Search

The paper was provoked by viewing various selections of the photos taken by Bourdieu in Algeria in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part considers three stages in the production and consumption of Bourdieu's photos. The possibility that the third of these stages – the gallery display of Bourdieu's photos in the present – might be a betrayal of the sociology of photography and of art galleries that Bourdieu attempted in the 1960s leads to the discussion of the second part of the paper. Part 2 first contextualises the work on photography undertaken within the Centre de Sociologie Européenne in the early 1960s and then, secondly, discusses the emergence of divergent sociologies of photography in the work of Bourdieu and Passeron. The purpose of the discussion is to ask which of the theories of photography which developed in association with Bourdieu's photographic activity now enables us better to respond to Bourdieu's photographic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his famous study of the Berber house the late Pierre Bourdieu underlined the symbolic significance of domestic spatial patterns. A simple rectangular form on a plan, the Berber house is divided into two parts, a division that becomes the basis for an elaborate system of binary oppositions of male versus female. The aim of this paper is to test this hypothesis coupled with the space syntax method on a Berber house sample from the M'zab in Algeria and to set the discussion within the social logic of built space. Space syntax analysis seeks to identify the structuring of space and the apparent correlation between spatial patterns and the system of social relations within houses. The preliminary findings identify two genotypes centred on key domestic female spaces. The results also show that the spaces that are defined as such are well integrated and not segregated as expected. The preliminary findings show that the M'zabite house is trans-spatially organized and space is structured in the image of the relations between male and female solidarities, which appears to be the dominant force shaping space. These results suggest that the idea, which many researchers adopt when describing the spatial sphere of the female inhabitants of the Muslim/Berber house, as secluded and segregated, needs to be re-defined. The results also show that the exterior zone is always segregated from the domestic life, which confirms the social code in such a culture. With regard to zone gender, and space; the study suggests that the spatial pattern of house expresses the cultural and social events of the users, regardless of house form and size of the space. Concerning the spatial interface between visitors and inhabitants the study provides further understanding of the M'zabite domestic environment in terms of the interface between visitors and inhabitants. In actual terms, the interface is between male visitors and family domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bourdieu's early fieldwork which included field observation, statistical analysis, and the use of photography to capture, represent, and analyse Algerian society in its complexity, took place within the unusual context of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62). A number of his photographs of Algerian life depict the physical dislocation of Algerian peasantry into shanty towns largely as the result of rapid socio-economic and cultural change introduced by French colonisation and war. Although this fieldwork was to fundamentally shape his subsequent oeuvre, substantive issues which arose out of this research including colonialism, racism, and migration, tended to disappear in his later writings. This paper will argue that Bourdieu's discussion of colonialism in his early work, together with arguments developed by his student and co-author, Abdelmalek Sayad, provide a basis for understanding contemporary processes of ethno-racial domination and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today Pierre Bourdieu is well known as one of the most important social scientists of the 20th century. One of the outstanding qualities of his work has been his innovative combination of different methods and research strategies as well as his analytical skills in interpreting the obtained data (his ‘sociological gaze’). In this paper, we attempt to retrace the development of an extraordinary way of doing social research and show the benefit of Bourdieu's visual sociology for his empirical fieldwork and sociological theory. The article particularly stresses the significance of his photographic archive, which has long been ignored within the appreciation of Bourdieu's work. Studying Bourdieu's photography gives access to his œuvre in several new ways: not only can we understand how Bourdieu became an unconventional sociologist practicing his craft in the midst of a colonial war. Bourdieu's visual anthropology also offers an insight into the status nascendi of Bourdieu's sociology in all its elementary forms and contents. Through his photography Boudieu demonstrated the concepts of ‘habitat and habitus’, the material and symbolic living conditions of the Algerian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty years after the death of Pierre Bourdieu, his vast corpus continues to fuel lively debates on an international level. Over the last few years, several scholars have been interested in the link between Bourdieu and the sociology of work and the legacy of his conceptual apparatus for the sociological study of Labor. In 2021, in France, one of his lesser-known books, Travail et travailleurs en Algérie, was republished in an updated version. This critical reading pursues a triple objective: to highlight how, firstly, already in this early phase of his career, Bourdieu began to define some of the methodological and epistemological assumptions of his sociology: the relevance of reflexivity; a methodological approach that combines ethnography and statistics, overcoming the sterile contrast between objectivism and subjectivism; an idea of sociology that crosses the frontiers between the social sciences and disciplinary specializations. Secondly, the analysis of this book allows us to retrace the genesis of the concept of habitus, starting from the influence exercised on Bourdieu by Weber's study on the link between Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism. Finally, the re(reading) of Travail et travailleurs en Algérie consent to describe the substantially positive meaning that Bourdieu attributes to work, as an activity, and even more to employment in contemporary capitalist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Annals of the 'Al. I. Cuza' University, Iasi. Sociology & Social Work / Analele Stiintifice ale Universitatii 'Al. I. Cuza' Iasi Sociologie si Asistenta Sociala is the property of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent critical studies, according to Gibson, a sustained and profound critique of Fanon has been launched by feminist and postcolonialist theorists over the past decade, focusing on ‘Algeria Unveiled’. By and large, this critique explores what Fanon calls the ‘historical dynamism of the veil’: the ways in which women strategically donned or removed the veil to subvert French colonialism, and the role women played in the Algerian War. Some theorists criticize Fanon for eulogizing the retrograde tradition of the veil and for ‘normalizing gender inequality’. Others reproach him for his Orientalizing views. A number of critics confuse his pronouncements on the impact of the war which revolutionized the Algerian society and gender relation with the reactionary policies implemented in post-independent Algeria. To fathom the political and ethical concerns raised by Fanon, concerns which such criticism eschews, I propose to read Fanon’s ‘Algeria Unveiled’ in tandem with Bourdieu’s Algeria 1960 against the physical and symbolic violence to which Algerian women were subjected as they were coerced to remove their veil. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]