Pierre Bourdieu
Agent Provocateur
Michael Grenfell
The French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu is now recognised as a leading
intellectual of the late twentieth-century, and one whose ideas are very
much relevant for the twenty-first.
This comprehensive account of Bourdieu's life and work locates both in their
social and political context, thereby tracing the origins of his ideas and
theories. It explains and explores just what Bourdieu argued for and why.
It also illustrates the social, political and philosophical strands that run
through his work. Michael Grenfell's broad scope takes in Bourdieu's
response to The Algerian Crisis, his ideas for the reform of state education
and his views on aesthetics and the mass media. Detailed attention is also
paid to Bourdieu's overtly political stance, including his critique of
capitalism and his opposition to recent Western military action in Iraq,
Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.
This book offers a reading of Bourdieu's work as a coherent and valuable
response to those key social and political issues, events and trends that
combined to shape contemporary society. The implications and consequences
of his work are laid out and assessed, along with suggestions for where his
ideas might be taken from here. This is the clearest and most thorough
account of Bourdieu's work available; as such, it will be invaluable to
students, researchers and teachers of contemporary social theory.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Pierre Bourdieu - Personally Speaking
3. The Algerian Crisis
4. Education and State Training
5. Media and Culture
6. Economics
7. Acts of Resistance
8. Raison d'Etre
9. Conclusion
10. Bibliography
Publication Date: 21 December 04
240 Pages
Continuum Social and Cultural Theory
HB ~ 0826467083 ~ £55.00
PB ~ 0826467091 ~ £16.99
MICHAEL GRENFELL is Professor in the Faculty of Social Science at the
University of Southampton. He is a recognised authority on Bourdieu. He knew
Bourdieu from the early 1980s onwards, and has published two books on
Bourdieu and education.
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