Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Social Work
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Garrett, P. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Relevance of Bourdieu for Social Work

A Reflection on Obstacles and Omissions

Paul Michael Garrett

National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland, PM.Garrett{at}nuigalway.ie

• Summary: The article welcomes social work's seemingly new interest in Pierre Bourdieu. However, it is important to recognize the problems inherent in his mammoth contribution.

• Findings: First, Bourdieu can often present his readers with challenges which make it difficult to grasp his core arguments. Here, major obstacles include: Bourdieu's prose style; the sheer scale of his `output' and related matters; the fact that most readers (perhaps especially those situated outside the French intellectual field and its associated cultural milieu) might fail to recognize key contextual factors only hinted at in his work; the misleading labels frequently attached to Bourdieu (for example, `Marxist' or `postmodernist'). The second area of difficulty relates to aspects of the theoretical content of Bourdieu's contribution. It is argued that his lack of engagement, even flawed contributions, relating to issues pivoting on multiculturalism, `race' and ethnicity is important. Furthermore, Bourdieu's conceptual apparatus possibly lays too great an emphasis on the dulled passivity of social actors, particularly the working class. Finally, his ideas on the function of the state can be viewed as problematic.

• Applications : If social work is going to evolve a more Bourdieusian form of theory and practice then there is a need to take into account the insights which his work provides and to address the problems which it presents.

Key Words: habitus/capital/field • Marxism • multiculturalism • the state • working class

