Academic literature on the topic 'Bourdieu´s social theory'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the lists of relevant articles, books, theses, conference reports, and other scholarly sources on the topic 'Bourdieu´s social theory.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Journal articles on the topic "Bourdieu´s social theory"
1
Petrovic, Dejan. "On the concept of habitus: Feminist critic of Pierre Bourdieu’s social theory." Filozofija i drustvo 24, no. 2 (2013): 174–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/fid1302174p.
Full textAbstract:
Key contemporary sociological theorists, such as Foucault or Habermas rarely explicitly discussed gender in their studies. This fact has not caused a lack of interest in the critical examination of the theoretical systems of these authors within a feminist perspective. During the 1990?s feminists? attention was drawn to Pierre Bourdieu?s social theory. French sociologist?s study Masculine Domination deals with issues of gender dynamics and its reproduction. In this study the persistence of the asymmetric distribution of social power between women and men is explained by concepts of habitus and symbolic violence. As this article will show, social change cannot be explained by Bourdieu?s concept of habitus, as a key link between social structure and action, due to its reduction of actors to socialized bodies, which are practically deprived of any true action potential. On the other hand, with regard to social activism as a permanent feature of feminist theory, this paper seeks to examine whether critical examination of Bourdieu?s conceptual apparatus achieves to provide the means to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings of the theoretical system of French sociologist. In other words, this article seeks to answer the question whether such a modification of habitus is possible, which will allow for actors whose action is truly structured and structuring, and lead to possible change of existing power relations.
2
Mouzelis, Nicos. "Habitus and Reflexivity: Restructuring Bourdieu's Theory of Practice." Sociological Research Online 12, no. 6 (January 2008): 123–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.5153/sro.1449.
Full textAbstract:
Contrary to Bourdieu's thesis, it is not only when a subject's habitus does not fit a field's positions that s/he becomes more reflexive. Reflexivity is also enhanced by intra-habitus tensions, by more general incongruences between dispositions, positions, and interactive/figurational structures, as well as by situations unrelated to them. Because of his ambitious but unsuccessful attempt to transcend the objectivist-subjectivist divide in the social sciences, Bourdieu underemphasizes the interactive dimension of social games, and this creates serious problems for his conceptualization of the linkages between habitus, reflexivity, and practices. The way to make Bourdieu's theory of practice less functionalist and/or deterministic is to restructure it so that it seriously takes into account not only the dispositional and positional but also the interactive dimension of social games. It then becomes obvious that reflexive accounting, conscious strategizing, and rational calculation are not exceptional but routine, constitutive elements of human action.
3
Filipovic, Bozidar. "Relationism of Pierre Bourdieu: Between materialistic and linguistic structuralism." Sociologija 53, no. 3 (2011): 323–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/soc1103323f.
Full textAbstract:
In this paper we have attempted to rethink some of the basic postulates of the Bourdieu?s theory, in order to offer a new point of view and point out possible problems - epistemological space, relevant relations of structure and structural nominalism - located in its grounds. Bourdieu?s attempt to synthesize various theoretical influences, although very heuristically productive, has left behind doubts and concerns which we have tried to recognize and point out more clearly.
4
Bourdieu, Pierre. "Om interesser og den symbolske magts relative autonomi." Dansk Sociologi 16, no. 4 (November 27, 2005): 101–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.22439/dansoc.v16i4.779.
Full textAbstract:
On Interests and the Relative Autonomy of Symbolic Power:
A Rejoinder to Some Objections
This article is a rejoinder to different attempts to apply the framework of Bourdieu’s theory. In order to clarify the many misconceptions of his work, he spells out once again his notions of “interest“ and “strategy“ as being an integral part of his theory of habitus. The relation between habitus and the field(s) and social po¬sitions that produced it is explained as a sort of ontological complicity, a complicity that manifests itself in what is called the sense of the game, an in¬tentionality without intention, which functions as the principle of strategies devoid of strategic design. A major question of this article is various mis¬un¬derstandings concerning Bourdieu’s theory on the relative autonomy of symbolic power. To condense his argument: when he writes “knowledge“, his critics read connaissance connaissante, scholarly knowledge, conscious knowledge; the specific mode of thought of the scientist, is projected into the mind of the observed agents. This is what Bourdieu calls the scholastic fallacy: encouraged by the situation of scholé, the practical bracketing of the necessities of practice. Another reason for his critics misunderstanding Distinction is that they read the empirical analyses in a realist and substantialist way and thereby reduces, what Bourdieu un¬derstands as “the specific logic and autonomy of the symbolic order“, to a mere reflection of the social order. In the final section of the article he comments on the problem of social classes and a number of other specific question.
5
Mangi, Luis Claudio. "Neoinstitutionalism and the appropriation of bourdieu's work: a critical assessment." Revista de Administração de Empresas 49, no. 3 (September 2009): 323–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0034-75902009000300007.
Full textAbstract:
Despite the still present hegemony of the structural-functionalist orthodoxy, the mid 1980's witnesses the insurgence of new philosophical approaches. This body of work had become a vital intellectual and ideological resource for those who wanted to confront the functionalist dominance in organization studies, such as structuration theory, labour process theory and neoinstitutionalist theory. The purpose of this paper is to review the incorporation of Bourdieu's work into neoinstitutionalism. I argue that this appropriation has resulted in a significant loss of theoretical strength. By giving place to the cognitivist metaphors of mental models, "scripts" and "schemas", instead of adopting the notion of habitus, neoinstitutionalism reinforces some of the ever-present dichotomies in social sciences, especially those of agency/structure and individual/society. While neoinstitutionalism was refining the cognitive approach in the 1990's, Bourdieu was moving towards psychoanalysis. Some indications for future research are provided in the concluding notes.
6
Spasic, Ivana. "Bruno Latour, actor-networks, and the critique of critical sociology." Filozofija i drustvo 18, no. 2 (2007): 43–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/fid0702043s.
