Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 16)

A difficult book to read, but one of the more rewarding books I have read in some time. Bourdieu puts forth an impressive set of insights and analysis about the relationship between culture and reality. Understanding them is mind blowing, and a game changer for many fields including psychoanalysis. He posits that cultural systems are arbitrarily chosen to fit the needs of a people in certain conditions, while the arbitrariness of the system itself is "misrecognized" or repressed, making us think that the way we think and see things is the "natural order of things". His delineation of how culture (structuring structure) structures the very things we perceive, replicating itself in the process including the misrecognition of its own arbitrariness is a very useful concept. This sounds complicated and it is, but understanding his ideas is really rewarding in that it gives you thinking tools that are really worth while. He is a must read for any serious scholar. My only real critic is that the language and the style are difficult and take some time to get used to. C'est la vie.

I bought this book, and am glad that I did because I needed about 10 pages on "habitus" for My Dissertation. This is very hard to read, potentially because it is translated from French. My main challenge was that the sentences--though technically grammatically correct using commas, hyphens and parentheses--are quite long with multiple thoughts (see how I am imitating the style in this very sentence?), making it very difficult to understand what the writer is saying (short of eliminating dependent clauses, parenthetical statements, and extraneous thoughts that are interjected (quite frequently) throughout.

I am yet to read much of this book, but I have found reading Bourdieu's descriptions of the society he is studying amazing! The style and the way he creates an image as much as a description. Having approached this book thinking it was going to be laborious, as I have found some of Bourdieu's writing, I am now very excited to read more.

My daughter has added this book to her PHd library of books. It came in great shape, on time, and has been a good addition to her research.

great

I purchased this book for my research in ritual practice. Bourdieu is a dense read, but the theories presented are solid.

very good

For anyone interested in cultural studies or in ethnology/ anthropology/ sociology, _Outline_ is a must read.Bourdieu, a teacher of Foucault, has been rated France's 2nd most influential scholar (after Foucault) and for good reason. In _Outline_, Bourdieu provides a well-grounded introduction to his main concepts and gives a great deal of supporting detail to support his interpretations.At times, his descriptions of the Kabyle culture seem to be far too long for persons who are reading him as a general social theorist. If you do not have a deep-rooted love of sociology or other culturally-immersive social sciences, you might prefer his _Logic of Practice_, which has less ethnology in it, or _Practical Reason_, which has nearly none.If you are a student of culture, however, you will find these extended examples to be excellent background material and useful illustrations of Bourdieu's concepts.In terms of writing style, Bourdieu is uneconomical, but the payoff is worth slogging through his difficult prose.

Allow 3 weeks for delivery, OR LONGER!

A great book that give original thought and fundamental ideas of practice related to social and political behaviour. Strongly recommended!

Hard to read, but very rewarding once you crack it

Reading Bourdieu is a microcosm of the habitus: you're dropped into the midst of it with no explanation, and you have you just have to figure things out as you go. But that's the only way to understand it.

thank you