Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice

Abstract

Whether one admits it or not, we all draw on theories in our analysis of the social world. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a transparent account of one of the theoretical frameworks namely, BourdieuBourdieu's `theory of practiceTheory of practice', which provides the theoretical foundation on which the book is built. The chapter provides a critical description of BourdieuBourdieu's three key concepts namely, the habitusHabitus, fieldFieldand capitalCapitalutilised in the book. Highlighting both the epistemological and methodological implications of using BourdieuBourdieu's concept of the habitusHabitusin postcolonial context such as NigeriaNigeria, the chapter argues for the need to expand BourdieuBourdieu's class-specific habitusClass-specific habitusby emphasising how the habitusHabitusis differentiated by raceRaceso that it can successfully be translated into postcolonial NigeriaNigeria.