Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bourdieu, Pierre, et al

Titel

THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD: SOCIAL SUFFERING IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY (2nd edition)

Erscheinungsjahr

1999

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• An English-language translation of La Misere du Monde, includes 54 of the 69 articles or interviews included in the original. The texts presented provide short ethnographies describing the social difficulties experienced by individuals who occupy certain social categories. The 6 Parts (4 introduced by Bourdieu, 1 by Bourdieu & Patrick Champagne, & 1 not introduced) present case studies, interviews, & personal narratives that illustrate these difficulties. Bourdieu introduces the section The Space of Points of View, which includes interviews with individuals who live in areas categorized as "housing developments" & "projects." Also introduced by Bourdieu, Site Effects explores social places, assesses differences between notions of physical & social space, & considers the problems encountered by individuals who attempt to appropriate new spaces. Contributor Loic J. D. Wacquant analyzes the differences between US & French ghettos & the predominance of poverty among individuals who reside in US urban centers. In introducing The Abdication of the State, Bourdieu asserts that various states have relinquished a certain amount of responsibility in protecting lower-income & immigrant families from sliding beyond social safety nets. Contributor Champagne considers the role of the media & public discourse in mediating certain social problems; responses from questions used in a French public opinion poll are reprinted to illustrate the influence of the media & public opinion. In a contribution to On the Way Down, Michel Pialoux & Stephane Beaud document the tension between long-term & temporary workers at the Sochaux Peugeot automobile plant in France during the late 1980s & early 1990s. In their introduction to Outcasts on the Inside, Bourdieu & Champagne address problems concerning lower-income French families' access to the national secondary school system, concluding that exclusion standards have become more subtle & undetectable since the late 1950s. Bourdieu also introduces The Contradictions of Inheritance, which includes analysis of the consequences of parents' high expectations of academic achievement & social mobility on their children; however, it is cautioned that the family should not be perceived as the supreme cause of social problems produced by the contradictions of inheritance. In Understanding,, Bourdieu encourages sociologists to acknowledge how their respective points of view would be affected by experiencing the aforementioned social difficulties. J. W. Parker