Pierre Bourdieu: The Cultural Transmission of Social Inequality

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Abstract
A persistent problem in social science is the lack of good translations of major research done in other countries. This form of linguistic provincialism has been especially true of the works of Pierre Bourdieu, a leading French sociologist,whose studies on higher educational institutions now command much of the attention given to the sociology of education in France.1 Five of Bourdieu's articles have recently been translated into English and appear in several readers on the sociology of education. Similarly, this year marked the appearance in English of Reproduction:In Education, Society and Culture, a highly innovative and widely discussed work by Bourdieu and his collaborator, Jean-Claude Passeron. Finally, a sixth article by Bourdieu and an earlier book with Passeron, The Heirs: Students and Culture, are forthcoming in English translation.4 An initial assessment of Bourdieu's theory and research is now possible with the availability of these works in English. This essay will give a descriptive overview of salient features of Bourdieu's approach to educational institutions; the distinctive contributions he has made to the field will be identified and criticized.

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