Building on three decades of comparative research on marginality, ethnicity, and penality in the postindustrial metropolis, Loic Wacquant offers a novel interpretation of Pierre Bourdieu as urban theorist. He invites us to explore the city through what he calls the trialectic of symbolic space (the mental categories through which we perceive and organize the world), social space (the distribution of capital in its different forms), and physical space (the built environment). On this reading, Bourdieu's topological sociology gives us the tools both to energize and also to challenge the canon of urban studies and to redraw their theoretical landscape.

Compact and incisive, Bourdieu in the City will be of interest to students and scholars in sociology, anthropology, geography, urban studies, urban planning, architecture, and social theory.

About the Author

Loic Wacquant is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Research associate at the Centre de sociologie europeenne, Paris. His books are translated in twenty languages and include Urban Outcasts (2008) and The Invention of the "Underclass" (2022), both also published by Polity.

Reviews

"In this captivating book, Loic Wacquant excavates Pierre Bourdieu's social theory for insights that might illuminate the neoliberal metropolis and its contentious power relations. In so doing, he produces an incisive, if deeply disturbing, portrait of contemporary urban marginality and neighborhood-level 'taint', a remarkable interpretive synthesis of his own illustrious pathway of urban inquiry, and a brilliantly creative application of Bourdieu's key concepts and methods to the field of urban social science."
Neil Brenner, University of Chicago

"Loic Wacquant dissects carefully the conceptual framework of Bourdieu, provides a differentiated view of social space from Bourdieu's understanding of relational sociology, and reminds us that marginalization continues to be a main concern for urban scholars. A must-read for anyone interested to see how Wacquant eloquently combines Bourdieu's work with an urban perspective as well as draws on his own influential work from over the years to sharpen our theoretical and methodological lenses on urban inequality."
Professor Talja Blokland, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin

"[A] significant milestone in enhancing urban theory by introducing fresh perspectives."
Journal of Urban Affairs

"Wacquant's masterful book has finally 'urbanized' Bourdieu and should make him foundational to ongoing and forthcoming debates in urban research"
Dialogues in Urban Research

"A dense and fascinating book which proposes a very general theoretical model"
Metropoles

"Bourdieu in the City charts a challenging direction for reorienting urban studies and all sociological research"
The Journal of Classical Sociology

Book Information
ISBN 9781509556441
Author Loic Wacquant
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 318g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 18mm