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Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice

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Distinction, Exclusivity and Whiteness

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Abstract

Whether one admits it or not, we all draw on theories in our analysis of the social world. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a transparent account of one of the theoretical frameworks namely, Bourdieu ’s ‘theory of practice ’, which provides the theoretical foundation on which the book is built. The chapter provides a critical description of Bourdieu ’s three key concepts namely, the habitus , field and capital utilised in the book. Highlighting both the epistemological and methodological implications of using Bourdieu ’s concept of the habitus in postcolonial context such as Nigeria , the chapter argues for the need to expand Bourdieu ’s class-specific habitus by emphasising how the habitus is differentiated by race so that it can successfully be translated into postcolonial Nigeria .

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ‘colonial condition ’ is Blacks ’ internalisation of Western hegemonic discourses , values and ideologies whereby Whites and whiteness is constructed as superior to Blacks and blackness . Though the colonial condition is a byproduct of colonialism , it is maintained in contemporary times through and by coloniality (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013).

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  1. University of Suffolk, Ipswich, UK

    Pere Ayling

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  1. Pere Ayling
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Ayling, P. (2019). Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice. In: Distinction, Exclusivity and Whiteness. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-5781-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-5781-7_2

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