Full textAbstract:
The paper analyzes the theoretical opus of Bruno Latour and his treatment of the concept of critique. In the first section "actor-network theory" is presented through its key notions (actant, network, translation, associations) together with Latour?s theory of modernity. In the second section various aspects of the relation between Latour and critique are discussed - first his own criticism of others (standard sociology and especially "critical", i.e. Bourdieu?s sociology), then the criticisms aimed at his work, to conclude with the political ambivalences of Latour?s attempt to develop an "acritical" social theory. .
7
Bilic, Bojan. "Bourdieu and social movements theories: Some preliminary remarks on a possible conceptual cross-fertilization in the context of (post-)Yugoslav anti-war and peace activism." Sociologija 52, no. 4 (2010): 377–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/soc1004377b.
Full textAbstract:
This paper puts forth and calls for further unpacking of a potentially fruitful conceptual cross-fertilization between various social movements theories and Bourdieu?s sociology of practice. Following some of my most important predecessors, I argue that this theoretical hybridization could accommodate many threads of social movements research that otherwise would not cohere into a rounded theory. Bourdieu?s powerful conceptual armoury is both parsimonious and flexible and seems particularly well-suited to address the problematic issues pertaining to agency and structure in the field of social movements. In the second section of the paper, I call for an exploration of Yugoslav anti-war and pacifist activism immediately before and during the wars of Yugoslav succession. I perceive a number of politically and organizationally heterogeneous initiatives, taking place throughout the demised country, as a case that can be used to empirically test the proposed theoretical considerations. Yugoslav anti-war and pacifist activism has yet to receive the sociological attention that it deserves. It is a complex social phenomenon calling for a sophisticated and systematic examination which should position it between its antecedents - the embryonic forms of extra-institutional engagement during Yugoslav communism - and its divergent posterity, mostly circumscribed within the national fields of non-governmental organizations.
8
Biresev, Ana. "The possibility of a critique of domination in the theory of Luc Boltanski." Filozofija i drustvo 25, no. 3 (2014): 51–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/fid1403051b.
Full textAbstract:
The author examines the possibility for a rapprochement between Luc Boltanski?s sociology of critique and Bourdieu?s critical sociology of domination by analyzing three subjects within the theoretical opus of Luc Boltanski: the place given to tests in the critical agency of actors, the relation between critique and institutions, and the role the collective plays in the appropriation and distribution of critique. In Boltanski?s works the question of the sense of justice and the critical capacities of actors, that is injustice and its critique, is approached with full respect for the perspectives of the social actors. In his book On Critique the French sociologist writes about domination, or more precisely, the process of domination, but he doesn?t fully answer the question wether and how the capacities of social actors for critique can be realized and elevated to the level of a full-fledged critique of domination. This is considered to be the main condition of the possibility for connecting critical sociology and sociology of critique, so the analysis of the three mentioned topics should 76 determine whether the social actors within the theoretical world of Luc Boltanski are relatively close to the stage of a critique of domination.
9
Bok, Jared. "Distinction through Religious Activism: How Capital Shapes the Organizational Repertoires of Transnational Protestant Outreach." Sociology of Religion 81, no. 3 (2020): 294–318. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/socrel/sraa001.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract How religious organizations distinguish themselves from one another influences the extent to which they compete (or cooperate) with other similar organizations, thus serving to shape both their survivability and efficacy in achieving their goals. Although theological differences provide one source of distinction, organizations also strategically distinguish themselves not only by what they do but also what they avoid doing. Adopting a Bourdieu(s)ian field theory approach to the study of transnational American Protestant mission agencies, this article explores how agencies’ ministry activities are organized into symbolically distinctive repertoires of activism that vary by agencies’ differing levels of religious and economic capital. Based on how these repertoires are diversified (versus concentrated) and focused on inner- (as opposed to other-worldly) goals, the article discusses the implications of these organizational patterns for the survivability and efficacy of agencies in the transnational missions field, as well as their prospects for interorganizational cooperation and coordination.
10
Jankovic, Stefan. "Sociological field, fractal distinctions and morals: On emergence of analytical sociology." Sociologija 61, no. 1 (2019): 5–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/soc1901005j.
Full textAbstract:
In the past quarter of century, sociology encountered several distinct attempts that assign themselves a task of ample reconstruction of disciplinary grounds. Analytical sociology grows among these, as a peculiar tangle of solutions filled with causalist language common to epistemology which preceded the relativist blow in the 1960s, focused on explaining the individual actions as ?original? sense of sociologist?s job and restoration of Merton?s mid-range theory. By following Pierre Bourdieu?s theory of scientific field and the Andrew Abbott?s model of fractal distinctions, this paper seeks to discern the emergence of analytical sociology. Unlike the two ?common? alternatives in science studies - constructivism and realism, these approaches offer richer ground for tracing of scientific flows, by focusing on amalgamations that form scientists? practices through divisions, conventions, acclamations and mutual evaluations. Their particular advantage also is in treatment of moral dimension of scientific endeavour. After offering a brief consideration of these standpoints, we proceed by discerning the crucial segments of analytical program - its theoretical sources, the key concept of mechanism supported with specific theory of causality that prioritizes rational choices of individuals and finally, simulation method and agent-based modeling. At the end, we seek to discern the moral dimensions of both the analytical sociology and its critiques: of mechanism, as spontaneous order of social reality emerging from voluntary acts and conscious choices and the way in which a sociologist, as a professional, should treat suchlike conformity.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Bourdieu´s social theory"
1
Persson, Mikaela. ""It's like going fishing without a fishing-net" : a study on how students in Tanzania perceive the transition of language of instruction from Kiswahili to English." Thesis, Högskolan Kristianstad, Sektionen för lärande och miljö, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-11873.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study is to contribute to previous research on the subject of language transition in Tanzania. The aim is also that the information gained in this study can be used to improve students' prospects when they undergo the linguistic transition from primary school to secondary school. This is a qualitative study with quantitative elements, using method triangulation, which examines how students experience the linguistic transition from Kiswahili to English and how it affects them. The study also highlights the students' own opinions about which language they would prefer as the language of instruction in secondary school. Relevant information about the history of Tanzania and the linguistic situation in the country are outlined. Previous research on the subject is also presented. The two theories that are used are Bourdieu’s social theory and Said's theory of Orientalism. The study uses focus groups and surveys in oder to answer the questions at hand. The research itself is conducted in two government schools in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The three questions at issue are as follows: Do the students feel that they have sufficient knowledge of English in order to be ready for the transition of the language of instruction from Kiswahili to English in secondary school? How do the students perceive that the transition of languages affects their performance in school and in their future? If the students had the opportunity to choose, which language would they prefer as the language of instruction in Secondary school in Tanzania? The conclusions are that the students feel that the linguistic transition is difficult and that they lack sufficient knowledge of English. Although several of the students struggle with the vocabulary and the pronunciation, they feel that English is the path to higher education and a good job. These are contributing factors to the fact that the majority of the students prefer English as their language of instruction in secondary school, to their own national language, Kiswahili.MFS-uppsats
2
Armstrong, Karen Social Sciences & International Studies Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences UNSW. "A study of social change in Saharawi refugee camps: democracy, education and women??s rights." Publisher:University of New South Wales. Social Sciences & International Studies, 2008. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/42152.
