Report on Super Writer meeting - June 9th 2009

Topic: The sociology of education & Pierre Bourdieu

By Aditi

Present: Darren, Emily, Issa, Jae, Manla, Nicol, Shelly, Wang Ge, Lucia (via Skype)

Chair/reporter: Issa

Recording: Nicol

After our regular reflection and report on our own progress of writing in the past weekend, Aditi brought sociological perspective on education by introducing the key concepts of Bourdieu.

With the detailed handout as circulated via email, Aditi first introduced two main sociological perspectives(the functional and conflict perspectives) and their impact on education. She continued to talk about Bourdieu's key concepts: social reproduction, Habitus, Field, Capital, and Symbolic violence.

Our heated discussion focused mainly on 1) the application of Bourdieu's concepts in understanding education, 2) the relation between structure(reproduction) and agency(mobility), 3) limitations of Bourdieu's concepts, 4) how to achieve social change and educational change, 5) issues like reflexivity, agency, reality and perceived reality, labelling, role of teachers in the educational structure, space, illiteracy, etc. Samples were given by participants to further discuss the above issues, such as educational innovation in HK, how a particular discussion topic in classroom was shaped by class, social and cultural capital, etc.

I have noted down only a few sentences for sharing, as I was busy keeping connecting Lucia via skype and joining the heated discussion. Other participants are welcome to add more:

1) Bourdieu's wanted to bridge the structure and agency through reflexivity, but he didn't talk much about how to achieve social change through reflexivity. People criticises his model of reflexivity is weak. He is contradictory himself.

2) Reflexivity alone can't solve the problem. ...  To bridge subjectivity and objectivity, you have to touch objectivity itself. You have to change the society. You can not just solve the problem by changing yourself, thinking reflexively. ... 

3) Schooling and education are very different. ... It is important to ask who set the standards, what is successful, etc. If these questions are not asked, a lot of students just fail through schooling system.

4) Reflexivity is hard to achieve. ... I think you have to learn how to be reflexive.  

I add Lucia's comment in skype below as bonus:

Lucia: Maybe the concept of education Nicol and Aditi talking about is different, Aditi focus on the idealist side of education, and Nicol more focus on the actual situation of education.

Next Thursday (June 18) at 12pm, Aditi will continue to talk how to use Bourdieu's concepts in educational research by introducing her own research design.  

Looking forward to that.

Issa

P.S. Further reference:

Walter Benjamin and his famous writing in "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin#Further_reading

Adler, N. J., & Harzing, A.-W. (2009). When Knowledge Wins: Transcending the Sense and Nonsense of Academic Rankings. The Academy of Management Learning and Education (AMLE), 8(1), 72-95.

Bourdieu, P. (1996). The rules of art : genesis and structure of the literary field. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Bourdieu, P., & Johnson, R. (1993). The field of cultural production : essays on art and literature. Cambridge: Polity Press.

  

Pierre Bourdieu

Dear all,

You may already know that we will be holding a discussion on “Pierre Bourdieu” this Tuesday. Attached please find a list of about 40 key references on “Bourdieu” in the field of sociology, education, gender & feminist theory, language etc. However, this list is by no means exhaustive as his work continues to receive more recognition and every year more books / articles continue to be published …

Below please find some websites that you may find useful.

The first one (below) is quite comprehensive and provides a rather good summary of Bourdieu’s key constructs and theories. As you scroll down the web page, may I recommend reading the section / hyperlinks titled: “habitus”, “capital” – especially – “social capital” and “cultural capital”, and his “Critical Conflict Theory”.

http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/pierre-bourdieu/

If you want something really brief that provides you with a general outline on Bourdieu’s life and work, you can refer to the following website:

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Bourdieu_Pierre.html

Of course, our time-tested resource – Wikipedia – cannot be ignored, so please feel to browse through:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Bourdieu

When reading this webpage, I would suggest reading about “symbolic violence” and “symbolic capital”.

Essentially our talk can revolve around Bourdieu’s ideas of “social reproduction” with special reference to his key concepts:

-          Habitus

-          Field

-          Capital

-          Symbolic Violence

If these terms at the moment meaning nothing to you, no worries. I will get a summary sheet for everyone with some definitions and basic ideas. But if you are already familiar with them, and know a lot more than me (quite likely), then it would be a really hot topic for debate … coz Bourdieu’s quite controversial …

Looking forward to seeing you,

Aditi 

Pierre Bourdieu : List of References

Offered by Aditi in June 2009

Bourdieu, P. (1979).  Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.

Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In: Richardson J. (ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1990). The Logic of Practice. Cambridge: Polity.

Bourdieu, P. (1974). The School as a Conservative Force: Scholastic and Cultural   Inequalities. In J. Eggleston (Ed.), Contemporary Research in the Sociology of Education (pp. 32-46). London: Methuen.

