Fields, Intellectuals and Politicians
This book examines how contemporary European politics fosters new transnational power dynamics that challenge traditional nation-state boundaries. It explores the relationship between national and transnational spaces, the evolving role of academia, and engages with Bourdieu's insights on politics and media, making it a vital resource for scholars in European studies.
Exploring the essence of 'French theory,' this book highlights the collective mindset and stylistic elements that characterize its development. It delves into the interplay of scientific inquiry and political radicalism, revealing how these aspects shape contemporary thought. Aimed at social theorists and those intrigued by France's media culture, it offers a profound analysis of the ideas and styles that have influenced modern intellectual discourse.
'Democracy, social resources and political power in the European Union' develops a structural constructivist theory of the European Union and critically analyses, through French and Finnish empirical cases, the political practices that maintain the Union's 'democratic deficit'. -- .
At times controversial, always thought-provoking, Pierre Bourdieu is one of the most influential modern social and cultural theorists. In this in-depth, multidisciplinary analysis of the Bourdieusian concept of habitus , the embodied social and cultural environment, Niilo Kauppi initiates a dialogue between Pierre Bourdieu’s theory and historical (Lucien Febvre), philosophical (Aristotle and C. S. Peirce), and sociological (Émile Durkheim and Norbert Elias) approaches to habits and subjectivity. Through terms such as action, arbitrariness, homology, and structure, the author examines the complex affinities between Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas on embodiment and traditions in anthropology (Claude Lévi-Strauss), linguistics (Ferdinand de Saussure), literature (Honoré de Balzac), philosophy (Gaston Bachelard), and psychology (Lev Vygotsky). Niilo Kauppi offers a constructive basis for a re-evaluation of habitus , «regularity without rules, intentionality without intentions, rationality without calculation, physically lodged in the individual but thoroughly social in character.»
Institutional and Symbolic Transformations in the Post-Sartrian Era
The book explores the emergence of structuralist and poststructuralist movements in French thought, led by influential figures such as Barthes and Foucault. It delves into the cultural, sociological, and literary conditions that allowed these intellectuals to reshape their identities and influence. Through case studies, it examines the challenges faced by this generation and offers a nuanced analysis of the interplay between culture and power, providing insights into the reinvention of the French intellectual elite.