Full textAbstract:
Refugee studies often focus on the devastating effects forced migration can have on a refugee population, both mentally and physically. This research investigates the case of Saharawis living in refugee camps in south-west Algeria and the social change experienced over 30 years. The method was a case study with qualitative interviews supported with secondary data. The Saharawis went through a period of positive social change, to some a revolution, while living in the refugee camps. The empirical study identifies three theme areas; Education, Women??s rights and Democracy. These circumstances are unlike many other refugee studies, thus providing what may be a unique case of positive social change. The case demonstrates how forced migration of a population may not just be a destructive process, but instead has the potential to reconstruct a society. Theories of social change and unanticipated outcomes are explored. Utilising the theories of Bourdieu and Merton, it is proposed that the Saharawi refugee experience is the unanticipated outcome of forced migration. This thesis explores commonalities and differences between Bourdieu??s study of the Kabyle population, and whether his theory of habitus is applicable. Bourdieu??s theories, heavily criticised for being too structuralist, show their limitations when dealing with positive social change. Bourdieu??s approach can suggest that it is inevitable for refugee populations to spiral into despair. The Saharawi case challenges these presumptions and highlights that neither sociologists nor populations should exclude the possibility of unexpected outcomes. Unanticipated outcomes are an acknowledgement of social change and the fact that at its heart no one can predict the future.
3
Pudsey, Jason, of Western Sydney Nepean University, and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. "The limits of reflexivity: a Weberian critique of the work of Pierre Bourdieu." THESIS_FHSS_XXX_Pudsey_J.xml, 1996. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/128.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis contributes to discussion surrounding the importance of reflexivity in social theory and sociology by illustrating some of the paradoxes involved in the development of a reflexive social science. It does this by focusing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, arguably the main advocate of relexive sociology. It is argued that Bourdieu's emphasis on a 'science of practices' limits his ability to be completely relexive because it excludes moral reflexivity. This is ironic, given that Bourdieu believes that reflexivity increases scientificity. The thesis argues that Max Weber's work on religious rationalisation offers an insightful understanding of these paradoxes. His work reveals how and why Modernity witnessed a separation and tension between moral reflexivity and epistemological reflexivity. It also reveals, despite Weber's best efforts to do so, that such a paradoxical tension cannot be overcome. The thesis uses these insights to show the dilemmas and tensions facing any relexive sociologyDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
4
Fogle, Nikolaus. "Social Space and Physical Space: Pierre Bourdieu's Field Theory as a Model for the Social Dynamics of the Built Environment." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2009. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/40829.
Full textAbstract:
PhilosophyPh.D.
The notion of social space or field is a central but under-studied category in the philosopher and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice. The present study of social space is introduced with a contextual account of spatial models in the social sciences prior to Bourdieu that highlights the aptitude for relational spatial models to capture complex social phenomena. It then demonstrates how social space, as an empirically robust and epistemologically intuitive social-scientific model, facilitates the objective representation as well as the subjective understanding of social phenomena. The central thesis is that Bourdieu's reflexive sociology operates in large part by a multiform engagement with the (intuitive or conceptual, but always constructed) apprehension of space, an interpretation that suggests the integration of both physical and social spaces in a unified explanatory framework. A dialectical understanding of the relations between social space and physical space, drawn from the logic of Bourdieu's social theory, is argued for. This philosophical extension of Bourdieu's work is then applied to phenomena in which the reproduction of structures in social space is carried out in and through physical space, and vice versa. Two case studies, the first of office tower districts in contemporary cities and the second of deconstructionist architecture, reveal interactions between social organization and the built environment. The case studies, taken together, also demonstrate the virtue, inherent to a Bourdieuian approach, of explaining both the trends of relative stability and the instances of radical change that are observed in social phenomena.
Temple University--Theses
5
Kane, Maurice J., and n/a. "New Zealand�s adventure culture : In Hillary�s steps : a Bourdieusian exploration." University of Otago. Department of Tourism, 2009. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20090422.141858.
Full textAbstract:
Historically adventure has been associated with successful, yet, dangerous endeavours that expand the knowledge, wealth, reputation, or safety of society. Previous research would suggest that the practices and stories of adventure have guided and benchmarked societal morals and ideas considered common �truths�. In New Zealand, society�s understandings of adventure are entwined with a mythologised cultural identity based on the egalitarian minded and physically active, outdoor pioneering male. These ideals were complimented and presented as a global representation of New Zealand by Sir Edmund Hillary�s successful climb of Mount Everest in 1953. The purpose of this thesis is to examine New Zealand�s understandings of adventure since 1953. The thesis centres its enquiry on a group of individuals who have obtained social distinction as adventurers, seeking to scrutinize in their adventure practice and narratives, adventure understandings that are legitimised or invalidated.
Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu�s theoretical concepts guide the enquiry approach. Bourdieu sought to transcend the false antinomy of sociology that presented dualist perspectives, such as the individual and society, conceptualising all practice in a dynamic matrix of relational social space. The individuals with distinction as adventurers personify the socially recognised and valued features of adventure. Equally, however, an amalgamation of features does not infer a definitive understanding. The substance of understandings, Bourdieu suggests, is in the relational strategies, consistencies, transformations, and knowing misrecognitions that frame the features of a practice in a social space. The research process adopted to examine the adventure understandings was a biographical narrative approach. The contention of this approach being, that in stories of life experience individuals with adventure distinction construct self and social meaning.
The published autobiographical adventure narratives, media interviews, and related accounts of 12 New Zealand adventurers provided the initial research material. Additionally, nine of the adventurers took part in research interviews. The interpretation of the research material was framed by three of Bourdieu�s prominent conceptual ideas; the development of �habitus�, the struggle for �capital� in the field of adventre and the legitimacy of �distinction�. This interpretation was facilitated by theories related to adventure and leisure practice, the risks and contexts of adventure, and to individual, subcultural, and social identity.
By applying a Bourdieusian lens on the practice and narratives of New Zealand adventurers with distinction, this thesis illuminates new aspects of New Zealand�s cultural understandings of adventure. It revealed a contested and relational struggle to have some practices legitimised as adventure and others devalued as contrived common thrills, or fortuitously survived reckless epics. A practice that typifies the thrill spectrum is �Bungy Jumping�, the contemporary global representation of adventure in New Zealand. In regard of epic practices, topical through the period of adventure interviews was the 2004 motion picture �Touching the Void�. Although this involved English climbers in South America in the 1980s, it has retained global prominence as a modern adventure/survival epic. The interpretation of this contested adventure space details the valued and recognised features that construct New Zealand�s understandings of adventure. The findings also provide an empirical basis for the equally valued misrepresented adventure understandings related to injury, exclusivity, and normalisation of practice. Additionally, the research interpretation indicates the potential for transformation of adventure understandings. Finally, although the study is situated within a specific social and historical context, it contributes to the on-going exchange of meanings about adventure, especially in relation to outdoor practice, in contemporary society.
6
Henriques, Hugo Rezende. "A legitimidade e o fundamento de autoridade do Direito na perspectiva sociológica de Pierre Bourdieu." Universidade de São Paulo, 2016. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/107/107131/tde-12072017-164117/.
Full textAbstract:
No Estado moderno se, por um lado, parece intrínseca a uma ordem jurídica a sua pretensão coercitiva em relação aos diferentes aspectos da vida social, resta evidente que tal ordem deve ser dotada de um atributo de autoridade que lhe garanta primazia em relação a outras ordens (morais, religiosas, pessoais), para que se justifique dotá-la de atributos tão singulares como a coercitividade. A essa autoridade, contudo, no contexto democrático - mais especificamente no contexto do Estado Democrático de Direito contemporâneo - cumpre dotar-se de uma legitimidade ou, ao menos, uma aparência de legitimidade suficiente para imprimir efetividade àquela autoridade. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho busca redefinir, a partir da perspectiva bourdieuniana, a percepção dos principais argumentos de legitimidade e autoridade do Direito - visto não só enquanto ordenamento jurídico, mas principalmente a partir de sua produção no ambiente legislativo, tantas vezes ignorada pela doutrina jurídica que habitualmente toma o direito posto, já legislado, como ponto de partida, neutralizando as disputas do subcampo legislativo e ignorando, em ampla medida, a questão da legitimidade da produção normativa. A pesquisa demonstra, a partir da perspectiva da Teoria da Reprodução Social de Bourdieu & Passeron (1992) que coloca em cheque toda legitimidade, que é aqui vista como mero efeito de uma autoridade, como a própria democracia é um conceito em disputa, e que a legitimidade das ações legislativas, bem como a dos próprios agentes legislativos não pode ser pressuposta.If, in modern State, the coercive pretension seems intrinsic to the legal order in respect to all the different aspects of social life, it is also evident that such an order must have an authority which guarantees its primacy over other (such as moral, religious or personal orders), so that we are able to justify its singular attributes. To this authority, however, in the democratic context of contemporary State (under the Rule of Law), we must also have at least a notion of legitimacy, enough to give effectiveness to that authority. In this context, the present work seeks to redefine, from the perspective of Bourdieu\'s theory, the perception of the main arguments to law\'s legitimacy and authority - especially in aspects of the legislative work, usually overseen by juridical doctrine that takes law for granted, neutralizing the disputes in legislative field and ignoring to some extent the different critics to legislative legitimacy. Our research demonstrates, from the perspective of the Social Reproduction Theory, developed by Bourdieu & Passeron (1992) and which questions all legitimacy, seen as mere effect of authority, how democracy itself is a concept in dispute, and that the legitimacy of the legislative actions, and that of its agents, can\'t be taken for granted.
7
Campbell, Christopher. "Designing Theory: Social Space(s) in the Fiction of Georges Perec." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377869529.
Full text
8
Bungart, Stefan. "Organisations as social systems : a study into the necessary systemic conditions for the occurrence of 'social resonance' to ecological issues in organisations." Thesis, Coventry University, 1999. http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/items/bed42cb2-9552-4631-bd99-9c109f4c061f/1.
