Suchergebnisse

An effort to determine what research about institutional order owes to its use of the notions & analytical methods imposed in the critical sociology of Pierre Bourdieu reveals that his work is essential because it serves as an insistent warning against the temptation to put the theories that result from an exclusive choice to "explain" practices through structural determinism, or from the utilitarian research of profiles, or from the effects of creative interactions between subjects considered to have an almost unlimited freedom, into hypostasis. Bourdieu's work helps demonstrate that an institution is not a thing in itself, but the product of social practices. An effort must be made to understand the social logic that brings the institution into existence & to grasp the social practices that permeate the institution. 25 References. D. Weibel

A debate begun in a previous issue of the Swiss Political Science Review is continued in the current edition through two supplementary contributions. The idea behind the debate is to establish a forum through which various authors can clarify certain aspects of Pierre Bourdieu's work & raise questions about what he has brought to contemporary political analysis. The current article by Bernard Lacroix (2002) is dedicated to an analysis of the reception Bourdieu's work met in hexagonal political science, & is less an examination of his theoretical contribution than an empirical analysis of the social history of a scientific discipline. Jacques Lagroye's (2002) contribution looks at the classic object of political science, the institution, & shows how Bourdieu's work sidesteps the objectivist error that tends to reify the institution, showing instead that the institution is the product of social practices. D. Weibel

Bourdieu restores the philosophical dimension of all sociological constructions by showing the hard core of the philosophical anthropology that underlies his theoretical & empirical works. He underlines the specificity of practical reason & cogency through body. He explains what in his eyes constitute the ultimate reason of action: human beings are not machines to be maximized, nor automatons magically preprogrammed to realize the will of the structure, but the social & mortal body, although suffering & inhabited by an inextinguishable thirst of recognizance that only society can quench. It is evident that the principal category of his conceptual system is not reproduction but the fight, particularly the symbolic fight by social agents to create a difference & therefore accede to existence. 27 References. E. Sanchez

This article provides a general overview of the anthropological resources of Pierre Bourdieu's sociology, & particularly, how it applies to French political science. Three principal anthropological traits can be identified in Bourdieu's sociology: anthropology of interests, anthropology of the fight against symbolic death, & anthropology of relative liberty through knowledge. Furthermore, this article addresses three significant texts by Daniel Gaxie (1977), Michel Offerle (1987), & Bernard Lacroix (1992). 23 References. E. Sanchez

Argues that Max Weber's early writings, which are comprised of 50+ texts, are predominantly ignored by scholars. In examining them, important distinctions regarding the theorist's intellectual growth are revealed. These early texts are almost completely devoid of the themes that become central to his later writing, particularly epistemological concerns. Instead, he focuses on political issues regarding Germany & the necessity of perpetuating its national ethical ideals. It is concluded that this nationalist interest stems from the relatively undeveloped nature of his theoretical perspectives, & declines when he found his own point of view. Adapted from the source document.

In considerations of the question of citizenship, sociologists can turn to the works of T. H. Marshall & the research he inspired in the 1960s, such as that of Talcott Parsons. The careers & writings of both men are examined, & their explanations of citizenship, understandings of nationalism, views on the rights of radical & ethnic minorities, & methodologies are compared. It is concluded that Parsons was able to examine the phenomenon of nationalism without getting caught up in political extremism by following Marshall's notions of citizenship & his explanation of the recurrent character of identity. D. Weibel

What is the "civilizing process" according to Norbert Elias? It is the history of the increase in interdependency links, & in their complexity, between individuals. From this perspective, the evolution of European society since the medieval period has seemed to follow a "determined direction" or a "constant orientation" defined by the passage to more & more globalizing domination instances. Nowadays the debates arising from the building up of a political union on a European scale lend new interest to the works of the German sociologist. Starting from the distinction between "objective" functional interdependence & integration, which suggests the development of a collective identity, Elias attempts to explain the gap between the arrival of a new "survival entity" & the growth of a new definition of "we." In the case of contemporary Europe, the persistence of national habitus that run counter to political integration portrayed nonetheless as ineluctable have to be explained. In order to evaluate the originality of Elias's approach & its relevance to the present philosophical & political issues at stake, the author's "postnational intuitions" have to be confronted with the most recent theoretical orientations, including Dominque Schnapper's national-democratic option & the "constitutional patriotism" of Jurgen Habermas. 20 References. Adapted from the source document.