Bourdieu, ten years later : cultural legitimacy and social stratification

Abstract

This paper summarizes and discusses the main lines of extension and questioning of Bourdieu's sociology in Europe, 10 years after his death. The author distinguishes three main lines: the first refers to the numerous controversies raised by his work La distinction, which deals with cultural legitimacy and the role of culture in social stratification; the second has to do with the important extensions of his research on "the nobility of the State", which deals with the political elite and the ruling class in France, but which today also extends to those of other European countries. The third reviews the investigations that are being carried out by a strong group of European researchers on "the social conditions of a rational dialogue in the social sciences on a European scale", using Bourdieu's conceptual framework. It is a field of encounters between intellectuals of different disciplines and nationalities, within the framework of the "Pierre Bourdieu" foundation.