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 ARIS
-- Pierre Bourdieu, 71, an internationally renowned French sociologist
and philosopher who ventured outside the academic world to join protest
movements, died of cancer Jan. 23 at a hospital here.
Mr.
Bourdieu, who trained as a philosopher and was also a noted anthropologist,
is widely regarded as having profoundly reshaped sociological study
since the 1960s.
His
writings ranged widely over culture, art, politics, education, the
media and literature. Later in life, he was involved in the struggle
against social injustices, supporting striking rail workers, students
and the homeless. He also joined anti-globalization protests and once
said he believed "sociology is a combat sport."
Many
of the nation's top politicians paid tribute to Mr. Bourdieu, and
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin described him as "a master of contemporary
sociology and a great figure in the intellectual life of our country."
In
a statement, Jospin said Mr. Bourdieu was the pioneer of "a school
of thought devoted to piercing criticisms of capitalist society."
Jose
Bove, the French farmer-turned-activist who ransacked a McDonald's
restaurant in a 1999 anti-globalization protest, told France-Inter
radio that Mr. Bourdieu "was an active sociologist . . . who shed
light on the reality of our society."
Mr.
Bourdieu was born in the Bearn region of southwest France. He lived
for many years in Algeria, where he studied traditional farming and
the ethnic Berber culture.
Much
of Mr. Bourdieu's early writing focused on culture and education.
He argued that success in school or society depended on an individual's
ability to conform to the social ethos of the dominant class.
Other
works touched on literature, politics, poverty and gender inequality.
In 1997's "On Television," he described television as a "symbolic
instrument of oppression."
Mr.
Bourdieu, a trenchant critic of capitalist society, began his academic
career at Algiers University in 1958 when Algerian rebels were fighting
for independence from French colonial rule.
His
main work, "Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste,"
published in 1984, remains one of the defining studies of the relationships
between consumer behavior and social class.
He
had held the post of professor of sociology at the College de France,
the country's most prestigious academic institute, since 1981.
OBITUARIE
Pierre Bourdieu, 71; Sociologist and Philosopher.
From
Times Staff and Wire Reports, LA Times, January 27, 2002.
Pierre Bourdieu, an internationally renowned French sociologist and
philosopher who ventured outside the academic world to join protest
movements, has died of cancer in Paris, his publisher said. He was
71.
Bourdieu,
whose works dealt with subjects ranging from the 1960s social upheavals
in France to the influence of television and the media, died Wednesday
at a hospital in Paris, the Seuil publishing house said.
Much
of his work was concerned with the nature of social status, or "symbolic
capital." Later in life, Bourdieu was involved in the struggle against
social injustice, supporting striking rail workers, students and the
homeless. He also joined anti-globalization protests and once called
sociology "a combat sport."
Many
of the nation's top politicians paid tribute to Bourdieu, whose death
was front-page news in the newspaper Le Monde. Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin described Bourdieu as "a master of contemporary sociology and
a great figure in the intellectual life of our country."
Bourdieu
held a pessimistic view of social mobility, believing that most people
enter adulthood with the social and economic limitations that determine
their ultimate rank in life.
"The
point of my work is to show that culture and education aren't simply
hobbies or minor influences," he told the New York Times recently.
"They are hugely important in the affirmation of differences between
groups and social classes and in the reproduction of those differences."
He
tested his ideas through field studies and wrote about 30 books over
a 40-year career.
Jose
Bove, the French farmer-turned-activist who ransacked a McDonald's
restaurant in a 1999 anti-globalization protest, told France-Inter
radio that Bourdieu "was an active sociologist ... who shed light
on the reality of our society."
Although
Bourdieu would later argue that education was an instrument of privilege,
his own early experience proved to the contrary. Born in 1930 in the
Bearn region of southwest France, he was the son of an itinerant sharecropper
turned postman who did not complete high school. An exceptional student,
Bourdieu won admission to the elite Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris,
which produced many French intellectuals. He lived for many years
in Algeria, where he studied traditional farming and ethnic Berber
culture.
His
major works included "Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment
of Taste," published in France in 1979 and in the United States in
1984. It was named one of the 20th century's 10 most important works
of sociology by the International Sociological Assn. Other works touched
on literature, politics, poverty and gender inequality. In "On Television,"
he called TV a "symbolic instrument of oppression."
Since
1981, he had held the chair of sociology at the prestigious College
de France.
He
is survived by his wife and three children.
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