Bourdieu’s Metanoia

Michael Grenfell is Emeritus Professor at the University of Southampton.

"While Grenfell’s body of work on Bourdieu is already impressive, it is Metanoia that truly changes the way we think about him. Bourdieu wasn’t just a theorist who described the ways in which inequalities and violence work symbolically below our awareness, or how our practices contribute to the reproduction of our own domination. As Grenfell shows in this comprehensive account of his life and work, Bourdieu was a theorist of social and political change. He wanted a different world, and it is this book that finally helps us to see that world and how we can work toward it." Dan Schubert, Dickinson University, Pennsylvania, USA"This is a major contribution to our understanding of Pierre Bourdieu’s work. Both experienced scholars and curious beginners will find much of value here. In tracing the origins of Bourdieu’s thinking back to his early experiences, Grenfell teases out the development of his theory of practice through analyses of French institutions and demonstrates how Bourdieu’s thinking has both historical and contemporary relevance. By framing this as metanoia, Grenfell successfully highlights the radical nature of the ‘new gaze’ that Bourdieu brought to bear on society and the enduring value of this perspective."Gee Macrory, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

• 1. Introduction2. Life and Times3. Preliminary Field Studies: Algeria, the Béarn, Education, Culture 4. Philosophy, Anthropology and SociologyInterlude I Bourdieu and Science: The Particular and the Whole5. Field Theory in Action: Law, Religion, Sport, FashionInterlude II Symbolic Power and Capitalism6. The Anthropologies of France: Taste/Culture, Higher EducationInterlude III Bourdieu and Language7. Literature and Art: The Rules of Art (Flaubert, Manet)8. The State: Neoliberalism, Acts of Resistance9. MetanoiaPostscript: Principles to PracticeAfterword: A Personal and Scientific View