Bourdieu on Religion: Imposing Faith and Legitimacy (Key Thinkers in the Study of Religion)

Pierre Bourdieu was one of the most influential social theorists of our time. He developed a series of concepts to uncover the way society works and to challenge assumptions about what society is. His ideas illuminate how individuals and groups find value and meaning and so have rapidly come to be seen as hugely productive in analysing how religion works in society. 'Bourdieu on Religion' introduces students to Bourdieu's key concepts: cultural, social and symbolic capital; habitus and field; and his challenge to the structures of social inequality. This study will be invaluable to any student interested in the relationships between religion, class and social power. One of the foremost intellectuals of our time, Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) has had a resounding impact on a wide range of scholarly disciplines, from linguistics, sociology, and education to art history, philosophy, and literary criticism. Scholars of religion, however, have been relatively slow to mine the theoretical riches that researchers in other fields have uncovered in Bourdieu's theory of practice, surely in part because Bourdieu actually wrote little about religion. Lately, though, Bourdieu is commanding respect in religious studies as a social theorist of the stature and relevance of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber, whose own writings on religion are those that Bourdieu most admired. Through careful analysis of Bourdieu's social theory in general and his writings on religion in particular, along with a summary of some emerging uses of Bourdieu in religious studies, in Bourdieu on Religion: Imposing Faith and Legitimacy Terry Rey introduces Bourdieu's theory of practice and demonstrates its range of utility to the study of religion. In light of Bourdieu's overarching aim to expose the sources of social inequalities, his work is shown to be especially apt for studies on the relationship between religion, class, and social power; religion, race, and ethnicity; and religion and colonial conquest The life, work, and influences of a 'master of suspicion' Theory of practice : field, habitus, capital Bourdieu's writings on religion Outline of theory of religious practice : eternalizing the arbitrary in colonial New England Using Bourdieu to interpret religion : applications and limitations.