Bourdieu's Theory of the State (eBook)

Steven Loyal is Associate Professor at the School of Sociology at University College Dublin, Ireland. His areas of interest include sociological theory, migration, the sociology of knowledge, social stratification, and historical sociology. 

Bourdieu’s Theory of the State 3
Acknowledgements 6
Contents 7
1 Introduction 8
2 Bourdieu’s Intellectual Biography 14
Sociology as a World-view 16
The French Intellectual Field 19
Social and Political Context 21
Outlining Bourdieu’s Work 22
1. Algeria and the Bearn Peasantry 23
Studies on the Béarn Peasantry 26
2. Education and Social Reproduction 28
3. Ritual and Social Practice 30
Reflexivity 37
4. Symbolic Power 39
Recognition and Misrecognition 43
3 Classical and Modern Theories of the State 46
Marx 47
Weber’s Theory of the State 51
Durkheim On the State 58
Modern Theories of the State 63
Elias and the State 64
Charles Tilly 66
Corrigan and Sayer 69
4 Bourdieu’s Theory of the State 74
The State as a Monopoly of Physical and Symbolic Violence 74
The State Exists Outside of and Within Individuals 79
The State and Sociology 82
The State as a Self-fulfilling Prophecy 82
Acts of State 85
The Power of Naming, Delegation, the Public and Acting for the Universal Interest 86
5 The State and the Field of Power 90
The State and the Field of Power 92
Academic Titles 95
Structural Homology 97
The State as a Meta-field 99
6 State Formation 102
The Concentration of Capitals 104
The Monopolisation of Physical Capital 104
The Monopolisation of Taxation 104
The Concentration of Cultural Capital 105
The Concentration of Juridical Capital 106
Monopolisation and Universalisation 107
The Dynastic Patrimonial State – The Second Phase of State Formation 108
From the King’s House to the Reason of the State – The Third Phase of State Formation 110
From Bureaucratic State to a Welfare State – The Fourth Stage of State Formation 113
7 An Assessment of Bourdieu’s Theory of the State 116
How Penetrating Is State Thought? 118
The ambiguity of symbolic capital 127
Moving Beyond Existing Approaches of the State 128
Against Gramsci 134
Durkheim and Hegel Contra Marx 140
The Continuing Relevance of Bourdieu? 148
8 Conclusion 152
Index 155