Bourdieu on Religion: Imposing Faith and Legitimacy

Key Thinkers in the Study of Religion

by Terry Rey

One of the foremost intellectuals of our time, Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) has had a resounding impact on a wide range of scholarly disciplines, from linguistics, sociology, and education to art history, philosophy, and literary criticism. Scholars of religion, however, have been relatively slow to mine the theoretical riches that researchers in other fields have uncovered in Bourdieu's "theory of practice," surely in part because Bourdieu actually wrote little about religion. Lately, though, Bourdieu is commanding respect in religious studies as a social theorist of the stature and relevance of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber, whose own writings on religion are those that Bourdieu most admired. Through careful analysis of Bourdieu's social theory in general and his writings on religion in particular, along with a summary of some emerging uses of Bourdieu in religious studies, in "Bourdieu on Imposing Faith and Legitimacy" Terry Rey introduces Bourdieu's "theory of practice" and demonstrates its range of utility to the study of religion. In light of Bourdieu's overarching aim to expose the sources of social inequalities, his work is shown to be especially apt for studies on the relationship between religion, class, and social power; religion, race, and ethnicity; and religion and colonial conquest.

Genres: Sociology, Religion, Academic

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good, accessible intro to both Bourdieu's theories in general and their application in the study of religion. Highly recommended. Watch the 'Key Thinkers in Religion' series for a book on Peter L. Berger's sociology of religion in 2010. =)

[Jessica Zu · Rating 3 out of 5]

reading Bourdieu as a philosopher defected into sociology ... interesting