'shigh points and important book, Outline attractedreaders gradually- movementbeyond it. but also found its way into the standard Structuralistanalyses were commonly static, syllabifor graduate courses in contemporary and thereforecommonly opposed to ac- sociologicaltheory. It also had a substantial countsof process.3 In theManichean opposi- indirectinfluence, even beforetranslation, as tion of structuralismto existentialism,indi- for example Bourdieu'swork helped shape viduals, action, and especially personal AnthonyGiddens's intellectualframework experiencewere ceded to thelatter (and the and laterreaders picked up Bourdieu'sideas latter thereby declared unscientific).As and terms- likestructuration- from Giddens Althusserfamously put it,individual persons withoutalways knowing their source. Out- were not of analyticsignificance in them- line spoke to a desirefor theory that made selves,but ratherwere simplythe "bearers" sense of the stabilityof social organization of structure.From early in his work in withoutsuccumbing to the conservatismof ,Bourdieu found it criticalto analyze muchfunctionalism, and thatmade sense of both recurrentprocesses throughwhich without relyingon highly ways of lifewere enacted and more linear cognitive accounts of intentions.It also processes of historicalchange. Above all, helped that,despite a good translation,the Bourdieu sought to show how structures textwas sufficientlyoblique in stylethat it werereproduced through the very actions by could be read-at least superficially-with which individualssought to achieve their approval by English-languagetheorists of personal ends. Outline was his firstmajor starklycontrasting orientations. Sincethe book was originallywritten some years earlier in French, this context of 2 Though published in 1972, Outline was largely receptionwas not exactly its context of writtenbefore 1968 and is not the work in which to production.The dichotomythat rent the findBourdieu's response to the eventsof thatyear or the late '60s intellectualconflicts more generally.For that,see Homo Academicus. 1 Bourdieu in essence rewroteOutline in his later, 3 Foucault's structuralisthistories thus stress rup- but less widely read, Logic of Practice (Stanford: tures between statisticallyconceived epochs more StanfordUniversity Press, 1990). thanprocesses, whether of change or flux.

This content downloaded from 129.12.11.80 on Thu, 10 Oct 2013 06:55:33 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 304 CON]TEMPORARYSOCIOLOGY theoreticalstatement of this approach,and eu's metaphor,effective play of a game thiswas a crucialbasis of itsearly influence. requiresnot justknowledge of rulesbut also Partlybecause many English- read- a practicalsense for the game. Bourdieu's ers had previouslybeen exposed to Bourdi- account is one of the most fruitfulto have eu's earlywritings on theFrench educational been offeredof this dimensionof "tacit system,Outline was at firstread largelyas a knowledge,"all the more so because of his "reproductiontheory." The powerof Bourdi- relationof thisto bodilyhexis (pickingup eu's accountsof how individualactions were the Aristotelianconcept). Bourdieushowed recuperatedinto the reproductionof struc- cultureas embodied,not just thought,and ture(recalling Merton's classic evocationof thisalone would have ensureda considerable the unintendedconsequences of purposive influencefor Outline. social action)was readilygrasped. The other But the point was even more basic (and side of the coin was less fullyappreciated. more sociological). Bourdieu emphasized But Bourdieuequally made structuredepen- thathabitus was not just a capacityof the denton action,and in so doingprovided an individual,but an achievementof the collec- openingfor studying how changingmaterial tivity.It was the result of a ubiquitous conditions(e.g., the monetarizationof the "collective enterpriseof inculcation."The Kabyle economy) could change the way reasonwhy "strategies"could workwithout culturalprocesses played out in the realmof individualsbeing consciously strategic is that individualaction. individualsbecame who theywere and social In orderto addressaction, Bourdieu drew institutionsexisted only on the strengthof on a largelyAnglo-Saxon language of strategy this inculcationof orientationsto action, and recoveredwith new meaningthe old evaluation,and understanding.This was a term "."The language of strategy matternot only of socialization, conceived in suggested to many Americanreaders an the neutralmanner of much sociology,but affinityto (which also of power. Inculcationtook place in Bourdieuhas strenuouslydenied). This re- familiesdifferentially endowed with cultural pelled at leastas manywho objectedto what ,for example, and thusblessed some theysaw as excessiveeconomism and instru- childrenwith advantages in performingvari- mentalismas it attractedothers who saw the ous socialroles. It was forthis reason too that possibilityof developinga culturallyricher strugglesover classification figured so impor- approachto strategicaction. Whether filtered tantlyfor Bourdieu.Bourdieu showed that throughrational-choice thinking or not,part theclassificatory schemes basic to structural- ofthe impact of Outline has been to show,in ist analysiswere not simplyobjective, as a the traditionof ,how appar- staticaccount would imply, but were also the entlynonstrategic or disinterestedactions in productsof interestedstruggle among social fact can be understoodas resultingfrom actors (albeit seldom explicit). The most actors'interests, even when thoseactors are fundamentalsocial changeshad to appearnot not consciouslyaware of this motivation. onlyas changesin formalstructures but also Bourdieu sought to demonstratehow the as changesin habitualorientations to action. "strategy"inhered not simplyin conscious Bourdieu sought thus to overcome the intentions(a fallacyat once cognitivistand separationof culture, social organization,and subjectivist)but in the situationand in the embodiedindividual being thatwas charac- whole beingof the actoras well. teristicof most existing sociology. In this,his This is where habituscomes in. Notori- mostimportant American forebear was Erv- ouslydifficult to pin down,the termmeans ingGoffman, with whom he spenttime early basicallythe embodiedsensibility that makes in his career,and it is surprisingthat this possiblestructured improvisation. Jazz musi- connectiondid notachieve more recognition cians can play togetherwithout consciously in the earlyreception of Outline. followingrules because theyhave developed Outline has been most influentialamong physicallyembodied capacitiesto hear and those who seek to analyze the interplay respond appropriatelyto what is being between culturaland social structureand producedby others, and to createthemselves social action.If othersof Bourdieu'sworks in ways that otherscan hear sensiblyand have helped to create the sociology of to whichothers can respond.Or in Bourdi- cultureas a subfield,Outline has played a

