Bourdieu's Acquiring Practice

The increase in interest to the problem of communication in sociology actualized questions of understanding the nature of the individual. This determined the weakening of the behaviorist tradition, which is characterized by a nihilistic attitude to the study of psychological processes and the determination of the human life as a manifestation of the externally observable behavior (by analogy with the animal reaction). The interactionist approach in sociology has been formed and it refers to the integrity of the human personality and self-determination in the micro-social environment. In this research paper, I want to consider the interactionist theory, as it perfectly reflects micro-social processes and explain the nature of human identity.

The two theories discussed here will be the Psychodynamic Theory and the Social Learning Theory. Psychodynamic theories include the wisdom of Freud and Jung. Freud discusses, defense mechanisms, understanding the ego as it relates to rational thinking and the superego in regard to mortality. Whereas the Social Learning Theory includes those works from Bandura, Watson, and Piaget among others. This theory will focus on imitation, observation and modeling another’s behavior to achieve a certain desired outcome. Although their conceptual theories differ, they both reflect, shape, and interpret the very essence of the human psyche and how we have evolved and developed over the years.

Authors Boris Blumberg, Donald Cooper, Pamela Schindler say, Interpretivist argue that simple fundamental laws are insufficient to understand the whole complexity of social phenomena. More important, however they claim that an objective observation of the social world is impossible, as the social world has a meaning for human beings and is constructed by intentional behaviour and actions. Intentional interpretivism approaches meaning as intentional states of individual minds, to be understood by locating them within the broader network of an individual’s other intentional states and in a concrete context of social practices and interactions with others.

Finally the last element which Burke discusses is agency which is the theoretical points, he claims that the whole lot is realised through language. From these elements Goffman then went on to develop his own ‘dramaturgical’ investigations based on six themes: the performance, the team, the region, discrepant roles, communication out of the character and impression management. Nothing of Goffman’s dramaturgical world is quite what it seems. Rather, people are all portrayed as performers enacting rehearsed lines and roles in places that are carefully constructed in order to maximise the potential of deception. He then goes on to suggest that as performers people both ‘give’ and ‘give off’ impressions. It has been suggested that Goffman’s dramaturgical world is thus one of misdirection in which general suspicion is necessary; he developed an interest in espionage practices mainly because he recognised these as extensions of everyday behaviour. Goffman then went on to identify five moves in social interaction which are the ‘unwitting’, the ‘naïve’, the ‘covering’, the ‘uncovering’ and finally the ‘counter uncovering’ move (1959: 11-27). Each of these moves is designed either to achieve some advantage directly, or to reveal the strategies of other players. These moves are used in social worlds, or as Goffman called them, ‘situated activity systems’. Each is regulated by adopted norms known by system’s members. Rather than concentrating on the production of meanings, the

To act on enfoldment means to understand that the rhetor cannot change people or their opinion but rather “‘enfolding’” and “wrapping around the givee, being available to her/him without insisting” (Foss, et al.

Jacques Benigne Boussuet was born September 7th, 1627, in Dijon France. He died in 1704, however his ideas did not. Bossuet wrote a book named, “The Principles of Politics derived from the scripture” which summarizes the idea of a monarchy based upon The Word of the Most High. Bossuet debates that a human man does not seat the throne or become king, but the true king is God. Bossuet writes in his Political Treatise, “Consequently, as we have seen, the royal throne is not the throne of a man, but the throne of God himself.”(Jacques Benigne Boussuet) Furthermore, Bossuet explains that the a king gains his power through God and whoever goes against the way of the king, goes against the way of God. There is no one to change the thinking of God, or to suggest new changes in His arrangement. Therefore, if the king derives his power from God, the one who is Most High and does not have a wavered thought, neither should the king.

Kenneth Burke’s Pentad Criticism is a theory used to analyze and describe any symbolic act or action. The Pentad is the tool that is used to analyze the five basic elements of drama. Burke (1945) describes the pentad in depth in his essay, “The five key terms of dramatism.” The five terms are, of course, act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. Burke says that these terms, or some variant of them, will always figure into any statement of motives, and we can explore how a rhetor attributes motives by looking at how he or she uses the five terms. Act is central as dramatism is a theory of symbolic action and refers to how a person describes what was done or what happened. Scene refers to the setting of the act. Agent, of course, is the person or entity that committed the act, and agency refers to how the act was committed (means, method, etc.). Finally, purpose refers to why an act was committed (toward what ends). According to Burke, humans use the terms of the pentad to attribute motive (either to themselves or to others), and all five of these terms will figure into any rounded statement of motive. Burke (1967) teaches us that if we study the language or “terministic screens “of people, we can gain good insight into how they are able to attribute intentions or purposes to themselves and also to those around them. Motive and terminology are related, and dramatism is concerned with this connection. As a system, dramatism is

It is proposed that one's behaviour is an involuntary act that is directly linked to the

The purpose of this essay is to outline and evaluate at least three psychological perspectives of human behaviour. The three approaches that will be summarised are humanistic, social learning theory and the Biological approach. They will also be criticised and compared to one another. A brief description on psychology will occur, and there will also be a short summarisation on some key early influences of psychology, from its origins in philosophy.

The first author’s main point introduces the structuralist theory. Incorporating the ideas of Anthony Giddens the authors emphasize that structuration rejects the concepts of structure and agency and instead connects these two ideas by looking at individual interactions in a particular event and location. Using this theoretical framework the authors examine the activities

“Bourdieu’s Thinking Tools” Explain in writing each concept in your own words Pierre Bourdieu is a French sociologist who approaches the notion of power via a theory of society. He has six critical concepts which he believes are the cause of domination in a social structure- Habitus, Field, Capital, Symbolic Violence, Hysteresis and Doxa. He uses these terms to explain the reproduction of inequality in society. This essay will demonstrate Bourdieu explanations of social structures through socialisation, wealth, education, culture, norms, opinions and social space.

Learning is the relatively permanent change in behavior (Burns, 1995), and can come in the form of observable activities and internal processes. Explanations of what happens when these actions occur are known as learning theories. These theories include behaviorist, cognitivist, humanist, social learning and constructivist. In this essay behaviorist and cognitivists will be described, compared and contrasted in order to truly understand their approache.

Pierre Bourdieu was an acclaimed French sociologist, anthropologist and philosopher, who is still noted today as being one of the most prominent and influential intellects in recent years. He is famous for his contributions to many subjects and areas, and much of his work is still considered today as being classics. His work is considered to be some of the most innovative and groundbreaking bodies of theory and research in contemporary social science. He is still prominent today for his many great contributions to the field of sociology, and though he has many revolutionary concepts, this essay will focus on three; Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, capital and field, and a key sociological factor these concepts help to explain. These three

What Bourdieu is trying to convey is that while everyone can theoretically speak and act certain ways in language, in everyday life that is not the reality it is instead only those who are socially acknowledged as having power who can give orders, thus turning language into an act. Bourdieu further details language as only one component of linguistic exchange and that the other is represented through capital. Bourdieu describes four distinct forms of capital which are, economic capital or a persons’ financial assets, social capital referring to the value placed on one’s social networks. Cultural Capital things that show a person’s status within a community, and

Agents can be described as an individual’s or a group of people’s ability to exercise free will and the capability to make independent decisions. The decision made can led to social change, however, according to Giddens, these changes are not without influence, since a human behavioural patterns are depend on the structure, which is around the agent. Thus, while several theorist take a stand either on the view that people behave without external influence, or that individuals are always subjected to the external forces, Giddens has a dualistic approach and states that humans can both be determined by the structure and act according to their free