field theory

Field theory and social reproduction

Integrative theory

• Attempts to bridge macro and micro perspectives on sociology

• Objectivists (macro) ignore human agency

• Subjectivists (micro) ignore large scale structures

Genetic structuralism (bourdieu)

• Study of the relationship between:

  • Structure and agency

  • Social structures and mental structures

  • Objectivity and subjectivity 

Practice; the outcome of the dialectical relationship between structure and agency

• Social structures shape and constrain mental structures

• Mental structures produce, reinforce, and alter social structures

In a push pull relationship, not entirely sure which one came first 

Field theory:

• Society is a structured as a network of fields, or arenas of social activity

  • Overlap and interact to some extent

  • All fields are structured by the field of power: politics

• Each arena has its own doxa : rules of the game

• Individuals within each field occupy positions relative to one another 

  • Compete with each other for position and resource

  • Use capital in exchange for position 

Habitus

• Learned dispositions, behaviors characteristics skills

  • Durable: deeply ingrained and embodied

    • Learned when you are really little so it sticks with you

  • Transposable: transfers between fields  

• Acquired through long term occupation of a position within the social world

  • Not everyone has the same habitus

  • People with similar position in the social world tend to have similar habitus 

• Provides a logic for making choices

  • NOT determinate (influence)

  • NOT fixed (adaptive)

  • NOT conscious (internalized)