Full textAbstract:
Organisational research in English-speaking countries has long been focused on two main areas. Studies on micro-level have been concerned with the socio-psychological explanation of organisational phenomena, mostly on the level of the individual and groups. Macro-level studies have been concerned with structure for the explanation of organisational phenomena. Macro-level theories have mostly bracketed the individual, and neglected the psychological component or regarded the individual as an actor playing roles. Only recently has the study of organisations been extended to attempt a meso-level analysis of organisational phenomena (Rousseau 1991, 1995). These meso-level attempts have, in the eyes of the author, run into explanatory problems. These problems are mainly due to the 'new' approach being based principally on existing macro-and micro-level theory, merely marrying the two approaches and thus inheriting the apparent difficulties of the existing theory to account for the individual. Althusser and Levi-Strauss are prominent representatives of both micro-and macro-level theory. This author agrees with the notion that organisational research benefits from a meso-level approach to organisational theory. It is in the light of this approach that the author turned to a widely unknown source of theory (in the English-speaking countries) to address the existing explanatory problems in organisational research and contribute so to the field. The underlying fundamental belief of the author is that any institution can be more successfully understood in the sociological context that defines the institution. Introducing the metaphor of 'social resonance' and linking it to the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu, especially the notion of agents and fields, the author attempts to cross-fertilise the academic fields of sociological research in mainland Europe (namely France and Germany with their strong philosophical tradition) with the academic fields of organisational research in the English-speaking countries (namely Britain and the US). This thesis will discuss the organisational research literature and social theory, introduce Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice, develop the metaphor of 'social resonance', and test the new construct in an empirical research setting. The main objective of this study is thus to explore the value of Bourdieu's theory of practice for the explanation of organisational phenomena, and to operationalise it in the metaphor of 'social resonance'. To this end, a research framework has been developed which is explained in more detail in this report.
9
Ostrowski, Marius Sebastian Jacek. "Twilight of the pollsters : a social theory of mass opinion in late modernity." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8e7a203a-1ca6-4b26-a882-2e490e2d52b0.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines how the occupations people hold, and the social classes in which they are situated, affect the way in which they form and express opinions. At a theoretical level, it unites the 'deep-structure' macroanalysis of social theory with the individualised microanalysis of how subjects form and express opinions in opinion research, reviving an approach that has not been pursued since early-20th-century social research. At a practical level, it responds to several recent and prominent failures of prediction by the opinion polling industry, and asks whether a broader understanding of 'mass opinion' can help avert such failures in future. The thesis argues that opinions are subjects' judgments about their social conditions, based on mental pictures they have of these conditions that combine the values and attitudes they hold with the information they have about their environment. Subjects form opinions based on these pictures via three 'means of thinking'-personality-traits, emotions, and reason-and express them using two kinds of 'means of articulation'-bodily organs and media. The thesis shows how the variety of occupations subjects hold, and the extremity of class differentials between them, introduce substantial plurality into their values and attitudes, the way they acquire information, how they think, and how they articulate themselves. In particular, it highlights the considerable asymmetries between higher- and lower-class subjects regarding: which parts of their social conditions they are experts about, and how far they are influenced by others; whether they think about their conditions more emotionally or with reasoning; and how great a range and quality of opportunities they have to articulate their views. The thesis closes by suggesting that these findings offer opinion researchers and social theorists clear directions for measuring 'mass opinion' in new ways, and potentially emancipating the voices of subjects whose opinions are suppressed in late-modern society.
10
Silva, Fabrina Moreira. "A trans-historicidade do conhecimento científico na crítica socioepistemológica da ciência, de Pierre Bourdieu." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2017. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/20128.
Full textAbstract:
Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-05-24T13:29:29Z
No. of bitstreams: 1
Fabrina Moreira Silva.pdf: 1145243 bytes, checksum: 42289cd86c73d79791aac33f727a44ae (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-24T13:29:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabrina Moreira Silva.pdf: 1145243 bytes, checksum: 42289cd86c73d79791aac33f727a44ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-19
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
This thesis aims to investigate to what extent the concept of transhistoricity of scientific knowledge, according to Pierre Bourdieu, reverberates the presence of the philosophy of science on the occasion of the last course taught by him, entitled Science de la science et reflexivité, at the Collège de France in the university year 2000-2001. Bourdieu synthesizes, in this last course, the epistemological foundations of sociology and takes them as object of study, thus making a science of science. Avoiding the totalizing pretensions, Bourdieu proposes the concepts of habitus and field, elaborating a closed system of concepts that allows him the scientific self-reflexivity, specifically applied to the sociology. Assuming the French theoretical epistemological line of Bachelardian tradition, Bourdieu affirms that the scientific knowledge is transhistorical, that is to say, a social construct that has managed to make its transhistorical truth. Transhistoricity implies questioning the ways in which science is made, and this questioning is the central problem that P. Bourdieu's critical reflexivity takes as his starting point for his investigation of the production of scientific knowledge. Epistemological vigilance is the guarantee of the scientificity of sociology; it is certainty of the method appropriate to the specificities of the object, in this case the production of sociological knowledge. The thesis that underlies the problem investigated by Bourdieu in his last course - in what way does science produce transhistoric knowledge? – is evidence of the presence of a thinker, whose analyses reaches a wide spectrum of themes, however, it is in the game of the scientific field with the scientific habitus that is, if and only if, it is possible to speak of transhistoricity of scientific knowledge. This scheme Concept of analysis demonstrates the always present reflexivity in scientific practice
Nesta tese, objetiva-se investigar em que medida o conceito de trans-historicidade do conhecimento científico, segundo Pierre Bourdieu, reverbera a presença da filosofia da ciência, na ocasião do último curso ministrado por ele, intitulado Science de La science et reflexivité, no Collège de France no ano universitário 2000-2001. Bourdieu sintetiza, nesse último curso, os fundamentos epistemológicos da sociologia e os toma como objeto de estudo, fazendo assim uma ciência da ciência. Evitando as pretensões totalizantes, propõe os conceitos de habitus e de campo, elaborando um sistema de conceitos fechado que lhe permite a autorreflexidade científica, em específico aplicado à sociologia. Assumindo a linha teórica epistemológica francesa de tradição bachelardiana, Bourdieu afirma que o conhecimento científico é trans-histórico, ou seja, um constructo social que conseguiu tornar sua verdade trans-histórica. A trans-historicidade implica questionar os modos como se faz ciência, e esse questionamento constitui o problema central que a reflexividade crítica de P. Bourdieu toma como ponto de partida para a sua investigação acerca da produção do conhecimento científico. A vigilância epistemológica é a garantia de cientificidade da sociologia, é certeza do método adequado às especificidades do objeto, no caso a produção do conhecimento sociológico. A tese que subjaz no problema investigado por Bourdieu em seu último curso – De que modo a ciência produz conhecimentos trans-históricos? – evidencia a presença de um pensador cujas análises alcançam um espectro amplo de temas; entretanto, é no jogo do campo científico, com o habitus científico que, se e somente se, torna-se possível falar de trans-historicidade do conhecimento científico. Esse esquema conceitual de análise demonstra a reflexividade sempre presente na prática científica
Books on the topic "Bourdieu´s social theory"
2
Lovell, Terry. (Mis)recognition, social inequality and social justice: Nancy Fraser and Pierre Bourdieu. London: Routledge, 2007.
