The social structures of the economy / Pierre Bourdieu ; translated by Chris Turner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bourdieu, Pierre, 1930-2002

Contributor:

EBSCOhost.

Standardized Title:

Structures sociales de l'économie. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Real estate business--Social aspects--France--Val-d'Oise.

Real estate business.

Housing policy--France.

Housing policy.

Real estate business--Social aspects.

France.

Economics--Sociological aspects.

Economics.

France--Val-d'Oise.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (263 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA : Polity, 2005.

Language Note:

Translated from the French.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Much orthodox economic theory is based on assumptions which are treated as self-evident: supply and demand are regarded as independent entities, the individual is assumed to be a rational agent who knows his interests and how to make decisions corresponding to them, and so on. But one has only to examine an economic transaction closely, as Pierre Bourdieu does here for the buying and selling of houses, to see that these abstract assumptions cannot explain what happens in reality.

As Bourdieu shows, the market is constructed by the state, which can decide, for example, whether to promote private housing or collective provision. And the individuals involved in the transaction are immersed in symbolic constructions which constitute, in a strong sense, the value of houses, neighbourhoods and towns.

The abstract and illusory nature of the assumptions of orthodox economic theory has been criticized by some economists, but Bourdieu argues that we must go further. Supply, demand, the market and even the buyer and seller are products of a process of social construction, and so-called 'economic' processes can be adequately described only by calling on sociological methods. Instead of seeing the two disciplines in antagonistic terms, it is time to recognize that sociology and economics are in fact part of a single discipline, the object of which is the analysis of social facts, of which economic transactions are in the end merely one aspect.

This brilliant study by the most original sociologist of postwar France will be essential reading for students and scholars of sociology, economics, anthropology and related disciplines.

Contents:

pt. I. The house market

1. Disposition of the agents and the structure of the field of reproduction

2. The state and the construction of the market

3. The field of local powers

4. A contract under duress

Conclusion : the foundations of Petit-Bourgeois suffering

pt. II. Principles of an economic anthropology

Postscript : from the national to the international field.

Notes:

Translated from the French.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-251) and index.

Electronic reproduction. Ipswich, MA Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780745681658

0745681654

Publisher Number:

99984103631

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.