Pierre Bourdieu‘s Field Theory explains that people exist in the social world through specific social interactions with other people. These specific ways of actions are called fields. Bourdieu postulates that these particular fields are what structure human behavior. Thus to understand how agents behave in the social world, one must consider what field they belong to.
Bourdieu argues that a field is a structured setting that determines a person’s position they will take on in the social world. He explains that fields have power and enforce rules, stakes, boundaries, and limitations. Bourdieu also explains that the particular field that an agent belongs to is largely due to the habitus of that individual. The habitus acts as the prerequisite to the field. The habitus is defined as a non changing way of being that is passed down to groups of individuals. These engrained ideas or dispositions are subconsciously embodied and reinforced in our daily social interactions.
To provide an example of fields and how people act in them I will use run way fashion modeling. Runway Fashion models are expected to follow the rules of the field of modeling, which are a strict diet, learning to do the “cat walk”, and maintain a certain weight required to fit in certain size clothes. Let’s say that there are two girls who are going for a modeling position that was advertized in the local news paper for a high end, high fashion retailer. Let’s say that one of the two girls have no idea of the high fashion model is expected to look like and both come out for the casting.
According to Bourdieu, if we use the field of fashion modeling we can assume that the girl on the left fits the modeling habitus and knows the rules required for that field and follow them. The girl on the right, though not out of shape at all, is completing unaware of the rules and does not fit into the field of high fashion modeling. So, both girls want to pursue a career as a high fashion model, we can assume again according to Bourdieu ,that the young lady on the left has embodied the rules of the field and therefore her position in the habitus. The young lady on the left due to her ignorance of the rules required for the high fashion modeling field has also chosen her position in the modeling habitus.
Bourdieu argues that a field is a structured setting that determines a person’s position they will take on in the social world. He explains that fields have power and enforce rules, stakes, boundaries, and limitations. Bourdieu also explains that the particular field that an agent belongs to is largely due to the habitus of that individual. The habitus acts as the prerequisite to the field. The habitus is defined as a non changing way of being that is passed down to groups of individuals. These engrained ideas or dispositions are subconsciously embodied and reinforced in our daily social interactions.
To provide an example of fields and how people act in them I will use run way fashion modeling. Runway Fashion models are expected to follow the rules of the field of modeling, which are a strict diet, learning to do the “cat walk”, and maintain a certain weight required to fit in certain size clothes. Let’s say that there are two girls who are going for a modeling position that was advertized in the local news paper for a high end, high fashion retailer. Let’s say that one of the two girls have no idea of the high fashion model is expected to look like and both come out for the casting.
According to Bourdieu, if we use the field of fashion modeling we can assume that the girl on the left fits the modeling habitus and knows the rules required for that field and follow them. The girl on the right, though not out of shape at all, is completing unaware of the rules and does not fit into the field of high fashion modeling. So, both girls want to pursue a career as a high fashion model, we can assume again according to Bourdieu ,that the young lady on the left has embodied the rules of the field and therefore her position in the habitus. The young lady on the left due to her ignorance of the rules required for the high fashion modeling field has also chosen her position in the modeling habitus.