Find full text
3
Papilloud, Christian. Bourdieu lesen: Einführung in eine Soziologie des Unterschieds. Mit einem Nachwort von Loïc Wacquant. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2003.
Find full text
4
Solidariteit/rivaliteit: Ruil en gift bij Marcel Maus en Pierre Bourdieu. Antwerpen: Garant, 2009.
Find full text
6
Masculine/feminine: Practices of difference(s). Durham· NC: Duke University Press·, 2003.
Find full text
7
Die S ehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen: Die Frankfurter Schule und Lateinamerika. Aachen: Verlag der Augustinus-Buchh., 1994.
Find full text
9
Multicultural citizenship: A liberal theory of minority rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Find full text
10
Multicultural citizenship: A liberal theory of minority rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "Bourdieu´s social theory"
1
Ihlen, Øyvind. "On Bourdieu." In Public Relations and Social Theory, 118–36. Second edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2018.: Routledge, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315271231-7.
Full text
2
Schmitt, Lars. "Bourdieu Meets Social Movement." In Social Theory and Social Movements, 57–74. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-13381-8_4.
Full text
3
Maclean, Mairi, and Charles Harvey. "Pierre Bourdieu and elites." In Management, Organizations and Contemporary Social Theory, 98–114. 1 Edition. | New York: Routledge, 2019.: Routledge, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429279591-6.
Full text
4
Ibrahim, Joseph. "Towards a New Theory of Social Movement Practice." In Bourdieu and Social Movements, 42–63. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137371034_3.
Full text
5
Dépelteau, François. "Comparing Elias and Bourdieu as Relational Thinkers." In Norbert Elias and Social Theory, 275–95. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137312112_17.
Full text
6
Clarke, Simon. "The Concept(s) of Race(s) and Racism(s)." In Social Theory, Psychoanalysis and Racism, 11–27. London: Macmillan Education UK, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-09957-0_2.
Full text
7
Blackmore, Theo, and Stephen Lee Hodgkins. "Discourses of Disabled Peoples’ Organisations: Foucault, Bourdieu and Future Perspectives." In Disability and Social Theory, 70–87. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137023001_5.
Full text
8
Cornbleth, Catherine. "Critical Theory(s)." In The Wiley Handbook of Social Studies Research, 189–208. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118768747.ch8.
Full text
9
Fournier, Marcel. "Pierre Bourdieu and his legacy." In Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Social and Political Theory, 49–59. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003111399-2.
Full text
10
Johncock, Will. "What Causes Your Behaviors? Zeno and Pierre Bourdieu on the Body." In Stoic Philosophy and Social Theory, 173–89. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43153-2_8.
Full textConference papers on the topic "Bourdieu´s social theory"
1
Bai, Lu. "On Marx 's World History Theory and Contemporary Chinese Socialism." In 2017 3rd International Conference on Economics, Social Science, Arts, Education and Management Engineering (ESSAEME 2017). Paris, France: Atlantis Press, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.2991/essaeme-17.2017.74.
Full text
2
Wei, Liwen. "Image Expression and Aesthetic Theory in Hogarth 's Satirical Moralizing Series." In Proceedings of the 2018 International Symposium on Humanities and Social Sciences, Management and Education Engineering (HSSMEE 2018). Paris, France: Atlantis Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.2991/hssmee-18.2018.79.
Full text
3
Dossiatti de Lima, Débora, and Nestor Castilho Gomes. "Restrictions on fundamental rights: an interpretation in the light of Friedrich Müller´s structural theory of law." In XXVI World Congress of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Initia Via, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.17931/ivr2013_wg135_04.
Full text
4
Zengeya, Theressa Madzingesu, Gregory Alexander, and Desiree Pearl Larey. "CONSIDERATIONS OF TALENT MANAGEMENT IN RETENTION OF ACADEMICS IN THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LESOTHO." In International Conference on Education and New Developments. inScience Press, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.36315/2021end127.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of the study was to examine the contribution of talent management practices at the National University of Lesotho in the retention of talented academics. The university has immense competition within the local, regional and international labour market. It isthreatened by high mobility and low retention of highly qualified staff, which has affected the quality of learning, especially postgraduate programmes. The study employed Bourdieu’s social theory and Adam’s theory of equity as a theoretical lens to understand talent management practices to retain talented academics. Bourdieu’s theory was used to offer insight on the various forms of capital, and how the capitals could be instrumental in the design and implementation of talent management practices in order to increase retention of talent in universities. In this study ‘talent’ is used to refer to holders of doctorates, associate professors and professors or researchers of new information and theories and inventors of new technology with great potential to make a significant impact on the university’s productivity. A literature review was undertaken to examine how the social theory of Bourdieu, particularly the conversion of different kinds of capital (symbolic capital) are used by the university to recognise the value of talented academics in order to retain these academics. Following a qualitative methodology and purposive sampling, data was generated through semi-structured interviews and document analysis to advance a critical and interpretive understanding of the perspectives of talent management from both management and talented academics in the university. Thematic analysis was used to synthesise the data. The data from fourteen (14) participants composed of management and academics revealed that, though the university is implementing talent management practices, it does not have an official and structured talent management program, which is imperative in retaining academics. This study concludes by advocating the design and implementation of a formal, contextual and structured talent management framework, in consultation with all key stakeholders, in order to increase retention of talent academics in the National University of Lesotho.
