Teaching Bourdieu on and in the Study of Religion(s)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v41i1.007Keywords:
Pierre Bourdieu, sociology of religion, teaching theoryAbstract
This essay summarizes some salient points of the experience of a few years teaching a biennial graduate-level course on the uses of Pierre Bourdieu for the social-scientific study of religion. The original teaching context is that of a graduate division of religion in a theological school, within an area of Religion & Society and in a concentration on the sociology of religions. Albeit the course is designed firstly with PhD candidates in the latter concentration in mind, participants come from many other concentrations and areas of the division as well. The article synthesizes some key aspects of the process, method, resources, and hurdles of this attempt to propose to doctoral candidates in religious studies a reading, reflection and discussion of works by/on/using Bourdieu which illumines and benefits their scholarly research efforts to understand specific socio-religious dynamics – while simultaneously helps them overcome some of the main challenges and blunders typical of reading Bourdieu.
References
Adkins, Lisa, and Beverley Skeggs, eds. 2004. Feminism after Bourdieu. Oxford: Blackwell.
Akinnaso, F. Niyi. 1995. “Bourdieu and the Diviner: Knowledge and Symbolic Power in Yoruba Divination.” In The Pursuit of Certainty: Religious and Cultural Formulations, edited by Wendy James, 235–58. London: Routledge.
Beall, Elizabeth A. 2006. “Knowing Feminism, Practicing Power: Engaging Dorothy Smith's Work in Relation to the Presbyterian Church (USA).” PhD diss., Drew University.
Berlinerblau, Jacques 2001 “Toward a Sociology of Heresy, Orthodoxy and Doxa,” History of Religions 40:327–51.
Boff, Leonardo.1985. Church: Charism and Power: Liberation Theology and the Institutional Church. Trans. by John Dierksmeyer. New York: Crossroad.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1971a “Genèse et structure du champ religieux.” Revue française de sociologie 12:295–334.
———. 1971b. “Une interprétation de la théorie de la religion selon Max Weber.” Archives Européennes de Sociologie 12: 3–21.
———. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Translated by Richard Nice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
———. 1986. “Forms of Capital.” Translated by Richard Nice. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by J. Richardson, 241-258. New York: Greenwood.
———. 1987 ET. “Legitimation and Structured Interests in Weber’s Sociology of Religion.” Translated by Chris Turner. In Max Weber, Rationality and Modernity, edited by Scott Lash and Sam Whimster, 119–36. London: Allen & Unwin.
———. 1990. In Other Words: Essays Toward a Reflexive Sociology. Translated by Matthew Adamson. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
———1991a. “Genesis and Structure of the Religious Field.” Comparative Social Research 13:1–44.
———1991b. Language and Symbolic Power. Translated by Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
———. 1993. The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Edited by Randal Johnson. New York: Columbia University Press.
———. 1998. Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action. Translated by Randal Johnson and others. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre and Loïc Wacquant. 1992. Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Caldwell, Jody L 2004 “Works Pertaining to Religion by Pierre Bourdieu or Using Bourdieu’s Theories.” Unpublished paper, Drew University.
———. 2010 “From Corpus Christi to Spiritus Christi: The R/evolution of an Independent Catholic church.” PhD diss., Drew University.
Carles, Pierre. 2001. Sociology is a Martial Art. Brooklyn: Icarus Films. 146 min. DVD. Color.
Davies, Douglas J. 2001.“‘Gestus’ Manifests ‘Habitus’: Dress and the Mormon.” In Dressed to Impress: Looking the Part, edited by William J.F. Keenan, 123–139. Oxford: Berg.
Dianteill, Erwan.2003. “Pierre Bourdieu and the Sociology of Religion: A Central and Peripheral Concern.” Theory and Society 32: 529–49.
Dillon, Michelle. 2001. “Pierre Bourdieu, Religion, and Cultural Production.” Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies 1:411–29.
Geer, Benjamin. 2009. “Prophets and Priests of the Nation: Naguib Mafouz's Karnak Café and the 1967 Crisis in Egypt.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 41: 653–69.
Maduro, Otto, 1977. “New Marxist Approaches to the Relative Autonomy of Religion.” Sociological Analysis 38: 359–67.
———. 1982. Religion and Social Conflict. Translated by Robert Barr. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.
Maje, Chris 1997. “Not just a Social Construct: Theorising Race and Ethnicity.” Sociology 31:307–27.
Nickell, Jane Ellen. 2010. “We Shall Not Be Moved: Resistance to Changes in Methodist Leadership.” PhD diss., Drew University.
Rey, Terry.2007. Bourdieu on Religion: Imposing Faith and Legitimacy. London: Equinox.
Schaefer, Donovan. 2010. “Sociology is a Martial Art: An Interview with Terry Rey,.” Religion Bulletin: The Blogging Portal of the Bulletin for the Study of Religion. http://www.equinoxjournals.com/blog/2010/09/sociology-as-a-martial-art-an-interview-with-terry-rey
Swartz, David, 1996. “Bridging the Study of Culture and Religion: Pierre Bourdieu's Political Economy of Symbolic Power.” Sociology of Religion 57: 71–85.
