The Logic of Practice

Now available in paperback, this book offers a major statement of Bourdieu's theoretical approach, illustrating it with examples from anthropology. It will consolidate his reputation as one of the most original and exciting theorists in the social sciences today. Drawing on his own field work as well as a wide range of ethnographic and anthropological texts, Bourdieu unfolds a theoretical perspective which does justice to the practical logic of everyday action as well as the objective structures within which such action takes place. A thorough understanding of practice requires the anthropologist to move beyond objectivism and subjectivism and to grasp, by means of the concept of `habitus', the interplay of structures and practices in the ongoing conduct of everyday life.

Preface. Part I: Critique of Theoretical Reason. Foreword. 1. Objectifying Objectification. 2. The Imaginary Anthropology of Subjectivism. 3. Structures, Habitus, Practices. 4. Belief and the Body. 5. The Logic of Practice. 6. The Work of Time. 7. Symbolic Capital. 8. Modes of Domination. 9. The Objectivity of the Subjective. Part II: Practical Logics. 1. Land and Matrimonial Strategies. 2. The social uses of kinship. 3. Irresistible Analogy. Appendix. Bibliography. Index.