Pierre Bourdieu and the Reproduction of Determinism

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to critically examine the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu. His theoretical model is rooted in the attempt to dialectically transcend the opposition between objectivism and subjectivism. However, since his scheme remains essentially deterministic and circular - objective structures produce culture, which determines practice, which reproduces those objective structures-this project necessarily fails. The effect of Bourdieu's work on certain works in the English cultural studies genre is briefly discussed and Halsey's recent empirical critique of Bourdieu is itself criticized.