References

  • Adkins, L. (2004a) `Introduction: Feminism, Bourdieu and After', Sociological Review 53(2): 3—19.
  • Adkins, L. (2004b) `Reflexivity: Freedom or Habit of Gender?', Sociological Review 52(3): 191—211.[CrossRef]
  • Bauman, Z. (2000) `Am I My Brother's Keeper?', European Journal of Social Work 3(1): 5—11.[CrossRef]
  • Bohman, J. (1999) `Practical Reason and Cultural Constraint: Agency in Bourdieu's Theory of Practice', in R. Shusterman (ed.) Bourdieu: A Critical Reader. Oxford, Blackwell.
  • Boulange, A. (2004) `The Hijab, Racism and the State', International Socialism Journal 102. http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj102/boulange.htm
  • Bourdieu, P. (1991) Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Polity.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1994) In Other Words. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1996) Photography: A Middlebrow Art. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1998) On Television and Journalism. London: Pluto.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1999) `The Social Conditions of the International Circulation of Ideas', in R. Shusterman (ed.) Bourdieu: A Critical Reader. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Bourdieu, P. (2001) Acts of Resistance: Against the New Myths of Our Time. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (2002a) `Social Space and Symbolic Power', in M. Haugaard (ed.) Power: A Reader, pp. 229—45. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (2002b) `Habitus', in J. Hillier and E. Rooksby (eds) Habitus: A Sense of Place. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  • Bourdieu, P. (2003) Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (2004) Distinction. London: Routledge.
  • Bourdieu, P. and Eagleton, T. (1994) `Doxa and the Common Life: An Interview', in S. Zizek (ed.) Mapping Ideology. London: Verso.
  • Bourdieu, P. and Wacquant, L. (1999) `On the Cunning of Imperialist Reason', Theory, Culture & Society 16(1): 41—59[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Bourdieu, P. and Wacquant, L. (2001) `NewLiberalSpeak: Notes on the New Planetary Vulgate ', Radical Philosophy 105: 2—6.
  • Bourdieu, P. and Wacquant, L. (2004) An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Bourdieu, P., Accardo, A., Balazas, G., Beaud, S., Bonvin, F., Bourdieu, E., et al. (2002) The Weight of the World: Social Suffering in Contemporary Society. Cambridge: Polity.
  • Brubaker, R. (2003) `Social Theory as Habitus', in C. Calhoun, E. LiPuma and M. Postone (eds) Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives. Cambridge@ Polity Press.
  • Butler, J. (1999) `Performativity's Social Magic', in R. Shusterman (ed.) Bourdieu: A Critical Reader, pp. 113—29. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Calhoun, C. (2003) `Habitus, Field and Capital: The Question of Historical Specificity', in C. Calhoun, E. LiPuma and M. Postone (eds) Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Callinicos, A. (1999a) Social Theory: A Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Callinicos, A. (1999b) `Social Theory Put to the Test of Politics: Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens', New Left Review 236: 77—102.
  • Callinicos, A. (2000) `Impossible Anti-Capitalism?', New Left Review 2: 117—25.
  • Charlesworth, S. (2000a) A Phenomenology of Working Class Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Charlesworth, S. (2000b) `Bourdieu, Social Suffering and the Working Class ', in B. Fowler (ed.) Reading Bourdieu on Society and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Circourel, A.V. (2003) `Aspects of Structural and Processual Theories of Knowledge', in C. Calhoun, E. LiPuma and M. Postone (eds) Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives, pp. 89—116. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Connolly, P. (2000) `Racism and Postmodernism: Towards a Theory of Practice', in D. Robbins (ed.) Pierre Bourdieu, Vol. 3, pp. 117—33. London: Sage.
  • Department of Health (1988) Protecting Children: A Guide for Social Workers Undertaking a Comprehensive Assessment. London: HMSO.
  • Department of Health, Department for Education and Employment, Home Office (2000) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. London: The Stationery Office.
  • Devine, F. and Savage, M. (2005) `The Cultural Turn, Sociology and Class Analysis ', in F. Devine, M. Savage, J. Scott and R. Crompton (eds) Rethinking Class: Culture, Identities and Lifestyle. London: Palgrave.
  • Dominelli, L. (1997) Sociology for Social Work. London: Macmillan.
  • Duval Smith, A. (2005) `Failures that Lit the Fuse under Paris', The Observer 6 November: 18—20.
  • Eagleton, T. (1991) Ideology: An Introduction. London: Verso.
  • Ellman, R. (1982) James Joyce. Oxford: Oxford University.
  • Emond, R. (2003) `Putting the Care into Residential: The Role of Young People', Journal of Social Work 3(3): 321—37.[Abstract]
  • Ferguson, H. (2001) `Social Work, Individualization and Life Politics ', British Journal of Social Work 31(1): 41—55.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Ferguson, H. (2003) `In Defence (and Celebration) of Individualization and Life Politics for Social Work', British Journal of Social Work 33(5): 699—707.[Free Full Text]
  • Ferguson, I. and Lavallette, M. (1999) `Social Work, Postmodernism, and Marxism', European Journal of Social Work 2(1): 27—40.[CrossRef]