———. 1997. Culture & Power: The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
———. 2003. “Drawing Inspiration from Bourdieu’s Sociology of Symbolic Power.” Theory and Society 32:519–28.
Verter, Bradford. 2003. “Spiritual Capital: Theorizing Religion with Bourdieu against Bourdieu.” Sociological Theory 2:150–174.
Wood, Matthew, and Véronique Altglas. 2010. “Reflexivity, Scientificity and the Sociology of Religion: Pierre Bourdieu in Debate.” Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 23:9–26.
Akinnaso, F. Niyi. 1995. “Bourdieu and the Diviner: Knowledge and Symbolic Power in Yoruba Divination.” In The Pursuit of Certainty: Religious and Cultural Formulations, edited by Wendy James, 235–58. London: Routledge.
Beall, Elizabeth A. 2006. “Knowing Feminism, Practicing Power: Engaging Dorothy Smith's Work in Relation to the Presbyterian Church (USA).” PhD diss., Drew University.
Berlinerblau, Jacques 2001 “Toward a Sociology of Heresy, Orthodoxy and Doxa,” History of Religions 40:327–51.
Boff, Leonardo.1985. Church: Charism and Power: Liberation Theology and the Institutional Church. Trans. by John Dierksmeyer. New York: Crossroad.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1971a “Genèse et structure du champ religieux.” Revue française de sociologie 12:295–334.
———. 1971b. “Une interprétation de la théorie de la religion selon Max Weber.” Archives Européennes de Sociologie 12: 3–21.
———. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Translated by Richard Nice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
———. 1986. “Forms of Capital.” Translated by Richard Nice. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by J. Richardson, 241-258. New York: Greenwood.
———. 1987 ET. “Legitimation and Structured Interests in Weber’s Sociology of Religion.” Translated by Chris Turner. In Max Weber, Rationality and Modernity, edited by Scott Lash and Sam Whimster, 119–36. London: Allen & Unwin.
———. 1990. In Other Words: Essays Toward a Reflexive Sociology. Translated by Matthew Adamson. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
———1991a. “Genesis and Structure of the Religious Field.” Comparative Social Research 13:1–44.
———1991b. Language and Symbolic Power. Translated by Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
———. 1993. The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Edited by Randal Johnson. New York: Columbia University Press.
———. 1998. Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action. Translated by Randal Johnson and others. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre and Loïc Wacquant. 1992. Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Caldwell, Jody L 2004 “Works Pertaining to Religion by Pierre Bourdieu or Using Bourdieu’s Theories.” Unpublished paper, Drew University.
———. 2010 “From Corpus Christi to Spiritus Christi: The R/evolution of an Independent Catholic church.” PhD diss., Drew University.
Carles, Pierre. 2001. Sociology is a Martial Art. Brooklyn: Icarus Films. 146 min. DVD. Color.
Davies, Douglas J. 2001.“‘Gestus’ Manifests ‘Habitus’: Dress and the Mormon.” In Dressed to Impress: Looking the Part, edited by William J.F. Keenan, 123–139. Oxford: Berg.
Dianteill, Erwan.2003. “Pierre Bourdieu and the Sociology of Religion: A Central and Peripheral Concern.” Theory and Society 32: 529–49.
Dillon, Michelle. 2001. “Pierre Bourdieu, Religion, and Cultural Production.” Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies 1:411–29.
Geer, Benjamin. 2009. “Prophets and Priests of the Nation: Naguib Mafouz's Karnak Café and the 1967 Crisis in Egypt.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 41: 653–69.
Maduro, Otto, 1977. “New Marxist Approaches to the Relative Autonomy of Religion.” Sociological Analysis 38: 359–67.
———. 1982. Religion and Social Conflict. Translated by Robert Barr. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.
Maje, Chris 1997. “Not just a Social Construct: Theorising Race and Ethnicity.” Sociology 31:307–27.
Nickell, Jane Ellen. 2010. “We Shall Not Be Moved: Resistance to Changes in Methodist Leadership.” PhD diss., Drew University.
Rey, Terry.2007. Bourdieu on Religion: Imposing Faith and Legitimacy. London: Equinox.
Schaefer, Donovan. 2010. “Sociology is a Martial Art: An Interview with Terry Rey,.” Religion Bulletin: The Blogging Portal of the Bulletin for the Study of Religion. http://www.equinoxjournals.com/blog/2010/09/sociology-as-a-martial-art-an-interview-with-terry-rey
Swartz, David, 1996. “Bridging the Study of Culture and Religion: Pierre Bourdieu's Political Economy of Symbolic Power.” Sociology of Religion 57: 71–85.
———. 1997. Culture & Power: The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
———. 2003. “Drawing Inspiration from Bourdieu’s Sociology of Symbolic Power.” Theory and Society 32:519–28.
Verter, Bradford. 2003. “Spiritual Capital: Theorizing Religion with Bourdieu against Bourdieu.” Sociological Theory 2:150–174.
Wood, Matthew, and Véronique Altglas. 2010. “Reflexivity, Scientificity and the Sociology of Religion: Pierre Bourdieu in Debate.” Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 23:9–26.
Published
2012-03-01
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Maduro, O. (2012). Teaching Bourdieu on and in the Study of Religion(s). Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 41(1), 32-37. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v41i1.007
