Richard Jenkins - Pierre Bourdieu (Key Sociologists)

As Richard Jenkins points out, Pierre Bourdieu's sociological writings are complex enough to render their insights almost inaccessible. Yet Jenkins compels readers to look beyond Bourdieu's unnecessarily opaque language games, to recognize his significant contributions to sociology and social anthropology. Personifying the continued value and rigor of the French intellectual tradition within the social sciences, Bourdieu occupies a political and theoretical space constructed out of the divergent currents of Marx, Weber and Durkheim; structuralism and interactionism; pessimistic determination, but also out of a celebratory belief in the creative potential of human practice.

Reviews

'As Jenkins points out in the final pages of his book, criticism can be the sincerest form of flattery. I particularly relished his critical approach to the work of Bourdieu and believe that he has written a timely introduction which both undergraduates and experienced teachers will find stimulating and enjoyable.'- Mike Hepworth, University of Aberdeen

Nice Overview of Bourdieu
While not always terribly kind to Pierre Bourdieu (okay, the truth is that this book erupts into scathing critique at some points!), this is a very readable overview of Bourdieu's main ideas and books. Jenkins sees tremendous value in the questions Bourdieu poses and in how he always theorizes from a point of view informed by field research, and in still trying to get a grasp of this French theorist's work, I found this book equally valuable to my own purposes.

About the Author

Richard Jenkins is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University College at Swansea.