Pierre Bourdieu: Agent Provocateur [Paperback]

Michael James Grenfell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0826467091 | ISBN-13: 978-0826467096 | Publication Date: January 28, 2005

The French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu is now recognized as leading intellectual of the late twentieth century, and one whose ideas are very much relevant for the twenty-first. This comprehensive acount of Bourdieu's life and work located both in their social and political context, thereby tracing the origins of his ideas and theories. It explains and explores just what Bourdieu argued for and why. It also illuminates the social, political, and philosophical strands that run through his work. Michael Grenfill's broad scope takes in Bourdieu's response to The Algerian Crisis, his ideas for the reform of state education, and his views on aesthetics and the mass media. Detailed attention is also paid to Bourdieu's overtly political stance, including his critique of capitalism and his opposition ot recent Western military action in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan. This book offers a reading of Bourdieu's work as a coherent and valuable response to those key social and political issues, events and trends that combined to shape contemporary society. The implications and consequences of his work are laid out and assessed, along with suggestions for where his ideas might be taken from here. This is the clearest and most thorough account of Bourdieu's work available; as such, it will be invaluable to students, researchers, and teacher of contemporary society theory.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Friend and collaborator Michael Grenfell offers a dense but cogent and charitable intellectual biography of Pierre Bourdieu. Highly recommended.” –Choice, October 2005 (Choice )

'An illuminating companion to Bourdieu's own writing and to his many and varied ideas ... For the uninitiated scholar wishing to understand Bourdieu this book offers a comprehensive introduction.'

(Grainne Ketelaar, University of Ulster, in the International Journal of Contemporary Sociology )

'An illuminating companion to Bourdieu's own writing and to his many and varied ideas ... For the uninitiated scholar wishing to understand Bourdieu this book offers a comprehensive introduction.'

(, )

About the Author

Michael Grenfell is Professor in the School of Education, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland. He has researched and published extensively in Applied Linguistics and the Philosophy of Education. He had a longstanding association with Bourdieu and is author of four other books on his work, including Agent Provocateur (Continuum).

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (January 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826467091
• ISBN-13: 978-0826467096
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,100,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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