ABSTRACT
Why study cultures, subcultures, physical cultures or practices within social space? There will be many different answers, even amongst those in this book, but for me it has been about understanding human practices, why humans do what they do, particularly in terms of access to participation in a better life. As academic work, for me it is also about how I might contribute to a better life. This evokes words such as human rights, recognition, equity and liberty; concepts steeped in social hierarchies and their mechanisms. I came to Bourdieu’s work quite by accident while researching the (problematic) mechanisms of schooling for students transitioning from primary to secondary school (Hunter 2002). Richard Light suggested that bodily hexis and habitus were concepts that might have explanatory power to help me understand what might be going on in the transition project. Now, for me, Bourdieu’s work is a heuristic framework made up of a set of conceptual utensils that have methodological and theoretical bite for my work. This framework can provide initial readings of the world and also a way to plan for change through my research. I say ‘initial readings’ because his utensils have helped me to ‘think’ with him, but also beyond and against him, as was his invitation (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992: xiv). Others’ ontologies, epistemologies, theories and methodologies also thread through my perceptions, affects and communications, sometimes in parallel and sometimes in sharp contrast to Bourdieu, depending on the research question at hand. Michael Grenfell notes that ‘Bourdieu’s concepts have no value if they are not used in practice’ (2008: 5). My academic work, and very possibly my everyday lived experiences, work with, beyond and against Bourdieu, as I illustrate below.
