Bourdieu in the Field: From Béarn to Algeria - A Timely Respons

Abstract

This article considers the early work of the French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu as an ‘intellectual response' to two primary life experiences: one in the Béarn and the other in Algeria. It draws attention to the structural homologies between the two areas: in particular, the way that temporal features offered a basis to a theory of practice which was extended and applied subsequently throughout Bourdieu's career. It includes a discussion of ‘time' in his work, its ramifications, and the consequences the approach has for understanding social theory, and therefore action, in Bourdieusian terms. It illuminates the problems of each area and the solutions implied by this approach.