 

Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.C. (1977). Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London-Beverly Hills: Sage.

Calhoun, C. et al. (1993). Pierre Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Grenfell, M. (2008). Pierre Bourdieu: Key Concepts. London: Acumen Press.

Jenkins, R. (1992). Pierre Bourdieu. London: Routledge.

Ranciere, J. (2008). The Philosopher & the Poor. Duke University Press.

Swartz, D. (1998). Culture & Power: Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. Chicago University Press.

Thompson, J. (1984). Bourdieu on ‘Habitus’. In Joyce, P (ed.). 1995. Class. Oxford : Oxford University Press.

References on Bourdieu & Sociology

Bourdieu, P. (1993). Sociology in Question. London : Sage.

Wacquant, L. J. (1989). Towards a Reflexive Sociology: A Workshop with Pierre Bourdieu. Sociological Theory. 7 (1): 26–63.

References on Bourdieu & Social Class

Bourdieu, P. (1986). What makes a social class? On the theoretical and practical existence of groups. The Berkeley Journal of Sociology. 32: 1–18.

Savage, M. (2003). A New Class Paradigm? British Journal of Sociology of Education. 24 (4): 535–541.

Skeggs, B. (1997). Formations of Class and Gender. London: Sage.

References on Bourdieu’s work and / or analysis of his work specifically on Language

Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Polity.

Albright, J. & Luke, A. (2007). Pierre Bourdieu and Literacy Education. London: Routeledge.

 

References on Bourdieu’s work specifically on Media and Journalism

Benson et al. (2005). Bourdieu & the Journalistic Field. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1998). On Television and Journalism. London: Pluto Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1998). On Television, translated by Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson. New York: The New Press.

 

References on Bourdieu’s work and/ or analysis of his work specifically on Academia / Education

Bourdieu, P. et al. Academic Discourse: Linguistic Misunderstanding and Professorial Power. Polity Press

Bourdieu, P. & Colliers, P (1990). Homo Academicus. Stanford University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1971) Systems of education and systems of thought. In M. Young (Ed.), Knowledge and control (pp. 189-207). London: Macmillan.

Grenfell, M. & James, D. (1998). Bourdieu and Education: Acts of Practical Theory London: Falmer Press.

Bourdieu’s work and / or analysis of his work specifically with regard to Gender / Feminist theory

Bourdieu, P. (2001). Masculine Domination. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Chambers, C. Masculine domination and radical feminism: Comparing Bourdieu and MacKinnon. Draft paper available online. Available from: link [accessed 20/12/2004]

Helliwell, I. (2000). It’s only a penis: Rape, Feminism and Difference. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 25 (1)

Lovell, T. (2000). Thinking feminism with and against Bourdieu. Feminist Theory. 1 (1): 11–32.

Maynard, M. (1995). Beyond the ‘Big Three’: the development of feminist theory into the 1990s. Women’s History Review. 4 (3): 259–281.

McCall, L. (1992). Does gender fit? Bourdieu, feminism, and conceptions of social order. Theory and Society. 21 (6): 837–867.

Moi, T. (1990). Appropriating Bourdieu: Feminist Theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s Sociology of Culture. In: Moi, T. (1999) What is a Woman? And other essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mottier, V. (2002). Masculine Domination – gender and power in Bourdieu’s writing. Feminist Theory. 3 (3): 345–359.

Reay, D. (1997). Feminist Theory, Habitus and Social Class: Disrupting Notions of Classlessness. Women’s Studies International Forum. 20 (2): 225–233.

Storr, M. (2002). Classy Lingerie. Feminist Review. 71: 18–36.

References on using Bourdieu’s work in context of  the “body”

Crossley, N. (2001). The Social Body: Habit, Identity and Desire. London: Sage.

Shilling, C. (1993). The Body and Social Theory. London: Sage.

 

Why did I like this group-Jae

Thanks a lot Nicol and everybody !

I am new in this group and let me share with you my impression on our meeting today.

First, the topic and the format of discussion was wonderfully different from the average Faculty & Research Office organized meetings, which regrettably tend to be tooooooo research output-oriented, tricks to publish or a one way delivery of scholarship (though some of them are good, I admit) that doctoral students' scholarship remains veiled.

Second, I liked the depth of our discussion taking into account that except perhaps Nicol no one else knew much about F. Reading materials before meeting is a true sign of seriousness.

Third, seeing the topic through a variety of contexts (China, education, gender etc) forwarded by the participants was most enriching.

As a whole, this meeting made me feel more like an aspiring scholar at a university, rather than growing uneasiness as a journal article writer in payroll. I hope you understand what I mean: I am speaking about my vocation about which I feel passionate, not about my job-discourse. Ha ha

I am looking forward to seeing you next week.

