Foucault, bourdieu and the field of Irish sexuality

Abstract

Sociological analysis ofIrish sexuality has been notablefor its absence. This paper examines the contribution which Foucault’s theory of sexuality as a discourse of truth and apparatus ofpower makes toward elucidating key issues in the history and contemporaryfield ofIrish sexuality. Although Foucault provides good insights into the constitution of a hermeneutics of the self within different ethical regimes, his analysis of sexuality is inadequate when it comes to explaining how sexuality operates in everyday life and the individual struggle to attain power and position in social life. In this respect, the paper turns to the work of Bourdieu and examines the field ofIrish sexuality in relation to his concepts ofhabitus, practice and capital.