From reading “Sociology in Question” by Pierre Bourdieu (and translated by Richard Nice), we the readers can see Pierre Bourdieu’s work and his focus on the concepts of field and habitus. He defines his concept of field as structured spaces of positions and resources. Within a field there are certain universal characteristics that come with: (1) rules, (2) boundaries, (3) stakes, and (4) field specific capitals. The characteristic of having boundaries in a field introduces the concept of habitus. Bourdieu defines habitus as a “collection of techniques, references, and a set of ‘beliefs’…”(pg. 72-23). So basically, a habitus is a mechanism within all of us that teaches us how to act or think in certain reactions. It’s a type of sociological rearing in which we learn these mechanisms by how we were brought up. For a field to properly function, it is imperative that there be stakes
and actors ready to take part within the field. However, these actors must be capable of the habitus of that field. This means that they must understand the “knowledge and recognition of the immanent
laws of the field, the stakes, and so on” (pg. 73).
So using movies as visual aid, a great example that I thought could help visualize the concept of “field” and “habitus” is the movie “Enchanted”. In the movie“Enchanted”, we have Princess Giselle of Andalasia who lives
in an animated fairytale world. As she waits for “true love”, her evil stepmother tricks her to fall into the very
‘real’ world of New York City. Alone in an unknown world, she meets Robert and his daughter who help her
adjust to this reality. Along the way, her Prince from the fairytale land of “Andalasia” also gets transported
into reality as he sets out to find his Princess. This movie has many great examples that exhibit Bourdieu’s concept of field and habitus. We have the princess Giselle who lives in the animated and fairytale world of Andalasia. In this world, she sings and lives happily in her castle with her talking animal friends until she realizes that she needs to find her true love. But, when she gets transported to reality into the streets of New York, she is completely out of her field and without any habitus. We see this clearly when she awakens inside Robert’s house. She sees that the place needs to be cleaned and she acts as she normally would if she were in Andalasia. She sings to bring all the animals to the room only to have unpleasant animals like rats, pigeons, cockroaches, etc and…they don’t talk. Of course when Patrick Dempsey returns to find all these critters in his
house he reacts as you normally would in reality by freaking out and getting rid
of them as fast as possible. She, not knowing what animals were ‘acceptable’ didn’t see the problem in bringing rats, pigeons, and cockroaches into a home to help tidy up the place. Not having the habitus of being in “reality”made her stand-out and not fit in to Robert’s world. As time passed, she learned and adjusted to being part of “reality” and acting “normal” in this field. We see her transformation after she reunites with the Prince. Before, she was waiting in her castle for the prince so that she could marry him as soon as they met.
Now, after living in ‘reality’, she asks her Prince to go on a date in order first so they could get to know each other. You can see how different they are now that she has obtained the habitus of living in reality while he still has the habitus of living in the fairytale land. In the end, she is completely transformed and realizes that the new field she lives in with the habitus she has gained has made her fall in love with Robert. Now a different person, she decides to stay and live happily ever after.
Overall, Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus can universally be applied to many different people andsituations. What examples can you
see in our everyday life?
and actors ready to take part within the field. However, these actors must be capable of the habitus of that field. This means that they must understand the “knowledge and recognition of the immanent
laws of the field, the stakes, and so on” (pg. 73).
So using movies as visual aid, a great example that I thought could help visualize the concept of “field” and “habitus” is the movie “Enchanted”. In the movie“Enchanted”, we have Princess Giselle of Andalasia who lives
in an animated fairytale world. As she waits for “true love”, her evil stepmother tricks her to fall into the very
‘real’ world of New York City. Alone in an unknown world, she meets Robert and his daughter who help her
adjust to this reality. Along the way, her Prince from the fairytale land of “Andalasia” also gets transported
into reality as he sets out to find his Princess. This movie has many great examples that exhibit Bourdieu’s concept of field and habitus. We have the princess Giselle who lives in the animated and fairytale world of Andalasia. In this world, she sings and lives happily in her castle with her talking animal friends until she realizes that she needs to find her true love. But, when she gets transported to reality into the streets of New York, she is completely out of her field and without any habitus. We see this clearly when she awakens inside Robert’s house. She sees that the place needs to be cleaned and she acts as she normally would if she were in Andalasia. She sings to bring all the animals to the room only to have unpleasant animals like rats, pigeons, cockroaches, etc and…they don’t talk. Of course when Patrick Dempsey returns to find all these critters in his
house he reacts as you normally would in reality by freaking out and getting rid
of them as fast as possible. She, not knowing what animals were ‘acceptable’ didn’t see the problem in bringing rats, pigeons, and cockroaches into a home to help tidy up the place. Not having the habitus of being in “reality”made her stand-out and not fit in to Robert’s world. As time passed, she learned and adjusted to being part of “reality” and acting “normal” in this field. We see her transformation after she reunites with the Prince. Before, she was waiting in her castle for the prince so that she could marry him as soon as they met.
Now, after living in ‘reality’, she asks her Prince to go on a date in order first so they could get to know each other. You can see how different they are now that she has obtained the habitus of living in reality while he still has the habitus of living in the fairytale land. In the end, she is completely transformed and realizes that the new field she lives in with the habitus she has gained has made her fall in love with Robert. Now a different person, she decides to stay and live happily ever after.
Overall, Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus can universally be applied to many different people andsituations. What examples can you
see in our everyday life?