  • Ferguson, I. and Lavallette, M. (2004) `Beyond Power Discourse: Alienation and Social Work', British Journal of Social Work 34(3): 297—312.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Fowler, B. (2000) `Introduction', in B. Fowler (ed.) Reading Bourdieu on Society and Culture, pp. 1—23. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Fowler, B. (2001) `Pierre Bourdieu', in A. Elliot and B.S. Turner (eds) Profiles in Contemporary Social Theory, pp. 315—27. London: Sage.
  • Fowler, B. (2003) `Reading Pierre Bourdieu's Masculine Domination: Notes Towards an Intersectional Analysis of Gender, Culture and Class', Cultural Studies 17(3/4): 468—94.[CrossRef]
  • Fowler, B. (2004) `Mapping the Obituary: Notes towards a Bourdieusian Interpretation', Sociological Review 53(2): 148—72.
  • Friedmann, J. (2002) `Placemaking as Project? Habitus and Migration in Transnational Cities', in J. Hiller and E. Rooksby (eds) Habitus: A Sense of Place, pp. 299—317. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  • Garnham, N. (2003) `Bourdieu, the Cultural Arbitrary and Television ', in C. Calhoun, E. LiPuma and M. Postone (eds) Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives. Cambridge: PolityPress.
  • Garrett, P.M. (1998) `Notes from the Diaspora: Anti-discriminatory Social Work Practice, Irish people and the Practice Curriculum', Social Work Education 17(4): 435—48.[CrossRef]
  • Garrett, P.M. (2002) `Social Work and the "Just Society": Diversity, Difference and the Sequestration of Poverty', Journal of Social Work 2(2): 187—210.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Garrett, P.M. (2003) Remaking Social Work with Children and Families. London: Routledge.
  • Garrett, P.M. (2004) Social Work and Irish People in Britain: Historical and Contemporary Responses to Irish Children and Families. Bristol: Policy Press.
  • Garrett, P.M. (2005) `Social Work's "Electronic Turn": Notes on the Deployment of Information and Communication Technologies in Social Work with Children and Families', Critical Social Policy 25(4): 529—54.[Abstract]
  • Garrett, P.M. (2006) `How to be Modern: New Labour's Neoliberal Modernity and the Change for Children Programme', British Journal of Social Work, advanced electronic access from 18 October: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org
  • Garrett, P.M. (2007a) `New England and New Labour: Retracing American Templates for the Change for Children programme?', Journal of Comparative Social Welfare 23(1): 31—46.[CrossRef]
  • Garrett, P.M. (2007b) `"Sinbin"' Solutions: The "Pioneer" Projects for "Problem Families" and the Forgetfulness of Social Policy Research', Critical Social Policy 27(2): 203—30.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Garrett, P.M. (2007c) `Making Social Work More Bourdieusian: Why the Social Professions Should Critically Engage with the Work of Pierre Bourdieu ', European Journal of Social Work 10(2): 225—43.[CrossRef]
  • Garrett, P.M. (2007d) `Making "Anti-Social Behaviour": A Fragment on the Evolution of "ASBO Politics" in Britain', British Journal of Social Work 37(5): 839—56.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Grass, G. and Bourdieu, P. (2002) `The "Progressive" Restoration', New Left Review 14: 63—79.
  • Grenfell, M. (2004) Pierre Bourdieu: Agent Provocateur. London: Continuum.
  • Guillory, J. (2000) `Bourdieu's Refusal', in N. Brown and I. Szeman (eds) Pierre Bourdieu: Fieldwork in Culture, pp. 19—44. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield.
  • Gunn, S. (2005) `Translating Bourdieu: Cultural Capital and the English Middle Class in Historical Perspective', British Journal of Sociology 56(1): 50—65.
  • Haimes, E. (2003) `Embodied Spaces, Social Places and Bourdieu: Locating and Dislocating the Child in Family Relationships', Body & Society 9(1): 11—33.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Hare, I. (2004) `Defining Social Work for the 21st century: The International Federation of Social Workers' Revised Definition of Social Work ', International Social Work 47(3): 407—27.[Abstract]
  • Haugaard, M. (ed.) (2002) Power: A Reader. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Heron, G. (2004) `Evidencing Anti-racism in Student Assignments: Where Has All the Racism Gone?', Qualitative Social Work 3(3): 277—95.[Abstract]
  • Hoare, Q. and Nowell Smith, G. (eds) (2005) Antonio Gramsci: Selections from Prison Notebooks. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
  • Houston, S. (2002) `Reflecting on Habitus, Field and Capital: Towards a Culturally Sensitive Social Work', Journal of Social Work 2(2): 149—67.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Isaac, J. (2000) `Marxism and Intellectuals', New Left Review 2: 111—17.
  • Jameson, F. (2000) `On Jargon', in M. Hardt and K. Weeks (eds) The Jameson Reader, pp. 117—19. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Jenkins, R. (2002) Pierre Bourdieu. London: Routledge.
  • Jones, C. (2001) `Voices from the Front Line: State Social Workers and New Labour', British Journal of Social Work 31: 547—62.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Jordan, B. (2001) `Tough Love: Social Work, Social Exclusion and the Third Way', British Journal of Social Work 31: 527—46.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Joyce, P. (2001) `More Secondary Modern than Postmodern', Rethinking History 5(3): 367—82.
