ABSTRACT

I want to address first a set of questions which were sent to me and which relate to the use of the notion of habitus, particularly in contemporary Western cities: in our fast-changing world, demanding from all of us multiple ‘roles’ and quick adjustments, is habitus still a useful research tool? Is it possible to use it efficiently in spatial analysis or, more precisely, in relation to space, meaning both geographic space and social space? Is it possible to use architecture, and especially the symbolic power of architecture, in order to restructure habitus and to break up the supposed vicious cycle obtaining between structures and habitus? In a word, is habitus a definitely static concept, intrinsically doomed to express continuities and to repetition, suited to social analysis in relatively stable societies and stationary situations, and only that? Could we use this concept to understand and explain situations of rapid change and to account for social transformation and for the tremendous changes we observe in contemporary societies, including at the level of daily life?