International Perspectives on Theorizing Aspirations

Garth Stahl is Senior Lecturer at the School of Education at the University of South Australia and Research Fellow, Australian Research Council (DECRA).Derron Wallace is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Education at Brandeis University, USA. Ciaran Burke is Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Derby, UK.Steven Threadgold is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

An excellent collection of papers that not only problematises the notion of aspiration but also shows how, by drawing on the tools of Bourdieu, it is possible to develop a more nuanced understanding of its construction and usage. This book is a must read for those interested in the ideas of Bourdieu.

• Foreword, Diane Reay (LSE, UK)Introduction: Using Bourdieu to Theorize Aspiration, Garth Stahl (University of South Australia, Australia), Ciaran Burke (University of Derby, UK), Derron Wallace (Brandeis University, USA) and Steven Threadgold (University of Newcastle, Australia)Part I: Advancing Bourdieu’s Conceptual Tools 1. Maybe it is for the Likes of Us … Reconsidering Classed Higher Education and Graduate Employment Trajectories, Ciaran Burke (University of Derby, UK)2. Bourdieu is Not a Determinist: Illusio, Aspiration, Reflexivity and Affect, Steven Threadgold (University of Newcastle, Australia)Part II: Using and Developing Habitus 4. Young People’s Educational Expectations, Aspirations and Choices: The Role of Habitus, Gender and Fields, Aina Tarabini and Marta Curran (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain) 3. Putting Habitus to Work: Habitus Clivé, Negotiated Aspirations and a Counter-Habitus?, Garth Stahl (University of South Australia, Australia)Part III: Using and Developing Theoretical Approaches to Capital 5. Operationalizing Bourdieu for the Study of Student Aspirations: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges, James Albright, Jennifer Gore, Maxwell Smith (University of Newcastle, Australia) and Kathryn Holmes (Western Sydney University, Australia)6. Shadow Capital and the Undermining of College-Going Aspirations, Amy E. Stich (University of Georgia, USA) and Kristin Cipollone (Ball State University, USA)Part IV: Advancing Bourdieu’s Concepts in The Field of Education 7. Aspirations and the Histories of Elite State Schools in London: Field Theory, Circuits of Education and the Embodiment of Symbolic Capital, Sol Gamsu (University of Bath, UK)8. Thinking with Bourdieu About Teachers’ Pedagogies and Their Dispositions for Social Justice: Unthinkingness in Aspiration Formation, Russell Cross (University of Melbourne, Australia), Carmen Mills (University of Queensland, Australia), Trevor Gale (University of Glasgow, UK)Part V: Bourdieusian Perspectives on Aspirations and Gender 9. ‘It Was Noticeable So I Changed’: Supergirls, Aspirations and Bourdieu, Tamsin Bowers-Brown (University of Derby, UK)10. Bourdieu Plus: Understanding the Creation of Agentic, Aspirational Girl Subjects in Elite Schools, Joan Forbes (University of Stirling, UK) and Claire Maxwell (University College London, UK)Part VI: Ethnic Inequalities and Identities: Assessing Bourdieu’s Tools 11. Aspirations in Britain’s Caribbean diaspora: Applying Bourdieu’s Doxa, Derron Wallace (Brandeis University, USA)12. Bourdieu in Nigeria: The Colonial Habitus and Elite Nigerian Parents’ Aspirations for their Children, Pere Ayling (University of Suffolk, UK)13. Bridging the Gap: Using Bourdieu and Critical Race Theory to Understand the Importance of Black Middle-Class Parents’ Educational Aspirations for Their Children, Barbara Adewumi (University of Kent, UK)Index