Political Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu

Abstract

This article deals with political sociology as developed by Pierre Bourdieu, one of the most important figures of contemporary sociology. Despite the strong political dimension of his corpus, the perspective the French sociologist developed is thought to lack the theoretical tools for analyzing the complex political structures of contemporary societies. This article argues four aspects of Bourdieu's sociology to be important for understanding contemporary politics and democratic practices. Firstly, the conceptual framework of his relational sociology helps expand the political vision. The plural power structure, the dispositional conceptualization of agent, and the concept of field as an exclusionary site of struggle shed light on the plural and mostly neglected sources of inequality in modern society. Secondly, his peculiar class conceptualization accentuates the ignored role symbolic struggles have in the forming of classes. Thirdly, his critical assessment regarding political representation politicizes the pre-political. The unequal distribution of political competence leads to the emergence of the political mechanisms of representation and delegation, especially for those who occupy the most deprived regions of the social space in terms of economic and cultural capital. Bourdieu helps to show the impact of symbolic struggles in order to impose a legitimate definition of the social world. Fourthly and finally, his genuine conceptualization of state sheds light on the symbolic power that allows people to confirm arbitrary social inequalities. All these debates shed light on the social conditions of political possibilities that are often neglected in political sociology.