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majorrole in bringingcultural analysis back overlappingLogic of Practice) as the most into the center of sociological analysisin importantof the relativelyfew generaland general.In encouragingthe attemptto see syntheticstatements Bourdieu has offeredof both actors (and thereforeactions) and his"theory" (a labelhe doesn'tlike). The rest institutionsas shapedby culturalschemas (to of his publicationsrange across a wide borrowSewell's recentterm), it also opens varietyof empiricalobjects of analysis,from up the possibilityof analysisof the way in museums and literatureto kinship,class, whichthose schemas are shapedin struggle. Algerianworkers, and Frenchhigher educa- This is the largertask to which Bourdieu's tion.Outline is not a cure forthe common accountof "symbolicviolence" speaks; it has fragmentedreading of Bourdieu,but it does alreadybeen put to use in a varietyof more go some way towards showing what is specificanalytic contexts. Outline also fore- centralto his perspectiveand situatingmany shadowed Bourdieu's developmentof the of his key concepts in relationto broader conceptof culturalcapital, and moregener- theory.In a senseit explicatesand provides a ally the theoryof how differentforms of rationale for what Brubaker (1992) has accumulatedresources may have different describedas Bourdieu'ssociological habitus, effects,and maybe converted.In one related his characteristicmode of improvisingin sense, however,Outline may have misled empiricalanalysis. readers.Bourdieu's sociology is aimedlargely at an account of power relations,and especiallyof the manyways in whichpower References is culturallyproduced, reproduced, and manipulated.Partly because of the heavy Bourdieu,Pierre. 1988. "Vivela crise!For Heterodoxy emphasison strategizinglanguage, this is not in Social Science," Theoryand Society,17(5), pp. as manifestin Outlineas in some of the rest 773-88. Brubaker,Rogers. 1992. " as Habitus," of Bourdieu'swork. pp. 212-234 in C. Calhoun, E. LiPuma, and M. The influenceof Outline remainslarge, Postone, eds.: Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives. partlybecause it appears (along with the Chicago,IL: Universityof Chicago Press.

The Gendering of Social Theory: Sociology and Its Discontents

BARBARALASLETT Universityof Minnesota

Original review, CS 8:4 (January 1979), by TheReproduction of Mothering: Psychoanaly- Rose Laub Coser: sis and theSociology of Gender,by NancyJ. This book will have consequences in Chodorow. Berkeley: Universityof California sociological as well as in psychoanalytic Press, 1978. 253 pp. $15.00 paper. ISBN: 0-520-03892-4. theorizing at the same time as it may provide some of the underpinnings fora theoryof feminism. as well as appreciation.This essay continuesin Nancy Chodorow and I have known each the spiritof those conversations. otherfor more than 15 years as colleagues and The Reproduction of Mothering: Psycho- as friends.Part of that friendship has developed analysis and the Sociology of Gender (here- out of our mutualintellectual interests in gen- after,Mothering), published in 1978 by the der and familyrelations and in social theory.In Universityof California Press, was a major our many conversations that have engaged intellectual event in the emerging field of those interests,there has been mutualcritique feministscholarship and in social theory.Its

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