Best regards,

Jae Park

meeting report 5/6/09

chair/reporter: Shelley
present: Cheri, Susan, Nicol, Emily, Jay, Wang Ge, Issa
focused topic: Undressing Foucoult --- the power and subject

You may notice that this week, we have two new attendees, Susan Liang and Jay Park, welcome!!
Another quick note i'd like to draw your attention to, we had two members, Nicol and Cheri, who audio recorded the whole talk this time. Anyone who is interested but was not able to be present, you are welcome to contact them for the recording. We also discussed ways to make the recording more easily accessible, with minimum risk of provoking any ethical issues. No best way out yet, anyone who has good suggestion on this, pleast raise your hand!

Ok, about our talk today. As usual, we first exchanged our progress, mostly academic, made in the past week.
One note i jotted down. Issa recommended a book titled "Micheal Foucault: Personal Autonomy and Education", which makes an explicit link between Foucault and education. Nicol echoed that although education is not a major field in Foucault's works, but he did involve education somewhere~~

Then came the most wonderful talk on Foucoult, led by Cheri, and co-contributed by all of the other attendees with relevant topics on teachers' authority & vulnerability, voice vs silence, gender as performativity, educational policy as a discourse, etc, etc.
Jay, our new member, raised toward the end of the talk his concern of not going to the extreme, following and admiring Foucoult as an idol. Always keep critical and reflexive.
For more detailed and more accurate contents, go to Nicol or Cheri .....

--THE END.

Oh, right, finally, allow me to express my deep appreciation to Cheri, who agreed to chair our next meeting and thus helped me to finish my job as a chair for the first time.

a little bit more info. for the next meeting:
Time: 1:00 -2:00, 9 June (Tuesday)
Speaker: Aditi
Topic: on Bourdieu

Foucault

Next Friday, Cheri will conduct guided reading on Foucault entitled with 'Undressing Foucault', with pre-reading material 'why study power: the question of the subject'.

Here are some references about Foucault for your interest:

Websites:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/foucault/
http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-fouc.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Foucault
http://www.michel-foucault.com/concepts/index.html

Books & journal articles:
Alan Danaher, P., & Radcliffe Danaher, G. (2000). "Power/knowledge" and the educational experiences and expectations of Australian show people. International Journal of Educational Research, 33(3), 309-318.
Andrzejewski, C. E., & Davis, H. A. (2008). Human contact in the classroom: Exploring how teachers talk about and negotiate touching students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(3), 779-794.
Carabine, J. (2001). Unmarried motherhood 1830-1990: a genealogical analysis. In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor & S. Yates (Eds.), Discourse as data: A guide for analysis (pp. 267-310). London: SAGE Publicaitons Ltd.
Chapman, V. L. (2003). 'Knowing one’s self': selfwriting, power and ethical practice. Studies in the Education of Adults, 35(1), 35-53.
Clarke, M. (2008). The ethico-politics of teacher identity. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 9999(9999).
Foucault, M. (1971). The archaeology of knowledge and the discourse on language (A. M. S. Smith, Trans.). New York: Pantheon.
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. London: Tavistock.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish. London: Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality. Vol 1: An introduction (R. Hurley, Trans.). New York: Pantheon Books.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge. Brighton: Harvester.
Foucault, M. (1985). The use of pleasure: History of sexuality, Vol. 2 (R. Hurley, Trans.). New York: Pantheon Books.
Foucault, M. (1994). The subject and power (R. Hurley, P. Rabinow & C. Gordon, Trans.). In J. D. Faubion (Ed.), Power: Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984, Vol. 3 (pp. 326-333). London: Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1997a). Ethics, subjectivity and truth. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984 (Vol. 1). New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (1997b). The ethics of the concern of the self. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), Ethics, subjectivity and truth: Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984 (Vol. 1, pp. 281-302). New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (1997c). What is enlightenment? In P. Rabinow (Ed.), Ethics, subjectivity and truth: Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984 (Vol. 1, pp. 303-320). New York: The New Press.
Fox, S. (2000). Communities of practice, Foucault and Actor-Network therory. Journal of Management Studies, 37(6), 853-868.
Greenwalt, K. A. (2008). Through the camera's eye: A phenomenological analysis of teacher subjectivity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(2), 387-399.
May, T. (2006). The philosophy of Foucault. Chesham, Bucks: Acumen.
Peters, M. A. (2004). Educational research:‘games of truth’and the ethics of subjectivity. Journal of Educational Enquiry, 5(2), 50-63.
Walshaw, M. (2007). Working with Foucault in Education. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

You are welcome to pose questions, comments and other resources about Foucault.

Issa