5
Shkorubskaya, Elena. "Transformation of the Scientific Article Paradigm under Diffusion of Internal & External Publicness of Science." In The Public/Private in Modern Civilization, the 22nd Russian Scientific-Practical Conference (with international participation) (Yekaterinburg, April 16-17, 2020). Liberal Arts University – University for Humanities, Yekaterinburg, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.35853/ufh-public/private-2020-09.
Full textAbstract:
This article discusses the specifics of the public sphere of science in the context of the diffusion of the public and private spheres that characterises modern society and is driven, among other factors, by the development of social media and other tools of online communication. Based on the communicative approach suggested by Jurgen Habermas, the science field concept by Pierre Bourdieu, and the actor-network theory by Bruno Latour, the following two types of modern science publicness are defined. Inner, ‘esoteric publicness’ of science itself is a prerequisite for scientific communication, and is set up on the principles of reasonable doubt and criticism, assuming discussiveness, knowledge, and uncertainty of arguable facts. Outer, ‘broad publicness’ becomes a platform of interaction between science and society, and requires science to provide ultimate knowledge. Using the example of the use of texts of scientific articles in popular scientific texts, the problem of the diffusion of the two public spheres is examined. Firstly, the conventional layman is confronted directly with the inner workings of science, and thus has to deal with discrepancies, which he cannot resolve on his own. Secondly, the pragmatics of the scientific article undergos changes, its conclusions tend to radicalise, and the very article is used only for confirming the credibility of a popular text referring to it. The change in the reader (a professional is replaced by a layperson) has an effect on the original pragmatics of the text and the impact it has on the addressee. What is supposed to serve as the discussion onset in ‘esoteric publicness’, becomes the rationale for the unconditional recognition of communicated information in the ‘broad publicness’ of science.
6
Layton, Bradley. "The Application of Game Theory to Thermoeconomics." In ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. ASMEDC, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/imece2011-62681.
Full textAbstract:
Last year, we proposed a relationship between physical entropy, S and abstract, yet quantifiable information, I, where entropy has units of J K−1 and information has units of bits (Layton, 2010). Therein, we proposed the relation ΔS = αI, where ΔS = Smax – Smin, with Smax representing the maximum entropy generation rate of a given system, Smin representing the reduction of internal entropy of the system for a given cycle or process, and I representing the information required to perform the cycle or process. The newly introduced coefficient, α with units of J K−1 b−1 was introduced to relate a system’s ability to partition entropy via its inherent information processing capabilities (Turing, 1948). Herein we further develop this equation in an engineering context and explore the social implications of energy conservation through a lens of game theory, concluding that “sustainable” practices, rather than extending the horizon when we will consume the last of the exhaustible fuels, actually have no effect on the point in time at which fossil fuels become exhausted.
7
Camiz, Alessandro. "Diachronic transformations of urban routes for the theory of attractors." In 24th ISUF 2017 - City and Territory in the Globalization Age. Valencia: Universitat Politècnica València, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/isuf2017.2017.5639.
Full textAbstract:
Alessandro Camiz ¹ ¹ Department of Architecture, Girne American University, Cyprus, Association for Historical Dialogue and Research, Home for Cooperation (H4C), 28 Marcou Dracou Street, Nicosia, Cyprus, 1102. E-mail: alessandrocamiz@gau.edu.tr Keywords (3-5): urban tissues, urban morphology, urban routes, theory, history Conference topics and scale: Tools of analysis in urban morphology Recent urban morphology studies consider urban tissues as living organisms changing in time (Strappa, Carlotti, Camiz, 2016), following this assumption the theory should examine more analytically what Muratori called ‘medievalisation’ (Muratori, 1959), a term describing some of the transformations of urban routes happened in the middle ages. The paper considers the diachronic deformation of routes, and other multi-scalar occurrences of the attraction phenomena (Charalambous, Geddes, 2015), introducing the notion of attractors and repellers. Archaeological studies already do consider attractors and repellers as a tool to interpret some territorial transformations, following the assumption that “the trajectory that a system follows through time is the result of a continuous dynamic interaction between that system and the multiple 'attractors' in its environment” (Renfrew, Bahn, 2013, p. 184). There are different elements that can act as attractors in an urban environment, such as bridges, city walls, city gates, water systems, markets, special buildings, and it is possible to consider each of these anthropic attractors as equivalent to a morphological attractor at the geographical scale. We can even interpret the ridge-top theory (Caniggia, 1976) as the result of attraction and repellence of geographic features on anthropic routes. The territorial scale analysis is the methodological base of the theory, but the attractors herein considered operate at the urban scale, deviating locally across time from a rectilinear trajectory and defining a specific urban fabric. The research interprets and reads the effects of attractors on urban routes and fabrics as a method for the reconstruction of Nicosia’s medieval city walls, in continuity between the Conzenian approach (Whitehand, 2012) and the Italian School of Urban Morphology (Marzot, 2002). References:, Muratori, S. (1959) Studi per un’operante storia urbana di Venezia (Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Roma). Caniggia, G. (1976) Strutture dello spazio antropico. Studi e note (Uniedit, Firenze). Marzot, N. (2002) ‘The study of urban form in Italy’, Urban Morphology 6.2, 59-73. Whitehand, J.W.R. (2012) ‘Issues in urban morphology’, Urban Morphology 16.1, 55-65. Renfrew, C., Bahn, P. (eds.) (2013) Archaeology: The Key Concepts, (London, Routledge). Charalambous, N., Geddes, I. (2015) ‘Making Spatial Sense of Historical Social Data’, Journal of Space Syntax 6.1, 81-101. Strappa, G., Carlotti, P., Camiz, A. (2016) Urban Morphology and Historical Fabrics. Contemporary design of small towns in Latium (Gangemi, Roma).
8
Flores Miranda, Margarita Beatriz. "Proposal for the categorization of the factors related to creativity, from Guilford to these days." In Systems & Design 2017. Valencia: Universitat Politècnica València, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/sd2017.2017.7065.