  • Lane, J. (2000) Pierre Bourdieu: A Critical Introduction. London: Pluto.
  • Lash, S. (1990) Sociology of Postmodernism. London: Routledge.
  • Lau, R.W.K. (2004) `Habitus and the Practical Logic of Practice', Sociology 38(2): 369—87.[Abstract]
  • Lemert, C. (2000) `The Clothes Have No Emperor: Bourdieu on American Imperialism', Theory, Culture & Society 17(1): 97—106.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Lewis, G. (2005) `Welcome to the Margins: Diversity, Tolerance, and the Politics of Exclusion', Racial and Ethnic Studies 28(3): 536—58.
  • Lewis, G. and Neal, S. (2005) `Introduction: Contemporary Political Contexts, Changing Terrains and Revisited Discourses', Ethnic and Racial Studies 28(3): 423—44.[CrossRef]
  • Lovell, T. (2000) `Thinking Feminism with and against Bourdieu', in B. Fowler (ed.) Reading Bourdieu on Society and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Lovell, T. (2004) `Bourdieu, Class and Gender: "The Return of the Living Dead"', Sociological Review 53(2): 37—57.[CrossRef]
  • Maddox, B. (1996) `A Fine Old Irish Stew', New Statesman, 29 November: 21—3.
  • Marlowe, L. (2005a) `Rioting for Respect', The Irish Times, 5 November: 3.
  • Marlowe, L. (2005b) `Riots Give Lie to Liberty, Equality, Fraternity Ideal', The Irish Times, 12 November: 10.
  • Moi, T. (1991) `Appropriating Bourdieu: Feminist Theory and Pierre Bourdieu's Sociology of Culture', New Literary History 22: 1017—49.[CrossRef]
  • Noble, G. and Watkins, M. (2003) `So, How Did Bourdieu Learn to Play Tennis? Habitus, Consciousness and Habitation', Cultural Studies 17(3/4): 520—38.[CrossRef]
  • Ovenden, K. (2000) `The Politics of Protest', Socialist Review 242: 1—4. http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr242/ovenden.htm
  • Parker, D. (2000) `The Chinese Takeaway and the Diasporic Habitus: Space, Time and Power Geometrics', in B. Hesse (ed.) Unsettled Multiculturalisms. London: Zed Books.
  • Peillon, M. (1998) `Bourdieu's Field and the Sociology of Welfare ', Journal of Social Policy 27(2): 213—29.[CrossRef]
  • Postone, M., LiPuma, E. and Calhoun, C. (2003) `Introduction: Bourdieu and Social Theory', in C. Calhoun, E. LiPuma and M. Postone (eds) Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives, pp. 1—14. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Reay, D. (2000) `A Useful Extension of Bourdieu's Conceptual Framework?: Emotional Capital as a Way of Understanding Mothers' Involvement in Their Children's Education', Sociological Review 48(4): 568—86.[CrossRef]
  • Reay, D. (2004) `Gendering Bourdieu's Concepts of Capitals? Emotional Capital, Women and Social Class', Sociological Review 53(2): 57—75.
  • Robbins, D. (2002) `Pierre Bourdieu, 1930—2002', Theory, Culture & Society 19(3): 113—16.[Free Full Text]
  • Schinkel, W. (2003) `Pierre Bourdieu's Political Turn?', Theory, Culture and Society 20(6): 69—93.[Abstract]
  • Silva, E.B. (2005) `Gender, Home and Family in Cultural Capital Theory ', British Journal of Sociology 56(1): 83—104.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Skeggs, B. (2004a) `Context and Background: Pierre Bourdieu's Analysis of Class, Gender and Sexuality', Sociological Review 53(2): 19—34.
  • Skeggs, B. (2004b) `Exchange, Value and Affect: Bourdieu and "the Self"', Sociological Review 53(2): 75—96.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Stabile, C.A. and Morooka, J. (2003) `Between Two Evils, I Refuse to Choose the Lesser Evil', Cultural Studies 17(3/4): 326—48.[CrossRef]
  • Thompson, S. (2001) `Introduction: Towards an Irish Cultural Studies ', Cultural Studies 15(1): 1—11.[CrossRef]
  • Wacquant, L.J.D. (1998) `Pierre Bourdieu', in R. Stones (ed.) Key Sociological Thinkers, pp. 215—30. Houndsmill: Palgrave.
  • Walter, B. (2000) `Shamrocks Growing out of their Mouths: Language and Racialisation of the Irish in Britain', in A.J. Kershen (ed.) Language, Labour and Migration, pp. 57—74. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  • Ward, H. and Rose, W. (eds) (2002) Approaches to Needs Assessment in Children's Services. London: Jessica Kingsley.
  • Werbner, P. (2000) `Who Sets the Terms of the Debate? Heterotopic Intellectuals and the Clash of Discourses', Theory, Culture & Society 17(1): 147—56.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Wieviorka, M. (2000) `Contextualizing French Multiculturalism and Racism ', Theory, Culture & Society 17(1): 157—62.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Witz, A. (2004) `Anamnesis and Amnesis in Bourdieu's Work: The Case for a Feminist Anamnesis', Sociological Review 52(3): 211—24.[CrossRef]
  • Wolfreys, J. (2000) `In Perspective: Pierre Bourdieu', International Socialism Journal 87. http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj87/wolfreys.htm
  • Wolfreys, J. (2002) `Pierre Bourdieu: Voice of Resistance', International Socialism Journal 94. http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj94/wolfreys.htm
  • Yuval-Davis, N., Anthias, F. and Kofman, E. (2005) `Secure Borders and Safe Haven and the Gendered Politics of Belonging: Beyond Social Cohesion', Ethnic and Racial Studies 28(3): 513—35.[CrossRef]

Journal of Social Work, Vol. 7, No. 3, 355-379 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1468017307084076
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?



This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Garrett, P. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?