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Bourdieu Social Change

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State Implications on Social Change and Revolutionary Work It can said that, within society, competing forces always exist; that no one is ever completely satisfied with the status-quo, and that revolutionary thought lies in the minds of the masses. Regardless of the infinite human-will to change the dynamics of their so-called reality, it can also be said that, “revolutionary social change is extremely difficult, but not impossible, to attain” (Tugal). Antonio Gramsci and Pierre Bourdieu successfully analyze the working order of society. Both authors provide theories and concepts that provide explanations of the difficulties, possibilities, or improbability of carrying out a social revolution and/or producing social change sub-consciously …show more content…

class fractions and classification) as a socially constructed reality that is culturally and symbolically dictated by society. These class divisions are continuously reproduced through daily social networking. In his introduction of ‘field theory,’ Bourdieu also explores the concept of hegemony, derived from prior sociological research by Marx. Bourdieu argues that the social world is composed various fields, or spheres of social integration. For example, institutions such as school, work and the home are classified as individual fields. The power relations that we encounter within these fields allow us to understand our social positioning within a particular field and in the larger social …show more content…

According to Bourdieu, an individual’s social position can be altered at anytime, because habitus is fluent in nature. But, although habitus can be altered in an ideological sense [by rejecting social norms], economic capital is necessary for acquisition of material. This means those living at or below the poverty line that do not have access to quality education and do not have the financial means in which they can use to alter their habitus. For this reason, the theory is somewhat weak, because it ignores the stagnant social realities of many disadvantaged

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