Description
As Bourdieu shows, the market is constructed by the state, which can decide, for example, whether to promote private housing or collective provision. And the individuals involved in the transaction are immersed in symbolic constructions which constitute, in a strong sense, the value of houses, neighbourhoods and towns.
The abstract and illusory nature of the assumptions of orthodox economic theory has been criticised by some economists, but Bourdieu argues that we must go further. Supply, demand, the market and even the buyer and seller are products of a process of social construction, and so-called 'economic' processes can be adequately described only by calling on sociological methods. Instead of seeing the two disciplines in antagonistic terms, it is time to recognize that sociology and economics are in fact part of a single discipline, the object of which is the analysis of social facts, of which economic transactions are in the end merely one aspect.
This brilliant study by the most original sociologist of post-war France will be essential reading for students and scholars of sociology, economics, anthropology and related disciplines.
About the Author
Pierre Bourdieu was the Professor of Sociology at the College de France.
Reviews
"[T]he application of Bourdieu's ideas to the housing market is of great interest and this book can contribute to the debates surrounding alternative or complementary understandings of that which is deemed 'economic', to the current hegemony of classical economic approaches."
Housing Studies
Book Information
ISBN 9780745625393
Author Pierre Bourdieu
Format Hardback
Page Count 180
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 517g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm * 25mm
