ABSTRACT
Pierre Bourdieu's writings constitute a powerful attempt to construct a corporeal sociology, an approach towards the structuring of human relationships and identities centred around the socially shaped embodied subject. Social fields 'are the products of a long, slow process of autonomization', reflecting the stratification of contemporary society into distinctive sectors. Bourdieu argues that the fit between habitus, field and physical capital does not guarantee social reproduction. He insists that while social fields locate themselves on the bodies of those entering their space, they do not completely determine action. Pragmatism anticipates Bourdieu's dissatisfaction with mind/body dualism and his concern with habitual action, in its suggestion that perception and action are anchored in habits that treat the facticity of the world as given. Numerous studies have highlighted the mismatch between the habitual orientations of girls of all social classes and PE. Outdoor education refers to guided experiences in the environment that are physically challenging and incorporate within them some risk.
