Programme full

Wednesday 15 April 2015 16:00 - 17:30
PAPER SESSION 3
non-participants. We look at motivations for and barriers to masters study, taking into account field of study
differences, early labour market experiences and funding. We examine how well the observed patterns match patterns
at undergraduate level and how well they are explained by sociological theories about the reproduction of advantage
through education.
Sociology of Education 2
W727, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
The Application of Habitus in the Social Sciences
Costa, C., Burke, C., France, A., Murph, M.
(University of Strathclyde)
This symposium aims to discuss the application of Pierre Bourdieu’s key concept of habitus from a methodological
perspective whilst drawing attention to different, eminent phenomena typical of a society in transition.
Since gaining currency in the Anglophone world and further afield, Bourdieu’s concepts have been applied to a wide
range of disciplines, influencing a variety of knowledge areas. The conceptualisation of habitus is a reflection of
Bourdieu’s attempt to overcome the dichotomy between structure and agency whilst acknowledging the external and
historical factors that condition, restrict and/or promote change.
The growing popularity of the application of habitus has not come without criticism. The academic community has
often debated the properties of habitus as either deterministic or dynamic/adaptable, creating a division of opinion
between proponents of either conceptualisation. Research on habitus embeds itself in a wide variety of contexts. The
purpose of this symposium is to flesh out how habitus can be used in different areas of knowledge as both theory and
method. In other words, through which mechanisms can research ‘capture’, operationalise and theorise habitus?
The symposium will draw its attention to both theoretical discussions and the application of the Bourdieuian habitus. In
doing so, we aim to move forward our understanding of theory as method from a Bourdieuian perspective. The
symposium will consists of one paper providing an overview of the topic and two case studies.
Habitus Applied: Bourdieu and the Social Sciences
Murphy, M., Costa, C.
(University of Glasgow)
Through his sociology, Bourdieu aimed to create bridges between theory and practice to break down the binary
opposition of objectivism and subjectivism. In his quest to surpass this dichotomy, Bourdieu created a set of thinking
tools that allowed him to explore different sociological phenomena: capital, field, habitus, doxa, and symbolic violence
are some of the most known constructs developed by the French sociologist. Habitus – the concept on which this
symposium focuses - has a special place in Bourdieu’s set of research tools, because it allows researchers to explain
how and why social agents conceive and (re)construct the social world in which they are inserted. With habitus,
Bourdieu tried to access internalised behaviours, perceptions, and beliefs that individuals carry with them and which,
in part, are translated into the practices they transfer to and from the social spaces in which they interact. Habitus is
thus more than accumulated experience; it is a complex social process in which individual and collective everstructuring
dispositions develop in practice to justify individuals’ perspectives, values, actions and social positions. It
could be argued that habitus can be seen as much as an agent of continuity and tradition, as it can be regarded as a
force of change. This paper investigates both sides of habitus, from a number of perspectives and sources of analysis.
Habitus and Graduate Employment: A Re/structured Structure and the Role of Biographical Research
Burke, C.
(Ulster University)
The concept of habitus has played a central role in Bourdieu’s theoretical project – the attempted bridging of
phenomenology and structuralism creating his own theory of practice. Whilst this concept has been used to great
effect by Bourdieu and many scholars since, it has come under intense and continuous criticism, often charged with
structural determinism.
Framed through the empirical processes and findings of a study examining the role of class habitus on graduate
employment trajectories, this paper will:
135 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University