This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Schinkel, W. Articles by Tacq, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Saussurean Influence in Pierre Bourdieu’s Relational Sociology

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Jacques Tacq

Catholic University of Brussels

In this contribution the relationship between Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of class and semiotics is clarified. It is therefore focused on the relational logic that underpins his analysis in Distinction. It is argued that Bourdieu’s relational logic stems for a large part from Saussure. The differences Bourdieu identifies as signifying classes do so only as arbitrary signs and not because of any intrinsic qualities. Furthermore, it is argued that this relational logic is a necessary completion in Bourdieu’s analysis, because of his rejection of Kantian aesthetics, in which an immediate understanding of intrinsic quality is a central point. Both the Kantian and the Saussurean influence are given in the title and subtitle of his work: Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. This clarification of Bourdieu’s chief methodological principle shows how Bourdieu, who, in his later years, became more and more engaged in public debates, has always been a critical thinker.

Key Words: Pierre Bourdieu • relational sociology • Saussurean semiotics

International Sociology, Vol. 19, No. 1, 51-70 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0268580904040920


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?