Full textAbstract:
This study investigated what it meant and continues to mean for the creativity scientific field, J. P. Guilford´s research on the need to eradicate genius theory in order to give rise to the idea of creativity as an adaptive and projective human quality. The field of creativity as it exists today, emerged largely as a result of Guilford´s theoretical model of the structure of intelligence, a pioneer contribution to the measurement and possible development of creative potential. To these days, Guilford´s and E. Paul Torrance´s (1962) factors related to creativity remain the most widely used in the design of creativity tests. This paper presents a complication of the creativity factors that have been added to Guilford's original list since 1950 until these days, by diverse and relevant authors in the field. A grouping process is performed to eliminate repetitions, similarities or redundancies, and to obtain a list of clearly differentiated attributes. Every attribute is defined in the creativity context in order to examine how they could be related under R. Estarda (2005) theory of creativity, that categorize creativity´s factors in the following triad: affection, cognition and volition. Same factors that J. Lamberth (1980) defined in social psychology, as the essential components in any measurement of behavior. The validity in the selection of Estrada's theory as a merging point comes from its commonality with the theories of Urban (1995), Saturnino de la Torre (2003), Kurtzberg & Amabile (2001) and Arieti (1976). This study supports the view of creativity as a systemic process that considers both the contextual and the individual contribution, and contemplates the potential interplay among the three behavioral components. Concluding that factors related to creativity play an essential role on the identification and the development of creative potential. Both attributes and their categorization remain as fields for a future research´s quantitative validation.
9
Deyneka, Olga, and Alexandr Maksimenko. "THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITION OF RUSSIAN SOCIETY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC." In International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends. inScience Press, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.36315/2021inpact054.
Full textAbstract:
"The problem of the psychological impact of a pandemic, quarantine and self-isolation on the state of society attracts increased attention of specialists (Hua J., Shaw R., 2020; Li S., Wang Y. et all, 2020, Enikolopov S. et all, 2020; Fedosenko E., 2020). The objective of our work was to find the most common attitudes and types of responses of Russians to the epidemic COVID-19 taking into account their involvement in social networks, critical thinking and severity of psychopathological symptoms. The study was carried out during the recession of the first wave of the pandemic in early June 2020. The main tool was the questionnaire of T. Nestik in an abridged version. Additionally, a questionnaire of critical thinking was used (CTI, Epstein, adapted by S. Enikolopov and S. Lebedev, 2004); test of psychopathological symptoms SCL-90-R; social media engagement questionnaire (Karadag, 2015) was used. The study involved 986 people (56.9% male, 43.1% female) aged 18 to 76 years. Using exploratory factor analysis, 6 types of responses to the epidemic situation caused by COVID-19 were identified (fans / opponents of the ""conspiracy theory""; responsible / irresponsible, covid-dissidents, covid-optimists, misophobes, anti-vaccinators). The dominant belief among the respondents is that the emergence of new infectious diseases is a natural process of mutation that occurs in nature without the participation of people, or the result of someone's mistake. Conspiracy theories were significantly more common among elderly people and women. Citizens see salvation from the epidemic in the moral conscience and responsibility of everyone. At the same time, they do not trust both official information and information from fellow citizens. Representatives of the older generation have higher confidence in the country's leadership, in the possibilities of medicine and science, and in fellow citizens. Correlations of non-critical thinking with manifestations of misophobia and fear of new epidemics were revealed. Depressive subjects were more concerned about the illegal behavior of fellow citizens and misophobia. Long-term fear of epidemics has been correlated with anxiety. Among those who prefer social networks to official information (television, radio, print), statistically significantly more are those who not only do not trust official information about the epidemic situation, but also do not trust their fellow citizens, attributing to them possible facts of concealing information about the disease because of the fear of being quarantined. Thus, the COVID-consciousness of Russians demonstrated a combination of rather contradictory attitudes."
10
Hanzl, Malgorzata. "Self-organisation and meaning of urban structures: case study of Jewish communities in central Poland in pre-war times." In 24th ISUF 2017 - City and Territory in the Globalization Age. Valencia: Universitat Politècnica València, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/isuf2017.2017.5098.
Full textAbstract:
In spatial, social and cultural pluralism, the questions of human intentionality and socio-spatial emergence remain central to social theory (Portugali 2000, p.142). The correlation between individual preferences, values and intentions, and actual behaviour and actions, is subject to Portugali’s theory of self-organisation (2000). Compared to Gidden’s structuralism, which focuses on society and groups, the point of departure for Portugali (2000) are individuals and their personal choices. The key feature in how complex systems `self-organise', is that they `interpret', the information that comes from the environment (Portugali 2006). The current study explores the urban environment formerly inhabited, and largely constructed, by Jews in two central Polish districts: Mazovia and Lodz, before the tragedy of the Holocaust. While the Jewish presence lasted from the 11th century until the outbreak of World War II, the most intensive development took place in the 19th century, together with the civilisation changes introduced by industrialisation. Embracing the everyday habits of Jewish citizens endows the neighbourhood structures they once inhabited with long gone meanings, the information layer which once helped organise everyday life. The main thesis reveals that Jewish communities in pre-war Poland represented an example of a self-organising society, one which could be considered a prototype of contemporary postmodern cultural complexity. The mapping of this complexity at the scale of a neighbourhood is a challenge, a method for which is addressed in the current paper. The above considerations are in line with the empirical studies of the relations between Jews and Poles, especially in large cities, where more complex socio-cultural processes could have occurred. References: Eco, U. (1997) ‘Function and Sign: The Semiotics of Architecture’, in Leich, N. (ed.) Rethinking Architecture: A reader in cultural theory (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London) 182–202. Hillier, B. and Hanson, J. (2003) The Social Logic of Space (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge). Marshall, S. (2009) Cities, Design and Evolution (Routledge, Abingdon, New York). Portugali, J. (2000) Self-Organization and the City, (Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg). Portugali, J. (2006) ‘Complexity theory as a link between space and place’, Environment and Planning A 38(4) 647–664.